Beca Lewis's Blog: Beca's Blog, page 19

The Force Is Always Speaking To You - The Shift

[image error]One day, on a unseasonably cold October morning, I prepared to go for my walk.

I used to run. Got tired of it, started jogging. Then one day, when another person passed me while I was jogging and they were walking, I gave up jogging too. Now I walk.

It is my favorite time to open my ears and hear — both sets of ears. The ones on my head and the ones that hear that still small voice within.

Anyway, as I was getting ready I heard that within voice tell me to wear my gloves. I hesitated.

Later I realized I hesitated because I was going through a doubt phase. I was doubting if the force many people call God or the Divine or Spirit was what I thought It was.

I recognize that I am a baby at understanding what that force is, but most of the time I trust that just because I don’t know, and can’t live, the absolute at all times doesn’t mean it isn’t True.

I explained it to myself this way one day. Scientists are aware that they can’t grasp the infinitude of what we see as the universe. They can’t see to the end of it, or the depth of it, but they do know that it exists.

Still, they plan missions to Mars, and send up space probes. They take these baby steps because they trust the bigger but unknowable infinite.

In the same way I trust the absolute and then take steps to be a better person each day.

But, on that day I hesitated because I was thinking that no one cares anyway. I doubted that there is an infinite intelligent loving force running the universe.

But, I listened anyway and put on my gloves.

I have run, jogged, and walked around the same loop of my neighborhood for eight years about the same time of day.

On this day, as I walked down the street with my gloved hands in my pocket, a man I had never seen before walked out of his house to the end of his driveway and asked me this:

“Do you have your gloves on?”

I lifted my hand out of my pocket and waved it high in the air, and joyfully said “Yes!”

He smiled at me, and went back to his house. I continued on my walk back into my faith that there is an intelligence loving force watching over every detail, and I had obeyed that voice and it was noticed.

A month later I went for a walk on a day in November that was unseasonably warm. I was thinking about the glove day since I didn’t need them that day and wondering why I had never seen that man again.

And then I looked up, and he ran by, and said, “Beautiful day!”

In my book Living In Grace:The Shift To Spiritual Perception I talk about another incident just like this one that had happened in March of 1999. I know the date because of what happened next.

At that time, I lived in downtown Los Angeles. It was predawn as I walked to my office to teach The Shift® course. As I walked I was doubting myself. I was doubting that I was going to do a good job teaching The Shift® that day. I was doubting that anyone cared.

As I passed one of the hotels a taxi driver jumped out of his taxi where he was waiting to offer a ride to hotel guests. He stepped right in front of me and said, “God loves you,” smiled at me, and stepped back into his taxi.

I loved every minute of teaching The Shift® that day. What made it perfect was it was the day that Del came all the way from Ohio to take The Shift®, and to declare he was the man for me.

These might seem like extraordinary stories, but they are not. They happen all the time to everyone of us.

For this constant provision and care from the intelligent force we call Love, I am profoundly grateful.

PS

Interested in taking The Shift® but not have to leave home to do so? Here is the same class I taught that day. Check It Out Here

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The Dreamer And The Dream Are One - The Shift

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HERE ARE THREE little stories that tell a tale of dreams.

1. One morning I woke up and said this to myself;” Today is the day I am going to to go next door and tell our neighbor to stop letting his dog come into our carport and use it for a toilet.”

Good idea, except we didn’t have a carport nor was there a dog that lived next door.
2. A Satellite Company had sent our information to a credit collection agency claiming that we had not returned their two receivers. This was in spite of the fact we had delivery proof, and had been assured that all was okay after calling at least five times (on that issue alone).

They claimed we had taken the card out of one of them so we owed the entire $150.00 for the receiver.

Having experienced these kinds of issues with them the entire time we had their service, my first reaction was anger at the injustice of the accusation, and the fact that I had to defend myself against something we had not done.
3. It was just one more thing in our rental home that didn’t work right. Turning the knob for the heater in the living room didn’t make one bit of difference.

I turned it up, it didn’t get warmer, I turned it down, and it didn’t get cooler. For weeks I fiddled with it and then decided I would I have to call the landlord in the morning.

