December 2008 Newsletter
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Hello dear friends and Happy Holidays! This time of year is hectic, wonderful and full of opportunities for spiritual growth. I am so happy to be sharing it with you once again.
Ever since the election of my fellow Kenyan-American, Barack Obama I have been watching the tides of change and challenge that have been swirling all around us. It is as if we are all holding our collective breath until January 20th when he takes office and the official new world order ensues.
I am inspired by his dignity and leadership and admit to something of a crush on the man! As I thought about my feelings more thoroughly I realized that for the first time in my life there is someone truly like me in an obvious position of power, poised to bring much needed strength, compassion and intelligence to our collective existence. President Elect Obama and I share more than a common racial heritage of a white mother and a black father from Kenya. We share a very important characteristic –HOPE. And so, on to this month’s topic….
Hope, Choice & the Triumph Over Fear
More than ever in our world today we are confronted by choices about our future, our families and our collective destiny. No longer are we being allowed to sit on the sidelines while those in power betray our trust. We are being invited to and in some cases forced to awaken to the truth of the world around us. This election and the revelations of mismanagement that are apparent in our financial reckoning are proof that our choices DO matter.
I have never been one to believe in a predestined life. It is my experience that this Universe rewards those who take responsibility for the quality of their own character and how they interact with the world around them. While the Universe may have wonderful intentions for you, you and only you are capable of turning your back on the opportunity those intentions represent. There are multiple futures in every second of existence and quantum physicists have proven it so. It is only our attention and intention that form the world around us. In short, CHOICES are everything.
I recently had the wonderful opportunity over Thanksgiving to officiate a wedding ceremony. In that ceremony I spoke about the quality of a relationship being made up of the result of choices, sometimes large and sometimes appearing small. Every day we make decisions about how we will treat those who love us and those we simply pass by in the store while holiday shopping. What have your choices been today?
Exercise: Spend 5 minutes thinking about the last time you were out of harmony either with yourself or with someone close to you. What choices led you to that moment? What choices would you do differently if you could?
Now, and I mean right now, forgive yourself and CHOOSE AGAIN.
Triumph over Fear
Fear occurs in our hearts and minds when we encounter the unknown, feel threatened or feel unable to respond to or control a situation. Nothing makes most North American humans feel more fear than, even for a moment, being out of control! Fear of truth, responsibility and of making a choice paralyzes many of us and wreaks havoc on our ability to move in any direction. More than anything many of us fear making the wrong choices and so we remain in situations that are inauthentic to our true selves, or keep ourselves from awakening to who we truly are.
Those in positions of power have thrived on our fear, for it has kept us from exercising our universally given right to choose again. Think about it for a moment. How many choices in life are truly irrevocable?
- If you take that new job and it does not work out is it not a fact that you could then choose again and find a different one?
- If you speak harshly to your mate and cause them pain is it not true that you could choose again to amend your behavior with kindness and repair the damage?
So many of us sit on the fence, stubbornly unwilling to engage in the adventure that an experience may offer and turning our back on the Universe’s good intentions for us. Whether it is to love someone, take a different job or simply try that new hair color we convince ourselves that it is far safer to remain where we are than to make a mistake.We are in effect making our choices out of habit not awareness.
To triumph over fear we must take certain steps:
- Become Aware – Compassionate awareness of our own situation is the first step to owning our own choices. Find quiet moments to think about them. Do not beat yourself up about the past – simply gain awareness of your experience.
- Trust Your Heart, Not Your Old Habits – Change and choices are two of the true constants in our world, with love making up the sacred triad of existence. Habits are safe and predictable. Our heart of hearts can lead us out of the confusion and discomfort that comes from resisting the joy of choice and the liberation of change. Our ever expanding Universe meant life to be interesting and diverse. Flow with not against it!
- Consider Others – Every choice we make effects someone else. Awaken People! We are all connected! Your decisions effect those who love you and those who do not even know your name. Inspire yourself and others by enthusiastically honoring your right to choose. Doing this for yourself will ultimately be best for everyone involved.
- Embrace Your Power – You can not fail! Inviting a new organizing principle into your life that is based on the positive flow of energy around you will lead to a sense of peace, fulfillment and ultimately to the security you are so desperately seeking by not choosing at all. Take my word on this, but only for a moment, and then prove it to yourself by your own actions!
- Commit – Make a commitment to yourself to practice the steps above whenever you can. Your intention to engage in more enjoyable, liberating and life affirming choices is your most powerful weapon against the agent of fear in your life.
This is it. This is our time. These coming months and years are our opportunity to personally and globally create a world which operates on truth, integrity and most of all HOPE. Fear in all its debilitating forms can be defeated in each of us. We have already taken the first steps – now it is our thrilling joy to continue what we have started.
Your choices matter. Do not let them be made by others or your past habits. Together, we can all have hope, engage in loving choices and triumph over fear.
Blessed be to you all for this holiday season.
You have my love and light always!
Karuana
Choose Again!!
This newsletter is dedicated to my best friend Lynne and another talented healer and hypnotherapist Laura K. Steinke, C.Ht. Both of these women helped to snap me out of the considerable writing block I’ve been dealing with for months.
Bless you both and thank you so much for reminding me that I’m not alone and that I, too, can choose again!
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