When you open up your life to the living all things come spilling in on you
And you're flowing like a river, the Changer and the Changed
You've got to spill some over, spill some over, spill some over, over all...
It's one of those grey, rain-misted mornings, the kind I used to awaken to nearly every day when I lived in Seattle, Washington. There I observed that there was always an accident, or several, on the highways during the rain. I couldn't understand why there were so many since it rained nearly every day there. I thought people would have become accustomed to the daily showers, and learn to make adjustments, accordingly. I finally concluded that folks just didn't know how to drive there. Rarely bummed by the weather, I learned to drive slower, anticipate delays, and breathe deeply at the bounty of green life everywhere around me. For some, rainy Seattle was "Lady Gray," while others saw her as "The Emerald City." They acknowledged the yes side of life.
This is the kind of day I find just right for musing on life. I'm sipping a cup of turmeric tea and thinking about how easily we've learned to let outer appearances color our lives and mess with our joy. I've always loved the rain. It brings a feeling of being cleansed, it washes away stagnant energies, and allows us to begin anew. It provides a rhythm that slows things down. It helps grow things. Yet, there are some who bitch, moan and complain when the first drops hit their heads. They run for cover or quick-open their umbrellas. Others, annoyed, decide the day has gone to hell. Tsk tsk. When you rely only on what you can see/hear/feel/taste or touch to validate your reality, you, my friend, are on the wrong track. You see the rain as a nuisance because it is there, because it will slow you down. It will muss your hair. It will make your clothes wet.
WAKE ME FROM THIS DREAM
The thing is if you let your sense perception be the only thing you have to go on, the only thing to really help you decide the kind of day you'll have, then, you leave yourself open to control by forces outside of yourself. Whether you perceive a heaven or hell on this earth, you've got it. If you give the power of your joy to something outside of you, whether it's weather or a person, an unanticipated situation, a spoiled event, you give that thing authority to call the shots. Why not look for the positive takeaways first? Why not see the yes side of life?
Sometimes it takes a rainy day just to let you know everything's gonna be alright. Filling up and spilling over it's an endless waterfall, filling up and spilling over, over all. Like the rain falling on the ground, like the rain falling on the ground.
It's time we learned that what we perceive here in 3-D reality is a manifestation of our collective thoughts. Things are as they are because we have all gone along with the program. We've moved away from our own inner wisdom to a public co-sign of institutional authority. The Church says, the School says, Government says... and so on. We trade common sense, moral sense, ethical sense for the non-sense of rules, regulations, policies and laws. Now don't get me wrong, there is a time and place for these things in a society of diverse beings. But when we passively accept the word of experts, pundits, and a conglomerate of authorized authorities as a replacement for what we know deep within is true, we can find ourselves in the trick bag, dealing with the fallout.
For all the so-called advances of the 21st century, all the magnificent possibilities for easier living, the technological advances coming our way, it's possible that we've just gotten off track about what really matters. Is there a way to embrace the new without abandoning the understanding that what we do matters? Is it possible to remember that we are all connected, and that what happens to one impacts us all? The truth is that we've grown attached to the idea that what is complex must be true. But life is not complicated. Life is simple really.
The way to happiness: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Scatter sunshine, forget self, think of others. Try this for a week and you will be surprised. ~ Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking
IT'S AN ENDLESS WATERFALL
If you have been guilty of relying only on your senses, you can change that right now. If you have wandered away from what you know is right, convincing yourself that others know better, stop it. You can acknowledge your participation in the collective hypnosis we have all been subjected to, and then you can step back and take the long view from the perspective of your soul. Take ownership of your life, and change how it goes from there. A shift in perception can be the difference between a life of heaven and one of hell. It can be everything. You can say yes to life. Right now. Give power to your inner authority, that deep place within yourself that knows what is right for you. It's the place that always takes account of shared experience with all life on the earth. Build up your yes-muscle until you automatically think affirmatively. Saying yes helps to shift your mindset to one of appreciation for what is important. Yes, brings a shift that helps gratitude to grow. It's not a magic that makes bad things go away but rather, it helps us garner the energy to address the problems that won't be helped by just fighting against them. Say yes to life. Say yes to love. Say yes to compassion. Say yes to peace. Say yes to joy. Open up to the yes first, and see where the waterfall of life will carry you.
Italicized lyrics from Cris Williamson, "Waterfall", from The Changer and the Changed
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