The Gift

I follow Gallup Polling because #1: I AM a dork and #2: I like to see how the masses are thinking and feeling. I believe it gives us clues as to our collective belief systems and where we are headed as a humanity. I’ll never forget the shock I experienced when I read that over 70% of all Americans said they were thriving in the midst of the bubble bursting years of 2008-2010. I thought, “WOW! That’s great! Our economy is springing back already!” MY bubble was burst when I then read that their definition of thriving meant they had enough money to meet their monthly bills. Thriving?? Hmmm 😛

Charles Eisenstein wrote a book called “Sacred Economics” in which he chronicles the history of money and begins the discussion about how our economy is changing. Our current model is built on a scarcity mentality; that there is only so much to go around and we must compete with one another to survive. He (and he is NOT alone) believes we are evolving (because we MUST) towards things like gift economies where we recognize that we are all One humanity and that the ONLY way we are going to survive is to solve the problems facing our world AS ONE humanity.

For me, coming from the place of My Gift, which is the natural talent and unique gifts that God gave me, is THE most powerful approach to take and is the most likely to secure my success because nobody can BE a better me than ME. When I do this, I align with God’s Will and I step into the infinite flow of abundance we call The Universe. In doing so, I make it possible for others to work from the place of their Gift and we begin to see a model for maximization of the limitless human potential (my favorite thing as many of you know!). I share The Gift that I receive which creates more Gifts, on and on into infinity. It’s like the cookie-share of Potential!! YUMMMMYYYYY!!

Soul of the World

Plato coined the term “Anima Mundi”, Soul of the World. It is an essence that permeates the entire cosmos and animates all matter, just like the human soul animates the physical body. We also find this essence in the Hindu system where it is called Brahman Atman (a Sanskrit word for “Self”) To acquire enlightenment is to liberate the Self and KNOW that we are a part of the One/God and it is this SELF that we come to know through the practice of Yoga.

This Life-Force, known as Prana or Chi is sometimes described as a tree in an ice storm. The ice forms around the shape of the branch just as matter forms around this energetic pattern of life. What we believe as a collective, what we value and the choices we make to support those values determine the shape of our collective experience as a humanity. We have One Mind, One Body, One Soul and One Intent and all we need to take care of is our own little sliver of reality, our own little Atman Self. If we all take our part within the One Destiny we share, the life we want to live will become the world in which we all dream of living.

Perception of Threat

Our human brains are wired for certain things. One of the first patterns we are programmed to see, for example, are threats to our personal being. Our brains are programmed to first identify anything in our environment that may harm us. This perception-of-threat response keeps us safe but sometimes we can believe there is a threat where there is not one and THAT can be a very volatile place for the mind-body to BE. I could be sitting in my living room, loving and peaceful Danelle until someone breaks through the front door and all of the sudden, I can become a killer. (I once had a client respond to this statement by saying “Remind never to come over to YOUR house unannounced!” Thanks Mr Chris!)

I thought of this the other day because I was discussing feelings about other people’s success with a client. She was frustrated because colleagues of hers were having success that she was not having yet. She felt threatened by their success, as though there was only so much to go around and that she was somehow missing out. In MY mind, their success was a great indicator that she too would succeed but she was fighting feeling of needing to protect herself. The perception of threat response was now stuck “ON” and will remain so until she confronts her fear and proves to the brain that no threat exists.

The competition model is yesterday’s news. Darwin’s “die-off of the weak” was twisted into our current version of “Survival of the fittest” by his predecessor (the very same man who claimed that Darwin didn’t believe in God) but if anyone cares to read “Origin of Species” you will find that neither of these statements were made by Darwin himself. THIS is why it’s SO important that we take the time to observe and make judgment for ourselves. If we are, as science now claims, a part of ONE thing then the competition model equates to cancer and IT’S TIME FOR HUMANITY TO GET HEALTHY