The next morning on the way to the phone to make the call, I walked past the knob and realized that for two weeks I had been fiddling with the wrong knob.

There were two heaters, and the heater the knob I had been turning was working just fine. Of course, when I found the correct knob for the other heater, it worked too.

What makes it even sillier is I had already worked the correct knobs for over a month. It’s just one day I forgot there were two.

What do these three stories have in common? I was dreaming.

In the first story it is obvious it was just a dream. And as a dream it is equally obvious that the dreamer—me—and the dream, were one.

OK, you may be thinking, “But two of these stories weren’t dreams, they really happened.”

Yes they really did — but where did they happen? They happened in the human dream.

And once again the dreamer and the dream were one. It was my state of mind perception and my point of view perception that “created” them.

In the incident with the Satellite Company I was already caught up in a belief of injustice. Not just about the Satellite Company but “out there” in the world.

Aren’t we all daily bombarded with reports of poverty, mistreatment, wars, crimes, and man’s inhumanity to man?

This bombardment enforces the point of view perception that there is another power than Divine Love and it’s doing a great job of taking over.

In turn this builds a state of mind perception of fear, doubt, and outrage. These two modes of perception perpetuate each other, and we all know that we experience what we believe, or perceive.

The story about the knobs illustrates what happens when we live in a state of mind and point of view perception that things don’t work as they should.”

Did you notice one more thing these three stories have in common? In each one an outside force; a dog, a satellite company, a missing heater knob, made a mess in our life.

Seen symbolically, the dream about the dog made it clear to me that it was time to say to myself, “Stop allowing negative thoughts to invade my life.”

Playing in the dream of human mortal existence is sometimes pleasant. It’s when the dream turns “bad” that we start thinking that it just might be time to wake up.

Let’s all wake up from the human worldview without waiting for things to turn bad.

To do so we must start from the point of view and state of mind perception that there is only One Divine Power, not two. To experience the Truth of this statement, we must maintain this perception no matter how real the dream of a separate power appears to be.

Saying 2 plus 2 = 5 doesn’t make it real, even if everyone we know keeps telling us its true. But, it will always be true that 2 plus 2 = 4 even if no one but you seems to remember this fact.

A wrong statement, or perception, does not change the truth about Truth, and a correct perception does not create the Truth, it reveals it.

The Truth is there is just One power, and it is good.

It’s time to wake up and live this Truth. It has to start somewhere; might as well be you and me.

The post The Dreamer And The Dream Are One by Beca Lewis appeared first on The Shift.

You Can’t Solve An Illusion - The Shift

[image error]Once in a while it hits me. Life is simple. But then I then I forget, and make it complicated again.

But, in those brief shining moments of clarity I remember that what we experience is all perception. That’s why life is simple. The answer to everything lies in this premise.

The problem is we forget this simple fact.

My sister sent me a math riddle that appeared freaky and impossible. I couldn’t figure it out. Then I reminded myself to, “Shift your perception and begin with a different premise.” When I did that, the answer was obvious.

The intention of the riddle was to confuse. It started with a logical premise and one that was easy to accept. But in that premise there was no answer – ever – because the premise began with an error.

When I shifted my premise, the answer was immediately evident.

The worldview is exactly like that. It begins with a premise that appears logical, a premise that we can easily accept. In fact, our five senses tell us that it’s true.

Within that premise we search and search for answers. We read books, talk to friends, get counseling, let go of desires, and remind ourselves to have faith. But, none of these methods provide an answer that works for long if they begin with a premise that is an illusion.

When we begin with the correct premise, the answer is easy.

I was working on some writing that required me to copy what I had written on one document and paste it to another. I copied and pasted and saw nothing. In the past I would have assumed that I didn’t copy and paste correctly. I would have spent some time in confusion and irritation at the problem.

That time I paused. I started with the premise that I had copied and pasted correctly. I highlighted the area on the page that I had pasted into and chose black for the text. “Magically” it appeared. It was always there. I had pasted white text to a white page so it was invisible to my eyes.

