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Hear this tip! Audio 2m12s

What is encompassment? Encompassment is the art of finding the positive in all we say, hear, and do. Through encompassment, we connect with those around us by finding commonality, relationship, and congruity. When we are encompassing, our hearts are open and we are able to love what is.

Wait, what about what isn’t acceptable? Of course, there are actions in the world that are different from what we want. We know there are people who shut out their own source and so are unable to see, understand, and feel, how their actions affect those around them. Sometimes we are those people. How do we encompass in these situations? Rather than focus on a particular act, we acknowledge the pain of the person acting. Rather than focus on anger, ours or theirs, we look to see what the anger covers. Sadness? Fear? We ask ourselves how we can be compassionate, and we act accordingly.

We remember: what goes around, comes around. Knowing we all get what we give, whether immediately or in the future, we give good and make the world the kind of world in which we want to live. We speak mindful, truthful, useful, compassionate words. We act in ways that are kind and positive. We grow and use our skill of encompassment, and in doing so make our lives easier, calmer, more even-keeled, while bringing peace to those around us.

Want a partner in growing encompassment? Call me at 703-297-2224 or email me!

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Next month:

What’s It Worth?

Hear this tip! Audio 2m16s

What good is finding our way? There are lots of lives to lead other than our own. In the short term, another’s path can seem easy, the path of least resistance. But the fruits of being off path always come back to us. Our health suffers. We feel dissatisfied. We reach the end of life and wonder what we spent our time doing and why we bothered. Although finding our own way takes energy and faith, the rewards include being able to live in the world and with ourselves with integrity, at peace.

What are our signposts? Wouldn’t it be great if, in the midst of the forest of choices with which we are surrounded, we came upon blazes to mark our path, and even better, stairs to take us easily up from one level to the next? The blazes and the stairs are present. We just need to open our eyes and look around to see them. When we are on our path, we feel satisfaction in our work. When we are on our path, we do things for their own sake, rather than as a replacement for or escape from something else. When we are on our path, we feel energized.

How can we use our signposts? By tuning in to how we feel and acknowledging the validity of our feelings, we use what we learn from our signposts to evaluate our options. If we record those times we feel satisfied, do something for its own sake, or get energized by doing something, we can then look for patterns in what we record to know what we want to do more of. In this way, we can consistently move in the direction of what works for us. We stay on our path.

Want a partner in finding your way? Call me at 703-297-2224 or email me!

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Next month:

Encompassment

Hear this tip! Audio 2m36s

What is the key to immediate peace? The key to immediate peace is releasing our expectations.* If we are caught up in what we expect is true about the past, what we think is true about the present, and what we want to be true in the future, our minds churn and churn, like a blender that eventually separates us into bits.

How can we return to wholeness? While all of our lives are in some aspect a result of our perceptions, we can move our perceptions closer to reality. As we do, we move closer to wholeness and to peace. In observing what happens around us, we can stop at an observation without assigning additional meaning to it. Whereas once we might have said, “Well, he said such and such, so that means blah blah blah blah blah….,” we can consciously stop at the observation that “He said such and such.” Period. End of story. No concoction. No expectations. No past, present, or future world constructed from the figments of our imagination. Rather, a simple observation; one that is not pleasant, is not painful, and is not even neutral. It just is.

How can we remember to stop concocting and start being in peace? Whenever we catch our mouths or our minds moving in circles, churning, worrying at something like a dog with an old bone, we can ask ourselves, “What expectations do I have here? How can I release those expectations?” Then, we know what to do. We can take the next step that moves us closer to releasing our expectations, and moving into peace.

Want a partner in releasing expectations? Call me at 703-297-2224 or email me!

*“[P]eace immediately follows the giving up of expectations.” Bhagavad Gita at 12.12 (trans. Jack Hawley).

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Next month:

Finding Our Way

Hear this tip! Audio 1m54s

Fatherhood, the male energy. What do we get? When our male energy is active, we create boundaries to which we hold steady, and protect those whom we consider within our clan.

How do we benefit from fatherhood? We benefit from fatherhood in at least three ways. First, when we are within the clan, we know we are protected. Second, as we access our male energy, decision-making is easy. We are clear about what our boundaries are; what we are willing to accept; when it is time to say, firmly, “No.” Third, those around us know exactly where we stand.

How can we use our male energy consciously? We can use our male energy consciously as we answer the question “Who do I want to be?” As we create our vision of our self, we can create the outline by starting with our boundaries. What are our absolutes? About what do we have clarity? In answering these questions, we begin to see who we are.

Want a partner in accessing the clarity of fatherhood? Call me at 703-297-2224 or email me!

Also available as an ITunes Podcast!

Next month:

The Key to Immediate Peace

Hear this tip! Audio 2:24 min

What is motherhood? Female or male, we experience the feminine energy of motherhood when we 1) bring something new into the world and then 2) choose to nurture its development, over time. A child born or adopted, a business created, a book written, a song recorded, a play produced, a pet added to the family: these are just a few of the ways in which we can experience motherhood.

What is the core of motherhood? Love. Chaos. Joy. Endurance. Pride. In a word, emotion. Through our feminine energy we have the opportunity to experience emotions we may have never felt before, or to experience familiar emotions at a different level. We get to experience these emotions because we care deeply about our literal and figurative children.

What do we do with our emotions? Our emotions provide us with the opportunity to grow. We have experienced a huge change. Do we make the transition available to us because of this change, or do we attempt to remain the person we were? What do we learn from our emotions? Do we become more mindful, and make more conscious choices, or do we find ourselves feeling as though our emotions control us? We have a choice.

Want a partner in choosing what to do with the emotions of motherhood? Call me at 703-297-2224 or email me!

Also available as an ITunes Podcast!

And – check out the 2010 Independent Publisher Book Silver Award-winning book, Live Light: Simple Steps!

Next month:

Fatherhood

Getting nothing but static, getting nothing but static.
Static filling my attic from Channel Z
I don’t know—I feel like something’s happening
Something good is happening!
~ Channel Z – The B-52s

Hear this tip! Audio 2:00 min

What is the Great Unknown? That’s a trick question, right? If we knew what the Great Unknown was, it wouldn’t be unknown! True. At the same time, we do know that the Great Unknown is simply a function of time. Time reveals all. What do we do and be in the interim?

We recognize we are in the time just before the unknown becomes known. In this time, we are in a dual state of being. We feel as if our heads are filled with static. So many possibilities! No idea which way to turn! Stops and starts over and over again! We also feel that something good is happening. We are excited. We feel our energy shifting. We see openings where before we thought there were none.

What do we do with our recognition? Not much. There really isn’t much for us to do except hang on for the ride, leave ourselves open to transformation, and trust that all is exactly as it should be. Even, perhaps especially, when we don’t feel like it.

Want a partner in navigating that time before entering the Great Unknown? Call me at 703-297-2224 or email me!

Also available as an ITunes Podcast!

Next month:

Motherhood