Feeling Lost

Have you ever felt a bit empty and lost? Like you are unsure of your purpose and how to use your time and energy for the greatest good. It is not often an expectation which arises externally which has the most effect. When the “internal” questioning arises, for me, it feels most distracting. Thoughts surface like; Am I Enough? Can I Trust My Feelings/Intuition? Can I Be Doing More? This is not the first time, nor sadly will it be the last time, I grapple with a lack of focused direction and a satisfaction that my life is moving most purposely. There is no reason to believe that this conundrum is unique for me. In fact, this perplexing challenge is very common. But, how do I/you dig myself/yourself out of this sticky mess?

Consider what may add to this concern… I believe that: Thinking too much can be a problem. Lack of action and movement can increase this dilemma. Physical health and lower energy levels may add to this self questioning. Your personal expectations can get in the way. Expectations that you can control the uncontrollable and difficulty with “allowing” life to happen, adds to this predicament. Lower self esteem which is triggered by a reduced positive production and your personal expectations also cause, or at least contribute to, this circle of stagnation and reduced self-image. For me, tiredness and confusion from life’s stress can also send me into a level of doubt and self-questioning of my “purpose.”

AND, the search for purpose and “meaning” is an ongoing experience which continues to change as life rolls on its merry path. As I grow and change, I will renew my questioning from this new older perspective. It makes life an ever-changing test and an exciting new thrill ride on our Earthly plane. I would not like it to get boring or too predictable… SO, it doesn’t. Even a seemingly mundane life like Buddha’s life as a ferryman, was filled with new travelers and their personal stories (and questions regarding their lives with each one being unique). Again, for me, just the process of getting older is fraught with ever-changing nuances which offer new challenges to learn from and to adapt to. No one said life would be easy except in some fictional account of what life offers. You remember the fiction’s line, “And, they lived happily ever after.” The afterlife is happy but is misconstrued by this old line from storybooks and fictional man made movies. Our ever-changing life is the adventure we have come into this current life to have… (Yes, whether you are conscious of this or not, you came for the “Adventure Travel” experience into our 3 dimensional world with limitations that test our remembering of our deeper Divine Wisdoms.)

We, most of us, enjoy our roller coaster rides through our human lives. There is adventure, excitement, conflict, challenges, despair, survival, Joy in success, fear of failure, etc. The range of possible emotions and the seemingly unknowable nature of our path creates this exciting adventure travel experience. It is what we have come here for… And, if you are like me, you regularly cycle back into pondering the same questions. Am I on the “right” path? Am I of value? Am I following through on MY purpose? We ask these questions because we are human and have awareness. Our larger “sophisticated” brains allow us to question and bring up old memories of fears of future unknowns. We have been down the “wrong” path many times and seek to avoid making the same mistakes.
But, there are no mistakes. There are no failures but there are course corrections in your learning and your life’s path. Answers to all of those stated questions is always the same, “YES.” YOU ARE on the right path, of value, and following your purpose though possibly on a rather circuitous pathway.

Basically, our purpose never changes. However, the way we proceed to act out our lives, and manifest our purpose, can take many turns in the road. We have choices. We have different paths to follow in the maze of life. All the choices seem to have value as we test out wisdom and learnings through our filter of being human (with all the 3 dimensional limitations, we have.)
AND, you are never really Lost. Perhaps not fully conscious and distorted in not being able to see the forest from the trees…

Spoiler alert, Your Purpose…
To be Love. To share Unconditional Love by acting in Service!
Perhaps you think this is way too simple, but…
Too simple does not make this untrue…

With each life experience, we step along our path to find new perspective on what is possible and we test out our “learned” wisdom, or the wisdom we have “remembered” from our soul’s connection to the Divine. Each step is a lifetime of adventure if we see and know the fullest picture of the miracles our lives demonstrates.

And, to come full circle, my doubts regarding my purpose have evaporated with meditation, rest, and another circle turning of our miracle planet on its daily axis. (Honestly, for me writing these thoughts as an act of service to myself and anyone who stumbles upon this blog, allows me to feel I am following through on my current purpose…)

YOU are amazing! You are a Blessing!
Life is filled with Joy though you sometimes have to look deep into the darkness to find it…
You are on your own unique “Hero’s Journey,” discovering and then unravelling the mysteries of your life.
And, remember to look into each person’s eyes until you find the unique perfection of who they really are and what they can share with you from their acquired wisdom. (Even if this is what not to do…)

Oh yes, Do Not Forget… YOU are a Miracle! Thank you for being YOU!