During a rescue attempt in the first Star Trek Episode, “The Menagerie,” the crew tries to blast through a mountain with their phasers. Nothing happens, so they keep blasting away. Nothing changes. They give up and attempt many other means of rescue none of which is successful.

Finally, Spock and Captain Kirk realize that the Talosians, the inhabitants of the planet, are masters at creating illusions. Knowing that, Kirk and Spock begin again with the correct premise that their phasers do work.

Without any extra effort on their part, the illusion of the untouched mountain dissolved, revealing the hole in the mountain that had been there all along.

It’s that simple. The premise determines what we perceive as the outcome. What premise do we begin with when attempting to discover an answer or dissolve a problem?

If we begin with the premise that the worldview is correct, and that our senses report the truth, we will never see the Truth and what is already present.

It is a lot less work to begin with the correct premise and let it reveal the answer than it is to try and make something work inside of an illusion.

The great teacher Christ Jesus has told us all, “Ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free.” Hum. Doesn’t that sound like the idea if we begin with the Truth – the correct premise – that it dissolves the prison of the worldview, without effort?

The effort belongs to the shift of perception. The effort belongs to the letting go of false premises. The effort belongs to giving up personal preferences and ego. Once we make that shift, the work is over and the provisions we need for our life stand revealed.

Of course, that shift is an ongoing process and practice. Yet it is one with guaranteed results and so much more satisfying than chasing illusions.

PS

If you would love help shifting your perception, and then staying that way, check out The Shift Home Study Course, or any of my books in The Shift Series. AND we even have classes you can take. Sign up on The Shift list, and to find out what class is next or check here.

The post You Can’t Solve An Illusion by Beca Lewis appeared first on The Shift.

Too Busy To Be Still And Listen - The Shift

[image error]HAVE YOU EVER STALLED and dragged your feet over something you know you need, and even want, to do?

Recently, I did exactly that. I stalled and dragged by feet over the idea of opening an Etsy store. It would be another place sell my “Truth 4 Today” inspirational words and prints.

Finally after stalling for months, I took a few weeks off from other projects and did it.

Then I abandoned it. It just sat there. Nothing happened at all.

One day I listened again, and realized that all the work I had put into it was going to waste. I knew I could do it if I planned it better, so I decided to add one print a day.

I was very organized. I put the information I would need for each print into a Scrivener

project. That made it easy to copy and paste the information that was the same for each print.

One thing that every print needs – okay everything that is selling on the internet needs – is a good set of tags, or search terms, so that it can be found.

I had a good set of tags. I copied and pasted. And waited. I noticed a few prints had a couple of views but others didn’t have any at all. “I’m new there,” I reasoned.

One morning I copied and pasted the tags and then noticed something. There was a button that said ADD.

Good lord. I was copying and pasting and saving, thinking all was well. But in reality, without adding the tags it was if I had left all the lights off in my store.

The one key thing to make all the work actually work – I had missed.

Of course, this is the point.

I wondered if I had missed the one key thing to make that work, what other key point was I missing? I realized that it was probably happening in every event in my life so I started paying a bit more attention.

The next day, in a stretch pose in Pilates class, I asked myself, “What key point am I missing here?” And listened. I noticed a small thing. I had to pull my hip back instead of letting it roll forward. Even though it was a tiny bit, it was keeping the stretch from working completely.

Once I started this idea, I tried to listen at least once a day to the answer. Sometimes the answer to the key point question arrived when I least expected it, like one rainy day.

It had been a dry summer. Although it rained a few times they were hard rains, pouring rains. There was no time for the earth to soften and receive the water, so it rolled off within a few days, and the ground was dry again.

On this day, it was raining a soft gentle rain. I had been reading Tom Brown’s book called Grandfather: A Native American’s Lifelong Search for Truth and Harmony with Nature. The book is filled stories about the way Grandfather learned lessons about what he called the Spirit that moves through all things.

Spirit teaches the same way that a soft rain renews the landscape.

It gives us time to open up and receive. Sometimes lessons roll off because we are too hardened in our belief systems to learn them. Or too busy to be still and listen.

