A safe harbor where beliefs are respected and kindness prevails.

Traveling Backwards

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airplanewithmeLast spring my short trip to Portland turned into a real test of my ability to stay positive. I left my house just after dawn in Southern California and drove north an hour to Ontario Airport. I got on the plane and out came the captain (never a good sign) who said there was a minor repair that needed to be made to our plane…the good news was that we could get off the plane to wait….more good news was that there was plenty of time for my connecting flight…additional good news was that it was an easy fix.

So we deplaned to the terminal, no need to panic yet! I watched out the window and observed the single mechanic taking his time with the engine cover open. Good he isn’t rushing I thought. Then an announcement comes over the loud-speaker that the repair is taking longer than expected, but we are still good on time. A little while later we are invited back on the airplane and confidently buckle up for take off…not so fast. Out comes the captain again. The good news is that the connecting flight for the 42 of us that need to make that flight is waiting for us…how nice. HOWEVER, the repair is done but there is a LOT of paperwork to do before we can take off. Hummmmm

The next bad news…the paperwork is taking too long and the connecting flight to Portland can wait no longer. But more good news, they have found a way to get all 42 of us to Portland, even though it is the end of Spring Break and all the flights are full. The bad news is that our new flight, after we finally get to Sacramento and wait there for 3 hours, is back to SAN DIEGO, 60 miles south of my house! We are already on the plane and there is no other way to get to Portland that day. There is a special memorial ceremony for my husband’s sister the next day that they rearranged for my attendance…so what to do but do what they say and stay on the plane!

Now I could have gotten mad, and did for a flash of a second, but instead the group of us supported each other in small ways. One woman let me use her charger for my phone in Sacramento (NEVER pack your charger in your checked bag!) Another young mother was traveling with her little child…very little…so I shared a table with her in the crowded restaurant. She was inspiringly calm and had her hands more full than the rest of us.

By the time we were at the airport in San Diego (the sun has now set), we were all having a good chuckle about the whole thing! It made for a very long day and my relatives in Portland had to pick me up late at night instead of the middle of the day, but they too were gracious about it.

One woman started to complain “Well I will never get back these twelve hours!” She was right, but how to spend those twelve hours was up to her. She could have spent the time in anger and frustration, or accepted what was out of our hands and looked at the adventure of it. Do you have any idea what staying in a state of stress for twelve hours will do to your body!

Travel these days is just not as much fun as it used to be, but this day was over the top. The funny thing is that the rest of the trip continued in the same pattern. When we left the memorial service the next day, we made one wrong turn and ended up on a freeway crossing the river with no way to turn around…a 30 minute delay getting home to where people were waiting for us. But I got to see part of Portland I wouldn’t have seen otherwise! The day after that my friend Cheryl Maloney (yes, that Cheryl) and I were walking to a neighborhood restaurant, using the app on my phone to guide us…and it sent us in the wrong direction! Luckily we figured it out and decided it was just how this trip of mine was going!

The day after that I drove to a nearby town to visit relatives. Again I was relying on my phone to guide me there…and home. HOWEVER, the phone went dead during my visit and I had to rely on instincts to get me back home…since I couldn’t even call for directions! I just relaxed and used my wits to get me back home.

So it seemed my whole trip was trying to spin me around and confuse me…but I just let it go each time and enjoyed the trip. It became a very different adventure than I had planned, and I got everywhere I wanted to go…except that I had to travel backwards to get everywhere!

Think of this next time you travel and things go a bit wrong. Do you choose twelve hours of stress or twelve hours of adventure! I pick adventure and my body says “thank you.”

A Fresh Look At Coincidences

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Fotolia_56955943_Subscription_Monthly_MPerhaps you have heard the term “There are no coincidences.” It is usually said when there is a
“chance” meeting or phone call that almost seems orchestrated. For example, you think about an old friend, and within five minutes they call you. You go to a new kind of gathering and find many friends there that you know from completely different circumstances. You reach for a book in a bookstore, and there is someone you know reaching for the same book at the same moment.

Pure coincidence?

I pay attention to these seemingly random events and wonder at their meaning. I don’t always know right away but wait to see how things unfold. Years ago I used to run into a woman I worked with at the local farmers market every Saturday. I went at different times each week, and walked a different ‘course,’ but yet there she would be. Many of my friends also went

to this market, but I always just ran into this one woman. I decided to make an effort to get to know her better and found we had many things in common outside work. It was like our souls GPS monitors were directing us to the same

spot at the same time.

And yet this could be called coincidence.

I recently went on a trip to Costa Rica with a tour group, and the first night as a ‘get acquainted’

that was so much like me it was like we had known each other forever. Judith lives in the Yucatan in Mexico and leads spiritual gatherings at her Bed and Breakfast. During our conversations, she shared with me the word “Dios-idencia” … a combination of Dios, which means God, and coincidencia, which means coincidence in Spanish.

For me, my English version is “God-incidence,” a combination of God and coincidence. Now it isn’t likely that we can all agree on who or what God is, but if we can agree that it is an invisible force for good in our lives, then we can accept that

recognize these events as special and worth trying to understand the meaning they have for us.

Why is it important to start to recognize these Godincidences? Because they are just another way of paying attention to our divine guidance system. I do know people who take this to an extreme and try to find meaning in EVERY small event in their lives. I myself just pay attention to the big ones and am in awe when they happen … like meeting Judith. We may never meet again, but I will carry her lovely energy with me the rest of this lifetime … her faith in the divine order of

connection for your career … or finding a resource for your home that makes your life easier. They can be small or really big, but when they happen, and you know when they do, try to get a sense of how you feel at that moment. Let that “feeling” be your guide. Let it tell you if something that happens is just a random event or truly “guided.”