Born to Serve

With time for self-reflection, you may find yourself asking, “what is my Purpose in this Life?” The answer never changes though the manifestation of your “purpose” may seem to take different forms. In these days which are fraught with so much fear, anxiety and disruption, the answer continues to be that You are Here to Serve! And, you have so many great opportunities to be of service…

When I woke this morning, my Divine Guidance asked me to write a blog reflecting on why we keep returning to our Earthly lives. It is not that our soul’s existence between lives is unhappy or boring but we are attracted, like moths to a light, for the opportunity to serve. The “Drama” playing out as we act out our roles in our human form is very attractive to participate within. Many of us come to play the roles of Saints or of Sinners or the victims of either. We come with lessons and challenges to learn from and to create the opportunity for other souls to play off of us for their lessons and challenges. We serve by supporting other souls. AND, we serve by allowing other souls to support (or serve) us as the character we are playing in this drama.

We each bring unique perspective and skills to each interaction because we are each unique. We might stumble around bumping in to other people or situations and we have free choice regarding how we jump in and get involved, or seemingly, to not engage. Today, in the weird and wacky world we live in, we have so many great opportunities to serve. The expression, “You can throw a stick in many direction and you are bound to hit something,” strikes me as truth in this situation. The challenge I have for you, as you have read this far into this blog, is that you stay sharp in your awareness and put the filter of “Service” before your eyes to search for ways you can serve in your unique way. Yup, look for ways to say, “Thank You! You are a Blessing!” or “How can I assist you?” It really is that easy.

Be careful and aware of people playing in the role of desperate victimhood. They are just too easy to engage but your expectation of assisting them may be YOUR lesson. They may like being victims. They are good at playing victims. And, they may not be ready to let go of the victim role but, as a spider draws flies to its web, they may want your involvement in a never improving sub-plot. I am not saying to not assist or attempt to assist these folks. I am saying be careful regarding YOUR lesson of expectations in your service as a savior… Since we all have “choice,” consider what role you want to play in any interaction and test your wisdom from your unique life experience as you engage.

It gives “Joy” to serve. Our souls bask in the light of the giving of service and unconditional love (though there are usually conditions attached to how humans give “unconditional” love.) You have come into this life to “mix it up” and to interact with other pilgrims on our different paths toward higher consciousness. You are amazing! No one else could fill the role, you are acting out. Every person you bump into is a unique child of God and perfect in their way and in their role. Yes, even if they push your buttons, Especially, if they trigger you! So, remember to find your way to enhanced each interaction because YOU were Born to Serve!

You are a Blessing! Thank you for being you.

Thanks for your time and consideration. Your insights and experiences are unique and a blessing, so please share these…

If you are READY and looking for a supportive community where you can share your story, your wisdom, and grow spiritually in a non-religious environment, consider Masters of the Journey.
You are a Blessing! You are a Master! Your wisdom from your life experience can have great value to other pilgrims on the path toward awakening and enlightenment.

The Masters of the Journey has events which are updated on our Facebook page which is found at: www.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney Please comment on this blog and share, if appropriate. More of our blogs are based on spiritual consciousness and can be found at www.dstress.com/blog

Guidance Led Me to Masters of the Journey

Guidance is the only possible explanation. Guidance from a greater, “Divine” source led me to developing the Masters of the Journey community.

Sure, many people admit to needing or wanting to participate in a community, in our ever divided culture. We all require some connection with other people as we move along our path through life. We all need role models or support or mentors or teachers to learn the difficult things we feel drawn to learn. I have been many things in my life but this is the first venture into creating a community. A community which offers a place to connect with other people who are engaged in developing their spiritual consciousness and offering support, or desiring to be supported by, other pilgrims who share this path moving toward higher consciousness. (AND, we are ALL on this path, whether you know this or not…)

My background has been “rational” and worldly. Not always “practical” but rooted in rational thoughts and intellectual theory. My personality was born to be oppositional, finding a road less traveled. With some major negative experiences in growing up (we all have these in our lives,) I was disapproving of religion and most religious training. My views were more atheistic than agnostic. I loved science and rational explanations. Still do. Now along the way, I had more than my share of mystical, metaphysical experiences but did not give these much conscious thought in my earlier years. They were interesting, cool, and seemingly irrelevant.

Examples: At 19 years of age and as an unhappy student at UCLA, I was guided into an “out of the body” visualization to discover what “Death” was all about. My naiveté allowed me to go into this weird and mystical experience. Only after reporting my experience to the group’s leader did it dawn on me that this was a “special” and important experience. And, it still is… My major insight has been that death is NOT the enemy or scary. This frees me to live more fully, with less fear and anxiety. Secondly, I was drawn to meditation in my early twenties and was “gifted” with some amazing visions including visiting the “River of Life” which allowed me to feel universal connection, “oneness,” and the thought that life was comprised of many lives where, learning or remembering our Divine Spirit within, was briefly demonstrated. (For no rational reason, this drew a tear, of joy, to my youthful eye!)