The idea of asking, “what key point am I missing here,” is like being open to the soft rain. We soften, allowing in ideas, and following them one little step at a time.

When we soften, let go, and listen, we discover that life is not a competition. Life is about merging into the feeling of being part of the whole.

The gentle rain brings the one key element need for the landscape’s next transformation. In the same way, those gentle spiritual “one key point at a time” lessons transform our being over time.

Grandfather was a master at asking Spirit and then listening for the answer. We might not ever be masters at this, but we can desire to be an apprentice. We too can learn there is no right or wrong, just the Truth and many different paths leading there.

We can pause, listen for the answer, and then take action as directed.

In doing so we are pressing the ADD button. A dash of salt improves the flavor of food. When we add a bit more gratitude and awareness, with a dash more action, the flavor of Life improves for us.

Are things better over at Etsy? A bit. I am still new there. But I am still listening, and learning one key point at a time, and pressing the ADD button more often.

PS

When you sign up for a daily FREE Truth 4 Today inspiration, you’ll get a PDF print of #99. Get Started Here Plus – you’ll be on the list when I run specials – who doesn’t love specials? And, of course, I would love to send them to you!

The post Too Busy To Be Still And Listen by Beca Lewis appeared first on The Shift.

Even Smelly Noisy Teaches - The Shift

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I was out for my morning walk. It was a lovely still morning with a pale, almost white sky, and a bank of gray clouds tinged with pink on the edges showing above the tree line.

Nothing was really on my mind, I was just enjoying the feeling of walking and the silence of the morning.

And then the garbage truck turned the corner.

As I walked, it gained on me. Eventually it was right beside me, huffing, puffing, groaning, and stinking. After a few minutes I couldn’t take the noise and smell anymore so I stopped walking. I took pictures of the sky for a bit until I thought it was far enough ahead of me to not matter too much.

I said “Hello” to the neighbor out with his dog, and turned the next corner. I could see the garbage truck up the road and tried to slow my pace, but eventually I was only a few houses behind it.

Then I remembered what the wise ones say, “Whatever is going on in your life, learn from it.” So I turned my attention away from the silent peaceful morning and beautiful sky, to the lesson of the garbage truck.

As I watched, it lifted its loader and dumped the trash into the back of the truck, and then closed the top. You’ve seen what happens haven’t you? Pieces of paper, a plastic bag, and a few other pieces of garbage floated behind the truck as it moved away.

Ah ha. The lesson. I have two of them for you!

As you are busy throwing away what you no longer need in your life, you know those thoughts, ideas, and actions that once might have worked but no longer do, be careful. Be careful that what you throw away isn’t impacting someone else because you were not careful in how you got rid of it.

I took EST (now Landmark) way back when it was a new baby idea. A ton of garbage ideas came up and I worked to get rid of them, but I was not careful.

Maybe it was my youth, maybe it was because I had so much to throw away, maybe because I wasn’t wise enough, but I wrote a letter to my parents. And mailed it.

Although, for me at the time, it was probably accurate, it was garbage thrown on my parents. I have never forgotten how truly uncaring it was. Although I apologized once I grew up a bit, nothing would ever remove that smelly thing.

Here’s the second lesson from the garbage truck.

If you are going to walk, or drive behind one, you will get garbage aimed at you.

Besides the practical meaning of this, it also means, if you are one of those people who listen to others as they work out of their garbage moments – whether you do it as a profession or as a friend or family member – be careful.

Garbage is garbage. It gets thrown out to stay out.

I guess there is one more lesson here.

We would have less garbage to throw out if we didn’t pick up things and ideas that are not useful to us. It is not necessary to buy everything being sold to us, either as a physical object or mental idea.

Be thoughtful about what you choose to let into your life, and you will have much less to throw away. And much less possibility of hitting someone else with it.

Thank you garbage truck!

The post Even Smelly Noisy Teaches by Beca Lewis appeared first on The Shift.

The Reward For Gratitude - The Shift

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TO GET TO THE IMPORTANT part of this message, I need to share some less important examples. If you will stick with me, I think you will like where this is heading.

