Although I continue to be available to provide guidance for you, my blog entries are on hold indefinitely.  I am now writing a book, and that is taking up most of my free time.  I think we each have a book of some kind within us, and this is mine.  Although it’s a novel, it’s all about learning to follow guidance and how this changes your life. 

With things as they are now globally, it seems to me that the only way to avoid destroying our planet is for enough of us to begin the journey of waking up to our true nature as Spirit in physical bodies.  The warring on the planet won’t end until each of us makes peace with what our inner voice daily urges us to do: “Love yourself, and allow people and things to be exactly as they are, rather than fighting against and trying to fix them.” 

Take good care,

Diane

A:  Be prepared to listen to all voices from within your heart that feel isolated, lost, or frightened about being left behind.  Hear their responses to your movement toward light and love, and honor their need for more time spent in the light of your awareness.  This will include the fear you still maintain of your own voice and its power. 

You need not be concerned any longer about your effect on others — it has little to do with your own large spirit — more to do with the areas in others that are still small and crying out for attention of their own.  Those who respond negatively to your increasingly powerful presence, then, would do best to look within themselves for answers to their feelings of anger and worthlessness.  You are not responsible. 

Do not feel the need to focus on or dwell upon your areas of lack except when you hear a little voice asking you to do so.  Then shed all the light at your disposal on this needy part of yourself, and allow it to come up and out — give it positive attention, nurture it, and let it go its own way.  That is the best you can do for yourself in terms of personal growth and the shedding of old outdated beliefs. 

 Allow your love of Self and of God to comfort these less-developed areas of yourself rather than berating and chiding yourself for being a part of them and they a part of you.  OWN THEM truly; allow for their existence right next to your most highly developed areas and they will begin to shine also, reflecting the light and generosity of spirit you afford them.  Teach yourself, in other words, how to love and be loved; your Higher Self knows no favorites in terms of the fragments of the whole. 

All your elements of design are equally valued and loved by your creator.  If you are truly growing toward godhood, emulate that way, that inclusiveness.  Start with yourself.”

Thus, the once-in-a while blog is born!  At some point I guess I’ll have to have my web designer remove the “Weekly” from the top of this page, so as to not confuse.  Quality over quantity, people…

I’d like to share with you a little epiphany I had last weekend.  I started having an off-and-on pain in the upper left quadrant of my stomach — after 24 hours it had not changed.  So I did what I’ve been practicing for a couple of months now — I told my body that I’m sorry, I’m here, and I’m listening.  Having had an adversarial relationship with my body for practically my whole life, I finally got it that this needs to change in order for me to create not only better health for myself, but the sense of well-being that I want to experience at all times. 

When I receive messages via my intuition, they appear as just another thought, but I’ve learned to distinguish them from the messages that my ego sends me, which are almost always directive, often negative, forcing, and urgent.   Therefore, I knew I had a “hit” when I suddenly heard the words “Lighten Up” spoken gently. 

Well, that’s it, I thought.  Of course.  Even though I’ve tried to tell myself that I’m pretty relaxed these days, a deeper part of me knew that this wasn’t so.  I immediately began to remind myself periodically throughout the day to lighten up.  This helped a little, and indeed, the pain was gone by the next morning. 

Because I felt I needed to know more details about what was going on, I sat quietly the next afternoon and asked for guidance.  Because I am connected to my inner guidance system, and because this is what I do, I always receive an in-depth answer.  It turns out that a great deal of my anxieties about not being somehow “good enough” are still with me, and the pain that manifested did so as a reminder that this is so. 

It’s true — when I thought about it, I realized that I still have the fear that I am somehow inadequate to do the work that I am here to do.  Here’s where it gets complicated for all of us — I know intellectually that I am more than prepared and skilled.  Emotionally, however, part of me is constantly sabotaging this knowing.  This particular fear is rooted in my childhood — I am quite familiar with its origins. 

It was a reality check for me to be reminded that it is still active in my life, even though much of the time I may be unaware of it consciously.  My guidance suggested that I notice daily when I start to feed myself any sort of negative thoughts about my abilities or about how much I am “doing” since part of this fear manifests as forceful messages from my ego self that I should be doing more to prove my worth. 

The bottom line is “Stop The Should-ing!”  It’s always humbling to receive a reality check like this.  Especially because there are times when I receive the opposite message from the ego — the one that says “I am more evolved than (fill in the blank).  Our egos are funny that way — they like to keep us on quite an emotional roller coaster by informing us that we are at either one end of the spectrum or the other. 

What we seek of course, is balance — the middle point between better than and not good enough.  The process of waking up is now in full swing on this planet, and as I’m still being reminded, noticing and changing the thought patterns that no longer support us is our basic spiritual practice.

A:  “You can sit, and with eyes closed, picture the coming year and the events you wish to see transpire, especially as related to your higher purpose.  (NOTE: Those of you who aren’t yet clear about that purpose, ask yourself what would you like for it to be, letting go of any practical considerations)

Then picture yourself and how you wish to BE in that year — what qualities do you wish to project more, and which ones do you wish to let go of?  Write these impressions down in a way that will be a marker for you in years to come.  Keeping them in a journal is a good way to do this.  You will not only see these things unfold as they occur, but you will remember how you ushered them in this year. 

