A DAILY PAUSE

365 Pauses

Flossing into Transcendence

Dental Equipment

True Self


 

Yeah, this seeker mind wanders through the world seeking and never finding. How can I find that which does not exist outside of my True Self in a world in which my True Self seems to be excluded? Living life in a 24/7 world that seems to be a distraction from what I hope to find, only to find my True Self fully present and standing at the bathroom mirror while flossing my teeth! One moment I was just flossing, the next moment I was flossing in the now; the mirror reflecting the restful presence of the True Self. Turns out, there is no need for the transcendent experience to be thought of as separate from the mundane. Love is in the world or it isn’t Love.

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Raising the Bar

Customer Service and the Pause


Yesterday afternoon I was happy to be receiving help at the computer store learning how to use a new app. I was willing to learn! However, the gentleman helping me was not as willing to instruct as I was to learn. Seemed as though I was just another in a long line of computer illiterates that he was put in the ugly position of having to help become more technology savvy. He came off as kind of a know-it-all wondering why I didn’t know-it-all. Of course I wouldn’t be there if I did know-it-all. I realized that two factors were probably happening here: 1) I was a bit uneasy about learning how to use this new app, and 2) He was simply not in the mood and mainly, distracted. His eyes were roaming all over the store as if he was following the flight of a bumblebee. I decided that the best way to help both of us, was to Pause, Step Back, Step Aside and Let Inspiration Guide.
 
I was practicing The 4 Decisions in my mind and as I did so a few things happened: 1) My uneasiness floated away; 2) He stopped talking so fast and literally began pausing as he spoke. It was as if his mind slowed down to receive what words to say that would be helpful instead of spouting something off that he had filed away in a mind slot about this particular app; 3) We made eye contact. Now we were present to one another and available to the moment. It was really cool to see this transformation in us both unfold in a matter of seconds.
 
Now, some may say it was all just my perception. I just needed to relax. That was definitely part of it. But what was demonstrated here is the power of the pause. Without getting into some hypothetical explanation of how this works, what worked was one person’s willingness to open to a more peaceful, helpful and effective way of communication. He became a better instructor for the next 45 minutes and I noticed I became more grateful for him. We began enjoying this time together instead of wishing it were over!
 
How many times in your day do you wish something were over? How much of my life have I wasted wishing something was over? How much energy have I wasted being upset with poor customer service when I could have played a pivotal role in turning the customer service experience around to be more helpful, or least found some inner peace amidst the “Customer Not-At-Your-Service” counter? What do I really want? Do I want to lower the bar of the human daily life experience or raise the bar?

 


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The Bugged Buggy Man

pedicab1

LaVerne


At the corner of Clark and Tucker in downtown St. Louis, here sits LaVerne “womaning” her water and nut stand before the St. Louis Cardinals home game. LaVerne and I have joined for healing; she is in Stage 4 cancer. I am guided to extend her healing by going through The 4 Decisions practice in my mind while laying my hands upon her wasting body. It’s a slow day at the nut stand when a “live” nut enters the scene. A wild looking man driving around on one of those cab-carts gets out of his buggy, grabs a bottle of water, throws it on the ground yelling out that the shape of the bottle doesn’t fit his water holder in his buggy. He growls at us and sneers as if that will summons a reaction. LaVerne expresses later that she was wondering what this crazy person might do. I am deeply immersed in Letting Inspiration Guide and he might as well be on Mars for all I care. I was in no way frightened or distracted by this buggy mind. He did not phase, physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. I was having a tangible experience of Inspiration Within – which cannot be disturbed – in the midst of traffic, passersby and baseball festivities.
 
This man embodied distraction – the ridiculousness that leaks into our minds that we have a choice to value, or not. I have to thank him for showing me just how insane it is to place meaning on meaninglessness and then react.
 
About 30 minutes later he pulled up again and asked me if I needed a ride. Again, I was aware he was trying to get my attention. Clearly, he was lonely. The cubicle mind is alone. I looked right through him and beyond who he saw himself to be and said “No thanks.” I felt transparent. He paused. He took off on his buggy perhaps less involved with his bugged mind. Perhaps seeing in a way he had never seen or been seen before, or not. I was seeing clearly.
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