It started with yet another discussion with a fellow internet marketer. Those of us who share our “stuff” through the medium of emails, podcasts, blogs, or online classes. These discussions have all centered around the question, “Why.”

Because many of us rarely see the people that read or listen to our work, we count on some kind of feedback to know how we are doing. Sometimes we start asking ourselves if what we do matters at all. Because, even though we have all sorts of buttons on our websites to make sharing and commenting easy, people rarely do.

Often it feels as if that feedback is the only way we know that what we do makes a difference. So the question we ask each other, “Why don’t more people let us know, by sharing or commenting or saying something – anything.”

As I was taking a walk, I was pondering this question. Then, I realized that I was doing the same thing. I was rarely saying thank you for the many blogs, podcasts, and classes I see and appreciate.

I made a vow to myself to start doing it. I decided to forget about worrying about the “why” for myself. Instead, I would say thank you to everyone else. Not just those on the internet, but in the tangible world too!

And that’s when the bigger, even more important awareness started kicking in.

The walk I take is through a beautiful neighborhood. Well cared for homes, lawns, and gardens. It is quiet and peaceful. Birds sing, clouds slide across the sky, and trees wave in the breeze. Lovely.

Excuse me while I anthropomorphize the Creator, because that is the only way these words make sense. It would be better if I could just beam the feeling to you, but for now, I am stuck with words.

If we sometimes feel forgotten and unappreciated for our part in the workings of the universe, how does the Creator of the universe feel when we, most of the time, ignore, or take for granted, what It has done for us.

The Master Creator, who constantly cares for us, and consistently provides everything for our pleasure, rarely gets thanked.

Instead we think ahead to what we need, or back to what we didn’t have. We wish we had this, or we want that. We wish we were somewhere else. We wish others would behave better.

If we become aware of the infinite blessings that are always flowing for us, we would stop wishing and wanting, and start noticing the gift of Life. And noticing, we could say thank you.

Carl Sagan said, “If you wish to make apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.”

In other words, we can’t.

Not just to the work of the Creator, but to everyone, because everyone and everything is the outward expression and action of the Divine.

We can do this each in our own way, but together think what a difference we would make. No one would feel as if what they do doesn’t matter.

It is our job to remember that everyone, in their own way, is a necessary thread in the tapestry of life.

To me — this is the real tithing that is required of us.

Let’s take ten percent of our time and attention and give back. I am positive that it will return a hundred fold to us in ways we can not request or foresee.

By the way, another outcome of doing this will be much less questioning about whether we are important or not. Because it won’t be worrying about how we feel. It will be about how we have helped someone else feel.

That’s gotta work out for the best for all of us don’t you think?

As I walked that day, I began to understand what Jimi Hendrix might have meant when he said, “Excuse me, while I kiss the sky.”

It’s a perfect way to say “Thank You.”

Shall we kiss the sky together? Meet me at the first cloud on your right.

The post The Reward For Gratitude by Beca Lewis appeared first on The Shift.

Where Are You On Your Journey - The Shift

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We have a cardinal that loves to circle the neighborhood singing his beautiful song. His is the loudest song of all the birds and the first bird of the morning. We can hear him as he starts in the back yard and circles around to the side, out front, the side, and back again. To us he is staking out his territory saying, “This is all mine.”

His song worked. He attracted a mate. Just outside my office window, she built a nest in a tree, laid eggs, and sat on her nest waiting for the babies to hatch. A short time later one baby hatched and we watched the feeding process.

Mom and Dad took turns going off for food. They constantly called to each other, tweeting in the natural way.

One day, I glanced out the window and saw Junior standing on the ledge of the nest. Both parents came quickly, but stayed away and simply watched. As he stretched his wings and flapped, I worried that he would topple over. His parents were calm and watchful.

Within the next hour he had hopped out onto the limb and his dad was ready to show him how to fly. Dad took a short flight to another limb and Junior followed. As we watched, he expanded the distance between limbs.

Junior flew to one, missed it, and fluttered to the ground.

