Crossing the wide span

Of a tall river bridge

I want to freeze the moment

As I gaze out across

the endless wide water.

It always makes me ecstatic

Uplifting me to some

Other plane of existence

As if I were flying high above

All troubles and strife.

I feel every cell

In my body sing

With bliss

And sitting in my little

Loft back home

Again, from a height,

Overlooking

The water below

I am transported.

The media

The news

The anger

The barking heads

Float away

As a higher perspective

Takes hold.

A knowing of a

Larger vantage point

Of this tiny moment

In history

And the infinite

Possibilities within it

In this day and age where we have so many outlets for intimately seeing other’s lives, and it’s important we aren’t distracted from our own.
Comparisons can be dangerous—and can lead to feeling of inadequacy, sadness, inferiority, even depression.
Comparing yourself to those you admire or comparing your family to other families you think are more together, better, happier, more successful, is going down a path that isn’t helping your feelings of wellbeing.
Know this—your place on the road of life is REAL; meaning, it is, for you, uniquely designed for your destiny. Only you have the mix of situations, family members, and events that are moving you toward your highest evolution—your deepest realizations, your total blossoming. So, follow your own path, regardless of other’s paths; you have a destiny all your own.

When someone comes to me with concerns, be it physical, mental, emotional or spiritual, the first strategy I recommend for coping and healing is to learn to meditate. When the body is sending stress signals of discomfort, when the mind is bouncing from worries to regrets and back again, when a person never finds the time look inward and discover the peace that is there, then the first thing to do is begin to learn to this practice. It makes everything else easier, enabling you to stand back and observe your life, your relationships and events from a new perspective, not shadowed by emotions and drama. The clarity one begins to see with makes solutions to problems more apparent.

Our normal operating mode is through our ego, which stores all of our memories and past emotions since birth. (Also functions of the left hemisphere of the brain.)  If we operate solely from our ego, we find ourselves getting attached to positions, roles and ‘stuff’. Then, if anyone or anything threatens our relationship, role or ‘stuff’ we react emotionally without realizing we have a choice.

Have you ever been in the middle of an argument or unhappy thoughts when suddenly you ‘woke up’ and realized how silly you were being? What you have done is stepped out of your ego for the moment; you’ve awoken to your real self, the source of your consciousness. The expansive joyful self we were meant to be. (Some would say the right hemisphere.) When you have the ability to move out of your ego, you won’t be tripped up so often into feeling offended, angry, hateful, jealous, etc. And even if you do, you know that isn’t the real you, so it doesn’t hold as much weight for you. Your awareness is enhanced. With this enhanced awareness you can begin to address the other issues in your life that you want to change. What once seemed like a ‘big deal’ is reduced to a more manageable size. You know you are more; you are greater than the small ego that used to be your entire awareness.

One day, after meditating for a month or a year or two years you wake up and KNOW you can achieve what you want, you can heal, create, be, do and have your hearts desire. You begin realizing you have a choice on how you react to events and situations instead of reacting with the learned response of your family of origin, (your default behavior). As you notice people around you, you grasp on a deep level what is motivating them, and naturally have more compassion towards them. That is not to say all your challenges drift away and you are forever blissfully lounging on a  hammock on some tropical island. One thing I have observed, as the students go through this process, is their the next challenge: that of discerning what in the world they do want and what their true purpose is! This will be your next quest.

To transcend

a bad feeling

don’t hold it back,

push it down,

wish it away,

or deny it.

Open yourself

to fully feel it

with all of its

pointed daggers

and crushing weight.

As this emotion

is acknowledged by you,

wholly felt,

accepted,

embraced,

only then

may it begin

finding its way

through you

and seek an exit.

Another report out today, this time from the World Economic Forum’s findings and projections revealing the gender gap is worsening. They rank countries by economic opportunities, education, political participation and health.

These kinds of reports send off alarm bells in my head. Not because I’m not aware of these realities, not because I don’t feel deeply for my sisters across the world, but because many of these disadvantages need not be, especially in our western countries.

I began my journey into the work world in the early eighties. I entered male dominated industries. I had a fire in my belly to succeed and where I found blocks that would not move, I sidestepped, blazed through, or left for more opportunity. In the year 2000 I finally fully awoke to the realization that fighting to move within this masculine hierarchy was foolish. I began my own company and have been joyously fulfilled ever since. (I must mention that I love men, and love working with men, and highly respect most of the men I’ve worked with.)

Going to work for a corporation still in the old paradigm, within the structure of the masculine hierarchy, is the problem for many women and men. They are dependent on the men in the company to see them, promote them, value them, etc. And the system was set up so long ago, the values, habits, and customs are outdated. I remember a manager telling me I would not be successful because I had a ‘warm’ personality. (He, with a harsh personality, ended in failure.)

If you are a woman working within a large corporation run mostly by men, take note. You’ve entered an old system that is becoming outdated. Why give your power and your future to something outside yourself? Learn all you can, hone your skills, and make a plan to take charge of your own career track. When you are told no find another way, because there always is another way. Brainstorm with others if you feel stuck.

And always take tender loving care of yourself. Find moments to get clarity, enter silence every day, this will help you see opportunities and solutions.

(Photo is of me over 30 years ago, brokerage days!)

There was once a young woman walking down her life path, and every so often she would pick up something and put it somewhere: in her pocket, her back pack, purse, over her shoulder even. This goes on for years. She thinks these things she is collecting will improve her somehow, make her smarter, prettier, happier and look more successful, and they do make her feel good for a little while—until she thinks of something else she wants. She hears about some of these things from other people. Some are the way others behave, and present their image. She sees some accessories on other people and they look so nice. Some are shiny, some do things. But it becomes increasingly heavy for her to carry it all. On top of that, she holds onto all the disappointments and failures from her experiences on her path, and these too become quite heavy.
Her back begins to ache, her knees hurt, and she begins to walk bent over with all the weight of it. And then something changed. She felt she couldn’t carry it all anymore, so she sat down with all her things clanging around her. The ground felt so good. Without holding up all these enhancements, pretend acts, and objects she thought would make her better, she felt lighter.
So, light, in fact, she decided to disentangle herself from all of these things. And suddenly she felt a rustling in her back. And in a beautiful unfolding, with a loud womp, womp, she lifted off the ground with silvery white wings that had been tucked within her all these years. Her heart opened wide and she knew she always had everything she could have ever needed, already inside.