Do not forget to include your prayers and wishes for others in your life, living and dead.  You may even wish to draw a picture or create a symbol that will be a touchstone for you throughout the year, one that will evoke your intention for that year every time you gaze at it or hold it in your hand.  Remember to give a little time — a few moments — just to loving yourself and the wonderful, loving person you are now and are every day becoming. 

Never leave your love of Self out, or you will not have created a complete picture of your reality.  YOU are the center from whom all love, all creativity, all wisdom and energy that is life-supporting flows.”

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.

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.”

 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.

A:  “You are now ‘hatching’ your abundance through the opening of your heart, for that is the way always — through loving, expansive feelings for self and others.  You have held this state at arm’s length for most of your life only because it frightened the part of you who believed that to give was to experience lack and loss.  This is the poverty mentality applied to the heart. 

Only those who give freely know how false this state is — how it is an illusion.  When you give — of your time, your words, your belongings, your self — you actually expand your self and all that you touch.  You become a more expanded version of your self – one who knows that there is never lack as a result of giving, and that you must always come back to giving to self.

That is where it begins and ends.  Without love of self, all other giving is shallow and ultimately dries up, having no firm base upon which to rest.  You need only look to your own emotional needs for now, for that is where your abundance begins.  How do you still deny yourself emotionally of all you have to give in terms of support, love, forgiveness, and acceptance just for being?  Not doing.  Being. 

You still have a daily agenda that often requires certain specific goals or actions of yourself.  Failing to execute these more than adequately sets you up for inner punishment by the self who criticizes and judges. 

That part of you has relaxed her grip to a great extent, it is true, but she still dominates, and must be coaxed and supported in her neediness so that she will no longer need to withhold love — the love that you need in order to experience your abundance. 

You can discover how she still operates by simply bringing a bit more awareness to your everyday interactions with yourself and note the voice being used.  How do you speak to yourself?  Would you speak to a close friend in the same way?  That is how to recognize and step aside from the need to contract rather than expand.”              

Here’s to a wonderful, warm holiday season to you and yours.  May we all live to see peace become as infectious as war has always been.  I know we can do this, because it only requires that each of us look within and choose peace for ourselves in every situation.  Pretty simple, no?

What happened eight years ago, you may well ask?  Here’s what happened: I decided to participate in the “Whole Life Expo” in Cleveland by purchasing booth space.  I was at the time calling my work “The Heartlogic System” and this seemed an excellent way to promote it.  This turned out to have been a naïve move on my part, but it was fun.  Across the aisle from me was a man named Gary Bonnell, whose booth seemed to promote books he had written; he also seemed to be giving brief readings of some sort. 

I paid little attention to him until the third and last day of the Expo, when I had a little free time and spent some of it looking over his books.  I was fascinated; here was all sorts of information about such topics as reincarnation, various esoteric wisdom teachings, and the Akashic Records, about which I knew next to nothing at the time.  I sought Gary out, and, to make a long story short, he sat me down for a free five-minute reading. 

I only recall one thing from that reading, but it’s a doozy.  He said, “Stop trying to figure things out!”  I said something like, “Yeah — you’re so right.”  Then I spent the next few days driving around in my car trying to figure out what he meant by that.  I finally got it, but it seems to have taken a long time for me to really implement this in my life.  After all, I spent the whole of my life up until then doing just that most of the time — trying to figure things out in my head, mostly so that I could experience some sense of control over life.  Some degree of safety. 

 Isn’t that what we do?  If I can just figure out ahead of time exactly what it is that my boss wants, I’ll have it made.  If I can just figure out how to make this relationship work — etc., etc. and so it goes.  In this analytical, left brain-worshiping society we can’t leave anything to “chance.”  The problem with this approach is that it ignores at least half of the information that is available to us. 

That information is contained within what you could call “intuitive knowing.”  We don’t know where we got that great idea that just came to us, but we know it didn’t come from analysis of the situation.  It just appeared.  In fact, it is just this process by which almost all of the world’s greatest ideas, inventions, and art have manifested: you do all the practical information-gathering, and then you let your intuition guide you. 

 I know this is so from my own experience, because I have now tried it again and again over the last few years, and it always works so beautifully — really beyond any initial expectation –that I am always shocked that I spent so much time “up in my head” going around in circles trying to force my brain to do work it was not cut out to do.  Once in awhile I still have to remind myself that this is so, and that happened this week. 

 I always catch myself at some point in the “chasing the answer around like a rat in a maze” mode; I notice that I am starting to feel a fuzziness in my thinking process as I continue to try to force an answer to come but keep hitting my head against a brick wall.  How does this work for you?  If you’re still trying to “figure things out”, why not step back and give life a chance to lead you?  I’ve found myself led to magnificent vistas that I never “figured” I’d experience.