Del and I spent the next hour watching Mom and Dad showing Junior how to fly back to the limb. They coached, they fed, they watched over, they called, and they commanded. But, he either couldn’t, or wouldn’t, fly to the limb. He hopped under bushes, across the grass, or took short flights across the lawn. When he hopped to danger, they directed him back to safety.

We could empathize with the parents.

They were showing him exactly what to do and he wasn’t doing it. But, they persisted, never abandoning him, and eventually Junior got back to the tree. His parents never tried to do it for him; they simply guided and then stepped aside.

Have you ever stood on top of a mountain where you could see 360 degrees around you?

You could look down and see the path you took to get up the mountain. You could see other travelers making their way up the path. You would be able to say to them, “Take this path it’s easier, or watch out there is danger if you go that way.”

Growing “older” is like climbing a mountain on a path that circles the mountain. We go around the mountain one time for each circle that the earth takes around the sun.

This is a journey that we are all taking. We could call this the passing of years,but if used well, it’s a journey of wisdom and understanding.

We have some choices on this journey.

We could either circle the mountain on the path that just goes round and round, never going any higher.

Or, we could take the spiral circle that takes us higher each time. Each pass around the mountain would give us clearer views, and a more expanded world.

We could bring baggage on the journey, or we could leave it behind making the trip so much easier.

Our baggage might be regrets, or have-to-dos, or want this, or sorrow, or guilt, or the fear of leaving stuff behind. When we carry baggage, we miss the point of the journey. We become obsessed with caring for baggage rather than seeing the view.

When we leave our baggage behind, our journey becomes much easier. Because we are not burdened and stuffed with old ideas we have room for more wisdom and understanding.

Which brings me back to the cardinals.

Mom and Dad had the wisdom to see what needed to be done, and the understanding of what couldn’t be done. Junior was just beginning his journey. He was fearless, joyful, and excited.

Have your retained your joy, excitement, and trust while gaining wisdom and understanding?

If not, are you carrying baggage that is not needed? Go ahead, drop that baggage.

Step onto the spiral path that takes you higher, and the view will be beautiful every step of the way.

The post Where Are You On Your Journey by Beca Lewis appeared first on The Shift.

Where Are You On Your Journey - The Shift To Spiritual Perception

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We have a cardinal that loves to circle the neighborhood singing his beautiful song. His is the loudest song of all the birds and the first bird of the morning. We can hear him as he starts in the back yard and circles around to the side, out front, the side, and back again. To us he is staking out his territory saying, “This is all mine.”

His song worked. He attracted a mate. Just outside my office window, she built a nest in a tree, laid eggs, and sat on her nest waiting for the babies to hatch. A short time later one baby hatched and we watched the feeding process.

Mom and Dad took turns going off for food. They constantly called to each other, tweeting in the natural way.

One day, I glanced out the window and saw Junior standing on the ledge of the nest. Both parents came quickly, but stayed away and simply watched. As he stretched his wings and flapped, I worried that he would topple over. His parents were calm and watchful.

Within the next hour he had hopped out onto the limb and his dad was ready to show him how to fly. Dad took a short flight to another limb and Junior followed. As we watched, he expanded the distance between limbs.

Junior flew to one, missed it, and fluttered to the ground.

Del and I spent the next hour watching Mom and Dad showing Junior how to fly back to the limb. They coached, they fed, they watched over, they called, and they commanded. But, he either couldn’t, or wouldn’t, fly to the limb. He hopped under bushes, across the grass, or took short flights across the lawn. When he hopped to danger, they directed him back to safety.

We could empathize with the parents.

They were showing him exactly what to do and he wasn’t doing it. But, they persisted, never abandoning him, and eventually Junior got back to the tree. His parents never tried to do it for him; they simply guided and then stepped aside.

Have you ever stood on top of a mountain where you could see 360 degrees around you?

You could look down and see the path you took to get up the mountain. You could see other travelers making their way up the path. You would be able to say to them, “Take this path it’s easier, or watch out there is danger if you go that way.”

Growing “older” is like climbing a mountain on a path that circles the mountain. We go around the mountain one time for each circle that the earth takes around the sun.

