Diane’s Blog

I’ve been spending some time considering what my deepest desires are lately.  Have you done this?  It seems to be a very effective way of paring away the superficial in life from what really brings us joy.  At least it is for me.  This is partly a function of aging — hell, I know that.  I turned 58 in November after all. 

But there’s also more to it.  It seems to me more and more that in this consumer-driven society it has become increasingly difficult to separate MY desires from those that are created artificially and funneled into my home via a television,, the Internet, etc.  Perhaps you’ve worked your way past these manufactured “needs”.  There’s still one more hurdle to jump, and that’s the trickiest one – the ego. 

It’s my understanding that one of the main reasons we are here is to learn to recognize and follow our inner voice over that of the ego, and for most of us this is a lifetime’s work.  In other words, you will probably receive one list of desires from someone to whom you ask, “What are your true desires?” 

That list will look quite different if you ask them to spend a week holding the question lightly in the back of their mind, letting it drift in and out, especially before they fall to sleep at night, and then allowing the answers to bubble up  from the heart in their own time.  If you are at all interested in following your spirit’s lead, this exercise is an effective measure of how far you’ve come. 

I’m not saying that your deepest desires have to evolve to the point where they are all non-material — please, spare me that.  As long as we have bodies it’s probably better to stay in them.  I would simply say that if after 20 years of telling yourself that you are working on your personal baggage your list of desires is still heavily weighted on the material goal side, you may need to go deeper. 

 I’ve noticed that over the last 10 years or so, my list of heart’s desires has become more and more weighted toward nature — I seem to need ever-increasing amounts of time spent walking through forests and observing the birds’ behaviors.  Having this information available to me on a conscious level has made it easier to act on.  And harder for others to convince me that something else is more important.

Q:  What do I need to do or focus on in order to ease my concern about my financial situation?

A:   “Your financial situation is not as dire as you think.  You have only to look within to realize this.  You are headed toward a new reality, are you not?  And this reality creates along with it unlimited opportunities for financial gain.  This is the nature of abundance.  It is not a separate category, as you and most others think.  It is about abundance and that is all it is. 

 Your continuing worry has nothing to do with the money, then, but is about bringing that abundance into your life.  Until recently you did not know this and so tried to evolve your money-making abilities by focusing on “Money-making ideas.”  This never works, or if it does, not for long.  Again this is not about money.  It is about the energy behind what you think of as material wealth.  And that is what you are now bringing into your life — the energy of abundant life.  

Why worry about money when you could be focusing instead on how abundant the universe is?  Why be frightened about bill paying when you could use that time to focus on creating new beliefs that support your unlimited ability to create what ever you desire in life? 

Do you not yet see that every thought you turn toward worry robs you of another step forward toward that money?  It is time and effort that could be spent creating something quite different, you see — creating the very thing that you are taking precious time to un-create by worrying about not having.  Does that make sense to you? 

So, in order to let go of your financial worries, you must first and foremost STOP THE WORRYING THOUGHTS.  They are only creating lack of the very abundance you seek.  Instead, every time your thoughts turn to worry, tell yourself, “No need to go there.  I am now creating all the abundance I could ever need.  I am now open to receive all the abundance the universe is offering me, even if I don’t always believe I deserve it.” 

Then let go and continue on with your business.  Do not dwell on this and do not send yourself messages in other ways that translate into lack.  Keep an eye out for these messages, which sometimes show up as comments you make to others about your “lack of money” or “can’t afford” or “I can only pay you in installments” and on and on.  Only become aware of how often you make these statements and you will begin to let go of your need to be a person of “no means. 

It is only your ego’s insistence on “being in charge” that is preventing the breakthrough to the “abundance” level.  Allow, let go, and give thanks.  That is your “Ticket to Ride.”

Here we are, nearly a week into the new year, and I’m just starting to think about what that might mean for me.  How about you?  Does the beginning of a new year bring with it the promise of untold possibilities?  A new chance to rewrite certain chapters of your life? 

 If nothing else, we can choose to see the beginning of each year as a marker — a cue that reminds us to look closer at the life we are living.  Sometimes that’s all that’s needed because what we really need more than anything is to see ourselves differently.  At this point in time and space on planet Earth, it seems increasingly difficult to find something stable to hold on to. 

Time itself seems to be speeding up, and it’s easy to get the feeling that we’ve lost our way, or that we’ve let potentially meaningful experiences slip through our fingers.  I’d like to share with you a realization that came to me gradually over many years — even now I can forget sometimes and slip into my old ways.  I guarantee you that if you can remember to put just this one thing into practice more and more often, your experience of life will dramatically improve. 

Honor Your Own Personal Experience.  What does that mean?  It means that in a world filled to overflowing with experts, pundits, and specialists of every stripe, it is becoming increasingly necessary to ask, “But is that my truth?”  Largely because we have allowed science to dictate our reality for us, we have accepted the “scientific” paradigm that allows “experts” in every field to negate our own, often hard-won experience. 

15 years ago, when I was presenting classes in the Adult Education Department of my community, I decided to present a one-night class about Fibromyalgia.  Having dealt with this syndrome since 1972, I felt that I was well-prepared to share my repertoire of healing techniques.  Shortly after the school brochure containing the class description was published, I received a phone call from a local physician.  He challenged my authority to present such information, stating that I was not a physician.  He was. 

Interestingly, he was not a rheumatologist, which is the specialty that deals with this problem.  Apparently he felt that the initials M.D. after his name gave him special knowledge unavailable to me.  My statement that I had many years of experience with this problem was meaningless to him.  I remember being shaken, but more resolved than ever to share what I had learned.  And so it goes. 

There’s a reason that personal experience or “anecdotal evidence” is not accepted by the scientific community.  The reason is that consciousness is an area about which scientists are so afraid that they won’t touch it with a 10 foot pole.  If you doubt this, try talking to a so-called expert in just about any field about your personal experience and see how far you get.  This wouldn’t be problematic except for the fact that science alone is too limited and too biased to guide our lives in more than a rudimentary way. 

If you take a look at the truly fearless people on earth these days, you’ll see that they all have one characteristic in common — they didn’t listen to anyone who tried to dissuade them from pursuing their dream, no matter how impractical or naive it may have seemed to everyone else. 

So — what will it be?  Will you allow the unlimited capacity of your conscious mind to take the driver seat, by letting it guide you to what ever it finds of interest — for no other reason than that?  Or will you slumber with the masses who nod and shrug every time they receive “definitive” advice from “them.”  As in “They say…”  I’m betting on you.