Loving Without Control
~Adapted from The Path to Love, by Deepak Chopra (Three Rivers Press, 1997).

The key stances of letting go of control are all forms of allowing: Acceptance, tolerance, non-resistance. When control is ready to loosen its grip, a definite relaxation takes place. The façade of the demanding, critical partner who is so quick to blame begins to melt. You start to feel love once more, not as an idea but as a sensation in your heart. And at last you find it possible to allow.

When this stage is reached with the beloved, the healing process begins to branch out into other aspects of your life. The following changes will often be in evidence:

* You stop measuring people by whether they live up to your expectations. You begin to resist the urge to correct their mistakes and give unwanted advice.
* You lessen your habit of taking care of others without really caring for them.
* You become tired of trying to keep track of every detail of your life and bored with people who have always given in to you.
* You begin to listen to objections and disagreements instead of using them to trigger your own opinion.
* Unexpected emotions come to the surface. This usually arouses self-criticism because you can’t control your feelings anymore as you once did. At another level, however, this eruption of emotions comes as a great relief.
* Your impatience begins to lessen.
* You take stress seriously, no longer believing that you thrive on it.
* You begin to listen to your body, which has all along been giving you signals of tightness, fatigue, etc.
* Your mind gives up calculating every move in advance.
* You stop holding grudges and remembering slights. Resentment begins to be replaced by tolerance.
* You quit setting external goals for yourself and believing that achieving these goals faster, better, and more tirelessly makes you a good person.

How can you love without need? Know the difference between ego and spirit.

Take a look at the following 5 element Chinese Medicine Wheel model for your career and see which of these imbalances may be holding you back in your career (this particular model is for doctors and holistic practitioners but you can apply it to any career):

Earth imbalance: I am not good enough, therefore I must exhaust myself in the endless effort to give patients what they need. I think I want to see more patients but, although I hate to admit it, I am pretty fried seeing the few patients I have. I attract a lot of needy, high maintenance patients.

Metal imbalance: I am not worthy of success and abundance, therefore I never attract the kind of money that I’d like and my practice always feels unstable. Even though I undercharge for my services, it is hard for me to fill my books. My patients seem to cancel a lot and don’t value my policies. Sometimes I feel invisible, like no one even knows or cares that I am here. I attract patients who either can’t afford me or have a hard time seeing the value in what I offer.

Water imbalance: I either put money first or pretend that it doesn’t matter at all. Either way, I am run by fear. My treatments don’t feel as powerful as I’d like them to and my patients don’t refer others to me as much as I’d like. I have been in a low grade state of fight or flight and can’t stop thinking about how to make this work financially, which I know is blocking me from my true potential. I attract patients who don’t offer enough of themselves in the treatment process. While I want to treat them at a deeper level, they just don’t seem to understand or be interested in this.

Wood imbalance: It is me against the world. There is a lot of competition in my area, so I have to try really hard to be successful. Usually I feel angry that it’s not happening as quickly as I’d like. Even though I put so much effort into it, my practice often feels stagnant, like it’s not moving forward. The harder I try, the more hopeless I feel. I attract really challenging patients who like to argue with me much of the time.

Fire imbalance: I am either really into my practice and totally in love with it or I have the urge to flee it as quickly as possible. My commitment wavers, which keeps the whole thing feeling superficial. Sometimes I wonder if the main reason I have done OK in my practice is because I am so friendly and I know how to connect with people. I attract patients who want to be my friend; they talk a lot and make me lose track of my schedule. Although they seem to love me, my patients can be flighty. They tend to disappear without notice. The whole thing can feel chaotic.

Be honest with yourself. If you are not at the place you’d like to be in your career, it is almost certain that one of these imbalances is the weak link for you. Can you see how this is not only holding you back in your career, but is preventing you from offering your very best to your employers, customers, patients, etc?

Courtesy of buildyourdreampractice.net/

The Message from the Eclipse
” Rebirth of the Nation”

The whole nation is coming to a rebirth both those who are spiritual and others are going to see a beautiful, beautiful new way of life. Those who do not accept the rebirth of themselves are going to go nowhere. Accept the changes, make peace with the changes going on in your life and step into the new.

Be aware of any negativity so that you can consciously let it go.

During the eclipse I saw a beautiful brown, green, golden umber landscape that featured trees and marble mountains with snowcaps. There was a burnt orange sun with golden clouds floating through the sky.

This means that life is like a new canvas, and we are starting to rebuild on a solid foundation. We have a completely new landscape with which to work. The key is to just accept the strange things, the unexplained twists and turns in life, accept the gifts from the Universe, knowing that we are in a new era. Message intuited by Norman Moody, Spiritual Visionary.