This is a journey that we are all taking. We could call this the passing of years,but if used well, it’s a journey of wisdom and understanding.

We have some choices on this journey.

We could either circle the mountain on the path that just goes round and round, never going any higher.

Or, we could take the spiral circle that takes us higher each time. Each pass around the mountain would give us clearer views, and a more expanded world.

We could bring baggage on the journey, or we could leave it behind making the trip so much easier.

Our baggage might be regrets, or have-to-dos, or want this, or sorrow, or guilt, or the fear of leaving stuff behind. When we carry baggage, we miss the point of the journey. We become obsessed with caring for baggage rather than seeing the view.

When we leave our baggage behind, our journey becomes much easier. Because we are not burdened and stuffed with old ideas we have room for more wisdom and understanding.

Which brings me back to the cardinals.

Mom and Dad had the wisdom to see what needed to be done, and the understanding of what couldn’t be done. Junior was just beginning his journey. He was fearless, joyful, and excited.

Have your retained your joy, excitement, and trust while gaining wisdom and understanding?

If not, are you carrying baggage that is not needed? Go ahead, drop that baggage.

Step onto the spiral path that takes you higher, and the view will be beautiful every step of the way.

The post Where Are You On Your Journey by Beca Lewis appeared first on The Shift To Spiritual Perception.

Choosing Intention Before Choosing Debt - The Shift

[image error] As I planted tulip bulbs I thought about how beautiful they would look when they bloomed in the spring. The actual planting of the bulbs took a lot of work because the ground was a combination of hard clay and mud. By the time I was finished I was very wet and muddy. But, what kept me planting was the picture of how much we would enjoy them in the future.

My present self was giving my future self a gift.

Consumer debt on the other hand works the other way. Debt suggests, “Why not enjoy this now? You can pay for it in the future.”

In a way, our present self gives our future self a problem.

This is not to say that all debt is wrong. There is “good” debt. There is debt that sets up a provision of a return that will also benefit the future self. Good debt can provide a home, or transportation, or the basis of an ongoing business that will grow into the future.

Like getting muddy for the moment, we know that time will bring a reward for our work.

Discovering and uncovering this intention takes some serious time and thought. We are constantly bombarded by intentions for our lives, most of which we are unaware of choosing. These can either be our own, or intentions that others choose for us, or worldview intentions.

Here are some basic examples of these different kinds of intentions.

Unconscious intentions are choices we can make because of life experiences. Often they are not intentions based on wisdom. Instead, they are intentions based on a skewed view of what occurred. From this skewed version of what happened, we make choices. We may choose to never love again, or give too much, or remain invisible, or never be poor, or too fat, or too skinny.
Intentions chosen for us are based on ideas like our sex, our culture, our age, or our society.
Worldview intentions that we follow can range from our buying more than we need to living our entire lives in the mesmerism of “not enough” and the fear and behavior this induces in us.

It promises current satisfaction since there may not be a future to enjoy. It tells us that we deserve it now. This point of view, and the intention that grows from it, like a weed, needs to be uprooted and destroyed in each of us.

In the fall I watch the leaves of the tree outside my office window slowly flutter to the ground. With each dropping leaf, more of the tree is revealed. I can clearly see the cardinal’s nest from summer. I can easily see birds make their way through the branches eating the berries of the tree.

Trees are willing to let their leaves go. They know that their leaves will return in the spring. Not because they make them appear, but because it is part of the process of renewal.

As humans we hold on to what we have. We become afraid that we will never get something like it again, or we need it to remind ourselves of something.

When I first returned to the East, after living for years in California, I dreaded the winter and the sight of trees without leaves. When I expressed this thought to Del he said, “But, naked trees are beautiful.” Looking with a new point of view I saw what he meant.

Without leaves we can see the full structure of the tree. Without leaves we can see what was hidden and is now revealed.

It is as if we can see the intention of the tree.

The roots of the tree have an intention to provide a base of support and nourishment. From this intention the trunk grows with its own intention of providing the support for the leaves, which in turn have an intention of providing food for the trunk and the roots. The beauty of the tree, and the shade it produces are the by-products of its intention to grow.