But, I have been enmeshed in a rational world and life where my work, my relationships, and my family became my focus and my “PURPOSE.” This perspective has been changing into a broader view of life. My wife of 28 years was diagnosed with terminal Ovarian cancer 19 years into our marriage. Our lives and our focus changed dramatically. For me, it was a time of learning empathy and how to be a caretaker. The experience, which I would not wish on anyone, was so very important for me. My difficult, painful, lessons were most spectacular and my consciousness has changed dramatically. Since my wife’s transition in January of 2012, I have filled the “Void” in my life with a search for my new purpose or, if unsuccessful in this search, to find my way to transition into my Divine Spirit between lives (more clearly, to join my wife’s spirit in her “better place.”) In 2015, after travels which seemed unsuccessful to my rational self, I found my new path. Guidance offered me experiences which lead me to working in an overt metaphysical lifestyle. My meditation practice was expanded into studying: the Course in Miracles, the Way of Mastery, near death experiences, intuition/psychic ability, drumming, and heading back to a church-like experience at Unity Spiritual Center in Bellingham, WA. This felt weird to me but wonderful.

The spirit of my wife showed up and herded me into experiences and consciousness which has helped me to begin to consciously remember the Divine Spirit. My purpose was spelled out for me, so simply and clearly even I could understand. My new role was not to be a Guru, because I do not have the training or temperament to be a Guru, but to help organize a non-religious support community where people can join together and share their stories and their wisdom. My brief partner in this project formation suggested we call this, Masters of the Journey, believing that WE are all MASTERS and just need to remember our perfection and our connection with the Divine Wisdom.

For the past two years (since mid-2015,) I have basked in this work as my reason for living. My purpose in life which is so completely different from any work which I have done before (in this life.) I am still oppositional in my way, but I can feel good about this non-traditional approach to build a consciousness development community.

Perhaps guidance has lead YOU to this article. Perhaps your guidance has lead you to be a part of Masters of the Journey: a Transformational Community. If this is not for you, then I hope that you find the support and the community that will be most appropriate for your development of consciousness and toward Remembering the Perfect Divine Spirit within YOU. You are a blessing!

Whether you know it or not, you are a Master! Your “Enlightenment” is within YOU and you can find a way to “Remember” your connection, and the part you play, in the Divine Spirit!

The Masters of the Journey has events which are updated on our Facebook page which is found at: www.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney Please comment on this blog and share, if appropriate. More of our blogs are based on spiritual consciousness and can be found at www.dstress.com/blog

What is Your Journey?

“The Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” But, what is Your journey and where is it taking YOU? “Life is a Journey” says yet another historic quote. Is it meant to be a literal journey with physical travel or a figurative search through the experience we call life?

We have named our spiritual support community, “Masters of the Journey,” and there have been attempts to help create awareness regarding the concept that YOU are a Master of your life and YOU have much to share from the challenges you have overcome or are struggling to learn from. But, again, what is this Journey?

Each one of us is on a path through this life. In the sense of time, we can conceive that this journey begins with (or maybe before) our birth and travels life until we transition out of this life. For some of us this journey in “time” takes many years of living, for other of us less time, and sometimes only a brief amount of time, if we die at an early age. Viewing the Journey in this context, we consider the early years of learning, the transitioning into adulthood, the work and family building stage, then the slowing down and aging until we call it quits, for this life.

So is this Journey just about physical progression and the learning of life skills? Or, is there something more to our “Purpose” following our path through this incarnation? Have we come into this body and this “life” with an agenda and with specific lessons to learn??? Many people think that we have come “here” (this life) to participate in a purposeful quest for specific experience to gain wisdom or share in other people’s lessons. I think that we arrive in this life with an agenda and it is not just about my learning. It includes lessons for me but it is also for the “greater good” and to assist fellow “pilgrims” to accomplish their learnings and to gain wisdom which helps us all (all of the other children of God.)

If this resonates with your beliefs, then the “Journey” is a sacred voyage. It is a holy pilgrimage which is more about the journey than it is about the destination. What we learn, experience, AND share along the way is the value and the “purpose” of this life. Our “Journey” is Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual. It may look like we benefit from what we see, or hear, or feel, or “Do,” but it may be even more about what we “Remember” on our search for the perfection and the divine that is within each of us. To remember our Divinity and to find it within each fellow pilgrim we bump into along the way, may be the most important of learnings AND the true “Purpose” of our “Journey.”