This is a very subtle skill but one that we can all develop. So be on the lookout for these miraculous meetings when you least expect them. Be open to them and acknowledge them for what they are … Godincidences!

But Did You Ask?

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I have been doing a little experiment this month. Every morning when I wake up, as I get out of bed, I ask “What miracle will happen to me today?” Asking is easy and it puts out the energy that you EXPECT that something wonderful will happen. It doesn’t have to be a big thing, not a cure for cancer, but just a small thing you can appreciate, a thing that makes your life a little better….or the life of someone you love.

On the first day of doing this, it was the day designated to do Christmas decorating in our house. I pretty much do it solo except for the outside lights, and going to buy the tree is something my husband and I always do together…and it isn’t always easy. We always have trouble agreeing on when we are going to go, where we are going to shop, how much we are going to spend, and then the grand decision…which tree!

On this day I was going to the nursery, so as I left I said “Don’t be surprised if I come home with a tree!” As I was leaving the nursery, after purchasing my other items, I saw the most beautiful tree and decided to buy it. When I did, they said “You have a $25 credit on your account.” Bingo, discount too! Then they loaded it in my car WITH the stand…I said I didn’t need it and they said that it was included…so no struggling to make it stand up straight at home…it was already perfectly straight. Then when I got home, it was light enough that I got it to the front door all by myself! It is truly the prettiest tree we have ever had…and the easiest to get! My little miracle for the day!

Another recent miracle involved our little dog Maggie. She is older and her eyes got very foggy so we assumed she was going blind. One night she fell in the swimming pool because she couldn’t see as she walked around it. Luckily I was with her and saved her of course, but we decided to take her to the Vet to see if ANYTHING could be done. Miracle! She wasn’t blind at all…she had an eye infection from a scratch she got a couple of years ago! We are putting drops in her eyes and they are clearing right up! Dark eyes again and she can SEE…and she seems to be pretty happy about it…as are we!

These are just a couple of examples of little miracles that can happen, if you expect them. Then the final step is to take a minute to be grateful for them. This completes the cycle of positive energy. What I have learned over the years is that the source of these miracles often is your own energy…not necessarily an outside divine benefactor. There are those too of course, but this is about what YOU can do yourself.

So give this some thought…and give it a try. This is the right season for magical things to happen!

Who’s Holiday?

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Fotolia_46730219_Subscription_XXLIt is “Starting to Look a Lot Like Christmas,”…or Hanukkah…or Kwanzaa…or…” for much of Western Civilization. That can mean a rise in the level of joy and happiness, and it can also mean a rise in the level of anxiety. So let’s see if we can diffuse a few of those thoughts in advance of them catching you off guard.

There are so many other cultures/celebrations. Who is right?

If you look back as to how each culture got to where it is today, how they evolved, it is easy to understand how rich the variety of human nature is in expressing itself with celebrations at specific times of the year. We only get into trouble when one group thinks they got it more “right” than the other groups. So be at peace with cultures that are different than yours. We all celebrate love of our families and are grateful for what we have. The fact that there are so many different ways to celebrate just confirms that it is truly part of human nature to do so.

Will I have enough money to buy presents for everyone?

There are SO MANY ways to express how much you appreciate your family and friends. That is really what you are doing with holiday gifts. Think back to what you got as a gift last holiday. Most of us can’t even remember. What we DO remember are those special gifts that someone made for us. It could be food or a craft item or a poem. Those are the gifts we actually remember because they touch us at a deeper level, so get creative in your gift giving and relax about the money.

Here is something to think about in giving gifts to your children. The one Christmas that stands out from my childhood was the one that was the most fun for my father. He had found a bunch of battery operated toys at the local hardware store. I don’t believe they were expensive at all, but it was the 1950’s so they were new and exciting. During the days before Christmas, our dad took every friend that dropped by our house out his car so that he could share his delight at his purchases hiding in the trunk. The joy he shared was as important as the gifts themselves. We could see from the window that there was something magical about our gifts.

The magic carried into Christmas morning when we were finally able to open those treasures. Keep in mind that the kids are watching YOU as they open their gifts. If you are excited, they will be too. They pick up on your emotional reaction to the gifts you give them.

I don’t have a “love” to share the holiday with.

None of us, no one, not anyone is really alone. There are so many level’s of “love”, and personal love often isn’t a joyous as it looks from the outside. So reach out for a level of connection that is available to you, to everyone. Love after all does come in degrees.

The upside of the expansion of the Internet generally and social media specifically provides opportunities for many, many people to connect on SOME level that they didn’t use to have available to them. I like to play games on the Internet and connect with people all over the world as if they were sitting right across the table from me…well its not QUITE the same as being in the same room, but I still feel the connection. What ever you are interested in, there is a group or person available to you on the Internet.

There are many clubs and groups and places of worship that offer gathering places too. It just isn’t possible that all humans will match up with a partner exactly at the same time…just not possible. So if your present condition isn’t what you consider ideal, don’t let your attitude about it hold you back from opening to a new, perhaps less intense but still valuable connection.

Mid winter celebrations have been held by all cultures for centuries. A time to gather together, take a rest from our toils, and say “Thank You” for what we have. If you start to feel anxious during these holidays, try to touch into that ancient feeling. Find a new way to connect that you hadn’t thought of before. We truly are a global family and you are a member.

We are all lucky that we have each other…and that is worth celebrating!

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