As we let our old leaves fall, or those intentions we don’t need anymore, the full structure of our life stands revealed.

Each of us has an intention that is specific to us personally, and this carries into each moment of our day and each decision we make.

Conscious intentions produce conscious choices. When we learn to choose consciously we will no longer be swayed by the intentions of our past self, or other people, or the worldview.

Let’s not give our future self a problem. We can trust in the knowledge that living fully conscious of our intentions today, produces gifts for our future self, just as the leaves returning to a tree are the result of its intention to grow.

The post Choosing Intention Before Choosing Debt by Beca Lewis appeared first on The Shift.

Choosing Intention Before Choosing Debt - The Shift To Spiritual Perception

[image error] As I planted tulip bulbs I thought about how beautiful they would look when they bloomed in the spring. The actual planting of the bulbs took a lot of work because the ground was a combination of hard clay and mud. By the time I was finished I was very wet and muddy. But, what kept me planting was the picture of how much we would enjoy them in the future.

My present self was giving my future self a gift.

Consumer debt on the other hand works the other way. Debt suggests, “Why not enjoy this now? You can pay for it in the future.”

In a way, our present self gives our future self a problem.

This is not to say that all debt is wrong. There is “good” debt. There is debt that sets up a provision of a return that will also benefit the future self. Good debt can provide a home, or transportation, or the basis of an ongoing business that will grow into the future.

Like getting muddy for the moment, we know that time will bring a reward for our work.

Discovering and uncovering this intention takes some serious time and thought. We are constantly bombarded by intentions for our lives, most of which we are unaware of choosing. These can either be our own, or intentions that others choose for us, or worldview intentions.

Here are some basic examples of these different kinds of intentions.

Unconscious intentions are choices we can make because of life experiences. Often they are not intentions based on wisdom. Instead, they are intentions based on a skewed view of what occurred. From this skewed version of what happened, we make choices. We may choose to never love again, or give too much, or remain invisible, or never be poor, or too fat, or too skinny.
Intentions chosen for us are based on ideas like our sex, our culture, our age, or our society.
Worldview intentions that we follow can range from our buying more than we need to living our entire lives in the mesmerism of “not enough” and the fear and behavior this induces in us.

It promises current satisfaction since there may not be a future to enjoy. It tells us that we deserve it now. This point of view, and the intention that grows from it, like a weed, needs to be uprooted and destroyed in each of us.

In the fall I watch the leaves of the tree outside my office window slowly flutter to the ground. With each dropping leaf, more of the tree is revealed. I can clearly see the cardinal’s nest from summer. I can easily see birds make their way through the branches eating the berries of the tree.

Trees are willing to let their leaves go. They know that their leaves will return in the spring. Not because they make them appear, but because it is part of the process of renewal.

As humans we hold on to what we have. We become afraid that we will never get something like it again, or we need it to remind ourselves of something.

When I first returned to the East, after living for years in California, I dreaded the winter and the sight of trees without leaves. When I expressed this thought to Del he said, “But, naked trees are beautiful.” Looking with a new point of view I saw what he meant.

Without leaves we can see the full structure of the tree. Without leaves we can see what was hidden and is now revealed.

It is as if we can see the intention of the tree.

The roots of the tree have an intention to provide a base of support and nourishment. From this intention the trunk grows with its own intention of providing the support for the leaves, which in turn have an intention of providing food for the trunk and the roots. The beauty of the tree, and the shade it produces are the by-products of its intention to grow.

As we let our old leaves fall, or those intentions we don’t need anymore, the full structure of our life stands revealed.

Each of us has an intention that is specific to us personally, and this carries into each moment of our day and each decision we make.

Conscious intentions produce conscious choices. When we learn to choose consciously we will no longer be swayed by the intentions of our past self, or other people, or the worldview.

Let’s not give our future self a problem. We can trust in the knowledge that living fully conscious of our intentions today, produces gifts for our future self, just as the leaves returning to a tree are the result of its intention to grow.

The post Choosing Intention Before Choosing Debt by Beca Lewis appeared first on The Shift To Spiritual Perception.