We went to see Karate Kid a few days ago. Remember in the original when Mr. Miaggi would say, “Wax on, Wax off”? Well, in the new version, Mr. Han says, “Put on the jacket, drop the jacket, hang up the jacket.” Same point, same result. But it got me to thinking…it’s the same way with trust. My spirit teachers have always said, “The way to grow trust is to trust.” No, that’s not a riddle; it’s just the truth. Just like hang up the jacket, drop the jacket, put on the jacket, Mr. Han is teaching Dre muscle memory… or not to ‘think’ about what he is doing. Same goes for trust. When I get guidance, just act. Just move. Trust … act. The space between these is miniscule. No thinking required. Ah, to trust implicitly! I aspire to! Spirit teachers, mentors…trusting still ultimately comes down to each moment.

One of my cherished mentors, Sonia Choquette, teaches about trusting your vibes. Her newsletter last month had one of the BEST stories of trust. Her newsletter isn’t posted on her site, so I will share a shortened version here. Sonia and her family were traveling to France, and the plane was about to board. Suddenly, she had the feeling to go and check to see if another flight that day was available going to France. This made no sense (as intuition or guidance often doesn’t look logical), but she moved toward the ticket counter straight away. With people all over the place waiting to board and the ticket agent furiously pounding away at the keyboard, Sonia asked the agent to check for another flight. Of course, the agent looked at her like she was crazy. But, true to what she teaches, Sonia stayed with her guidance and gently persisted with her request. The woman complied, and a few minutes later, the pilot showed up and told the agent that the flight had a mechanical and the passengers needed to be rerouted/reticketed – except, that is, for Sonia’s party, which were all booked on the next flight due to Sonia following her vibes. Now, that’s a story worth repeating… and a lesson worth remembering… to trust our vibes.

Trust… it’s a biggie. The only way to grow it is to trust. Don’t think… trust.

Looking for a Dream Life:

• horse screensavers
• big screensavers horses
• pics of horses
• put the jacket hang up the karate kid

What fire am I talking about? You know… that fire in your head that is blazing a trail toward something that isn’t even real!

A few days ago, Mark and I were having one of those ‘candid’ conversations that I share with you that we have. You know, the truthful ones, where we say exactly how we feel?

It went something like this…

Mark: I feel like when you ask me to do something you set my achiever side of me on fire.

Me: That’s not my intention. I’m just asking you for something.

Mark: Yes, but your energy is so fiery and then I feel like I have to run around and get it done fast.

Me: Really? That’s not my intention, I wonder why that’s happening?

Mark: Well, I feel like you are setting fires all over the place and I have to run around with my hose and put them out!

Me: Hmmm, that’s interesting since there’s no fire to begin with. What would you be putting out?

At that point, we just totally cracked up at how absurd the whole thing was. Then I said, “Your fireman needs to put his hose up! There’s no fire here to tend to!”

My show last week was about this very thing. And about how you can create your own reality from your own creative power. I received several emails about that show… wow, who knew? Of course, you all know me… I just show up and flow.

What imaginary fires are making you run around like your hair is on fire?

HAPPY EASTER!

Remember when you were a kid and you got new tennis shoes? Did you ever feel like you could run faster, leap higher and go beyond what you could before? Was that true? You betcha!

Friday, I wrote about dying to the old. Today is Easter, so let’s talk about surrendering to the new – to embracing what is shiny and new.

Many people have lost their jobs in the last year or so. The company Mark worked for went down the tubes (yes, and it was a biggie – Fortune 500), but there were so many signs along the way, and also Mark wanted to move on too. For 10 years, he stayed there enduring 27 reorganizations (not exaggerated), and dealing with more and more bureaucracy. The company he loved that was so entrepreneurial when he started became a dinosaur that couldn’t move fast enough to save its life. But why do we stay when we know we’ve outgrown the old? Safety…comfort…routine…safety…money…safety. But then what happens is that part of us really is TIRED of being super safe and BORED. Mark could do that job and five other people’s job with one arm tied behind his back. The truth is he craved adventure…the feeling he used to get from the way the company was run in the beginning.

The truth is that if you ask most people who have been laid off, they’ve been saying they wanted something else for quite some time.

So what is the truth?

Are we victimized at the lack of ‘proper’ timing of the departure or are we powerful creators and get exactly what we really desire?

If we focus on the ‘story’ of woe is me, we miss the magical invitation that we’ve given to ourselves. When companies lay people off and bills can’t be paid for more than a month is that the company’s fault or the person who didn’t save for a rainy day?

At some point, we must be responsible for ourselves. And in that, a wonderful new world opens up! It’s full of the feeling of fearlessness and adventure and KNOWING that no matter what things are going to be okay. It might not conform to the ‘idea’ of what okay looked like before, and it may involve extra effort in other areas, but if you will have a viewpoint of … God is taking me on a magical ride…let’s see who I see on the way, then the story won’t be as bad.

And don’t think I don’t know what people are feeling – I do, including all the fear of all of the stuff with goes with uncertainty. I’ll skip the story, but I’ve gained a huge amount of faith this past year – an expansion in trust that I believe would not have come in any other way but to expand through experience. However, I know that the only place we find TRUE CERTAINTY is within with God.

When we place our certainty in money, then when the money is gone then our certainty is gone too. If we place our certainty in another person, then if something happens to them, there goes the certainty. However, when we place our certainty in faith, in God, in ourselves to know and trust where we are guided, THEN and only then do we have certainty.

One blog I read recently is so beautifully written and touching about dealing with certainty. I hope you can feel the ‘feeling’ of adventure and shiny newness in it… and yes, the uncertainty is in there too!

therifchronicles.blogspot.com

Looking for a Dream Life:

• horse s inthe wild
• wonderful horse

My first experience with a horse was scary. Sitting on this remarkable creature, I felt ill-equipped to ‘control’ this massive beast underneath me. Sure enough, barely a few hundred yards down the road, the horse started side-stepping down into the ravine that was at least four or five feet below the gravel road. My friend Shelli, who grew up around horses stayed calm saying, “Just lead him up to the road again.” I was terrified of falling off, and it seemed that was all I could focus on. I just wanted OFF that horse. I ended up somehow directing him up to the road and then immediately got off so I could be ‘safe.’

Now… nearly 30 years later, I see that moment as a lesson in trust. Last week, on the show, we talked about finding the Truth within. Trust is a big part of finding the Truth. That horse knew I didn’t trust him, and he showed me as much.

In the September 2006 Cowboys & Indians magazine (am doing some collage art and was looking for some cool images in a stack of mags mom gave me), I read an article by Wolf Schneider called Saving the Mustangs. Did you know there are about 32,000 wild mustangs just in the southwest?

As I wondered about trust and how we can build trust within ourselves and also in God (yes, I wonder about such stuff while doing projects), I found this article about horses and how people ‘tame’ wild horses. Sharron Evans, the horse owner chronicled in the article says… “It’s speaking their language. No roping, no force. It’s all meant to be the horse’s choice while still establishing your dominance.” It struck me that our relationship with God can be like that. God shows us… guides us… and yet it is our choice what we choose.

Then Evans says in response to the question, ‘How much harder is it than training any other horse?’ “It starts off slower than with a domestic horse. But you take your time and learn your stuff, and once the horse trusts you, it goes faster than with a domestic horse. Because they’ve already given you their trust, now it’s just a matter of communication for them to know what it is you want.” This reminded me of trusting fully… the more fully we trust, the faster our connection with the Creator, and the easier things go. God supports us in what we are creating, and in the process we gain the opportunity to trust more and more.