Blessings to you on your path. Be as “present” as possible and pay attention to honoring the details which may present themselves to you. A single step may start a thousand mile trip, but small interaction may pose the most important learning you have come to experience in this life. Embrace the efforts of all your fellow travelers, you may have incarnated to assist them in their most important lesson. (And, be OK that YOU may never know the outcome of your interactions.)

If you find that you wish to share your story and your Mastery, consider participation in Masters of the Journey. If you know someone who may benefit from support in the development of spirit but who may not need or respond well to religion share this community with them. Thank you, in advance.

What is Your Legacy?

What is Your Legacy?
How does this Affect Your Life?

lega•cy (leg?? s?)
noun pl. legacies -•cies
1. money or property left to someone by a will; bequest
2. anything handed down from, or as from, an ancestor
3. a student applying or admitted to a college or university who is a relative of an alumnus

A consideration (for me) born in 2010…

Though I must admit, I have never really considered what my relationship is to this word or concept, I did begin a small survey on this subject. For reasons I can not explain, the consideration of the concept of my own legacy started while I was sitting in auditorium listening to a concert performance. So on the drive home, I started a conversation with my wife and my sister regarding what “Legacy” really might mean to me. It dawned on me that this might actually be an important consideration for how I might behave as I live my life. What you may not know about me, and a perhaps an important piece of information about me, is I will be turning 60 on my next birthday. This may have something to do with my thought process.

So what does the concept of “Legacy” mean beyond the dictionary definition. We discussed a possible broader description of the concept than leaving money or property as a legacy. We discussed what it means beyond handing “something” down to the next generations. We tried to settle on the concept that “a Legacy” might include a “Karmic” or “Psychic” legacy of intended or unintended “good deeds” that are either acknowledged or unacknowledged. By your own definition, of leaving a positive footprint on the world you walk upon in your life. Doing something good for the world. For example, my sister suggested that she tried to do at least 3 “good deeds” per day, like letting another driver into traffic instead of cutting them off or making them wait. I believe that these good deeds do build an increased level of “good karmic energy” but do not quite meet my concept of leaving a legacy.

For me, a “Legacy” might include a planned or unplanned connection with another person or organization which causes a change in movement into a more positive direction (my definition of positive.) For example, the afternoon I spent with a friend that convinced him, or more accurately, influenced him to become a physician rather than to follow his other choice of becoming a lawyer. And, he did train to become a physician.

Or perhaps, a legacy which includes raising children who by action are instilled with the “nature” to do good in the world. I can not claim full responsibility for early training that lead my sons to be altruistic people who consider “giving back” a part of daily activities, where being of service is a way of life. I have no control over how my sons conduct their daily business and many who know our family would say that their mother has instilled in them a higher set of values to be of service than I have, so I can not really, honestly, claim my sons’ good work as my legacy.

My work has been part of my legacy. I have attempted to provide good service to people and organizations and this good service includes experiences in good health and well being for people to model. But, on the occasion that someone who I have coached or trained approaches me and offers an comment of appreciation for some part of an interaction with me or my work that may have had a positive effect upon their life, I can not fully feel that I can accept responsibility or blame for this movement. It was their choice to use the information or experience to make positive change in their life. They had to follow through and to do the work to make the change.

So I wondered whether the concept of legacy somehow meant that this concept required a grander action like getting a wing of a hospital endowed and then named after me or my family. Most people can not qualify to leave a legacy at this level. So my confusion continues. How should I live my life, and do my work, with concept of leaving a positive legacy of my time walking, in this current body, on the Earthly plane of existence?… (Notice the Eastern concept of Karma and re-incarnation in my thought process.) I would like to maintain my vigilance and offer a life of service and good intentions in my work. I would like to be known as a good friend, a good husband, a good father, and possibly a good: teacher, trainer, coach, clinician….. Perhaps most importantly, I would like to be known for being a person who listened well enough to be able to share a moment in time with another person (or persons) where all participants felt the positive impact of this connection. Yes, I would like to be known for respecting my partners in communication enough to create a bond that allows for deeper examination and adjustments that lead to positive movement.

But what does “Legacy” mean for you? By considering your legacy, will this influence the way you choose to live and work? Will you set goals, and follow through, that include reaching out to your partners in life’s experiences and create bonds where trust and support will create positive change?

I am not sure I fully understand why I have not taken the time to consider the concept of Legacy until I reached the milestone of a 60th birthday but I know that I am never too old or too young to start the process of self-examination of my life’s purpose and how to move toward a life of greater service.

Are YOU looking for your “Legacy?” As part of my “legacy,” I offer information and coaching on stress management and improving productivity through my website at www.dstress.com. I hope that this provides you with some useful information.