I was behind this hot little car today - a Toyota Solara convertible. The license plate read “TUFFLIFE”, and I noticed something was wrong, I saw their gas cap was hanging open.

Wait for it… (giggle)… this picture is hysterically funny for those with a twisted sense of humor such as myself.

Its a really really interesting snapshot of someone Creating Their Own Reality. Its literal Poetry in Motion. In this day and age of manifesting our future and creating our own realities, I’m amused and slightly horrified that someone would label themselves with a tough life. Although the meaning of the plate could have been some form of gloating, the open lid was like a left hand waving at me “I’m irony over here!”

Sorry the pic didn’t come out clearer, my cell phone took a pretty good one as we were moving. Here’s wishing TUFFLIFE an easier road ahead.

Wendy
www.gardenplum.com

We are so pleased to bring this incredible creation to you, called Epona Stones. These stones, created by Carol Lee Campbell (maker of Crone Stones), is an exquisite polished stone collection depicting ancient horses from many eras. Each stone represents a noble steed or story… from Norse God Odin’s horse Sleipnir who had eight legs, to the winged Pegasus who was ridden by Eos, the Goddess of Dawn.

Whether your destiny is calling for you to charge forward in your Chariot of Fire with the Sun Goddess Sol, to see beyond the illusion of the ordinary with Donkey Medicine, or to have secrets revealed to you by the Trojan Horse, these Epona stones literally tingle in my hand. Filled with greek, norse, celtic and ancient mythologies, these storytelling stones lead you to seek the answers waiting for you. Just as with Carol’s Crone Stones, these beautifully etched polished stones carry the burden of truth to us in a beautiful format.
More info>>

If they erect structures that do not please them, then without an instant of remorse, they knock them aside, and make new ones… ~ Seth

“I can’t believe this happened again! Am I cursed? What am I doing wrong?”

Often times as we set to achieve life goals, we reach roadblocks and hurdles that prevent us from reaching those life goals. Why is it sometimes difficult to reach a set goal?

In some cases, obstacles appear because the Universe wants us to gain wisdom before we can achieve the goals we have set. In a nutshell, we are not ready for the goals we set, and so we do not attain these goals until we have attained the wisdom necessary to not only reach the goals we set, but to be able to handle what they bring.

Here are a few simple examples:

“I want to lose weight”.
Will you be able to handle what a new slim body and new healthy eating habits will bring? Are you ready for a new identity, one that will attract new things?

“I want buy a house”.
Will you be able to maintain a yard? To pay for insurance? To pay taxes? To fix the plumbing?

“I want to have a baby”.
Are you ready to care for someone else over your career? Have you addressed issues with your own parents? Are you healed and ready to create another being?

The above scenarios are very simple and stereotypical scenarios… but they give a birdseye view of the soul lessons the Universe is waiting for you to learn before goals can be reached and new levels of awareness can be attained.

Chestnut Bud helps us when we get into those stuck places. Those stuck patterns. At that time when we are standing here scratching our heads, wondering what we are doing wrong, Chestnut Bud helps to gently allow us to see karmic lessons, patterns, and wisdom so that we can jump over life hurdles and continue on an upward journey.

Please feel free to contact me for a Flower Essence Consultation.

I’ve been reading and chatting with mediums and they all agree it will bring about a stronger sense of community, a much gentler year than 2007. Phew! I look forward to that! I think its one of the most important things for our times right now - to realize we are all one big planetary community. We are all equal, not measured. We are - I guess the word is - mature as a race.

As a whole, we have gained much wisdom and hopefully we can stop hurting the planet; waging war and hurting each other. Ah, we are old with wisdom and wrinkles and we won’t fall for that again… that was the lesson in electing George W. Bush. This “man” took America’s power for his own. We now have an understanding of the “underground politics” that go on behind closed doors among the richest and the corporations. This truth had to come into the light for us to see it, and now we are mature enough to do away with it in a kind, gentle way. (Hillary don’t spank too hard, ok maybe a little…)

Hail 2008!
2008 is going to be great just as soon as I get through this.. pile of… shmoo…..

I want to share something I learned this past year about clutter - whether its unanswered emails, piles of to-do’s, laundry piled up in the basement, or an overstuffed closet - in most cases, these piles are a representation of INDECISION.

Before I ring the new year in, I am set to rigorously separate my Pile of Indecision into a various forms of action necessary to clear my clutter and clear my mind.

These piles are energetic distractions to getting to the things that matter (my blog for instance?). From a metaphysical standpoint, these piles of things waiting for my energy are blocking a flow of good energy, they are bad feng shui, and they’re simply depressing! At the root of this pile lies the culprit, indecision.

Keep smiling, keep laughing. And thanks for reading.

“If I throw a bunch of vegetables around the kitchen singing, everything will be O.K.”
- Wendy Stevens