Life Lesson: "All That Glitters!"

"Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself, and yourself alone. Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good. If it doesn't, it is of no use." --Carlos Castaneda

"'All That Glitters' is not gold."

Remember this life lesson.

Sometimes things come across our path through the brilliance they exude.

Examine them more closely.



The same with people.


I try not to be cynical when people seem so "perfect" in their ways. I try not to be. Yet, I always end up knowing my "cynicism" was not unfounded.

This is unfortunate, but the ultimate reality.

The truth is that you feel TRUTH and truthfulness in people in and from your Soul! People can try to fool you in their superficial ways, but your Soul, your spirit, is a very precise radar.

In the last blog post, "Be Two-Faced: Be Real," I wrote about everyone having more than one side to their "face." Many, though, try to fool people that they are consistently one way.

Wait long enough...maybe not even that long...you'll see the other side coming out in small, and in some not-so-small, ways.




There's also another saying, "You can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time."

Yet, "fools" persist in believing that they are fooling "all of the people all of the time."

Reality: they are just being "human."


TRUTH, about anything in life, whether an object or a living, breathing being, comes from within.

I love now how animals can detect my openness to them, since I've grown in consciousness to appreciate that the spirit in them is a radar, too. This guides them in knowing who to fear and who to embrace. Indeed, they know "trouble" when they can feel it in their bones!



Now, whenever I go among animals, especially dogs and cats, I know they sense my kinship with them, and we form an immediate bond. Strangers' and friends' dogs alike seem now to be responding to my enhanced level of spiritual awareness.


As far as objects, too, you can know the truth about them. You don't have to be a connoisseur of any type.

Feel within what the object makes you feel...no matter how brilliant it shines...no matter what the "experts" say.


You'll know the truth about that piece.




If you find it unattractive, it will never bring you joy. Don't buy it, simply because it was deemed an outstanding piece of work. Especially, do not buy it simply because it is expensive! Interestingly, when you "know the truth" about the piece, how much you pay will not be such a major concern, when money is no object.

If an art piece is ugly to you, it simply is: ugly.
Don't be "two-faced" about it. This is the time to show one side: the truth!

Don't vacillate between knowing your truth.



The simple truth is...you don't like the piece, because you find it ugly.

Use the same radar when you go into buildings...into a job interview...and you walk among people, places and things.



If, when you enter, you feel disturbed...

Sit with this feeling for about five or 10 minutes, or as is reasonable and appropriate, then settle in yourself and feel the truth.

If still uncomfortable, leave.

There is a reason your "radar" is signalling that.
We ignore it because it means taking bold actions, and we often aren't prepared to do so.

It truly takes courage to do what Jesus, in a different context, says in Matthew 7:13: "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat."

All over the news today is the story of a recent shooting in a beauty salon in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is newsworthy because eight people were killed by a sole gunman, who reportedly had a bitter divorce with his ex-wife who worked at the salon.

Did any one that day feel in their souls that they should not be at the parlor that day?
Did someone get delayed at home, instead of making their hairdressing appointment?

"Divine Order" is a term I've learned to use through my Unity teachings and in almost any situation that seems to be leading to a negative outcome.


I affirm "divine order" and keep on moving through the seeming negative, releasing the situation at hand. Always...always...and in all ways, everything works for my "highest good."

So, when things come against you, don't panic.

Stay calm and affirm the truth: everything is in divine order in and through my life and affairs.

The simple truth is that when you don't know on the surface why things are happening or unfolding the way they are, the "radar" within you always does know the truth.

God is at work in and through our lives.

God IS our lives.

God is life...love...intelligence...substance.

God is our all in all.

God knows the truth.

God knows the glitter when it truly is not "gold."

God tells us the truth.

Begin to listen.

Begin to look.

Begin to understand and know.

The truth.


"All that glitters" is not gold.

What does your spirit say to that?

Namaste',

Che'
EDITOR'S NOTE: The display of Indian jewelry is featured here because of my admiration for the craftiness of the pieces, not because of any question of authenticity.

Honor their "beingness," while yet they LIVE!

Last Sunday was Sept. 11 and based on my biweekly schedule, I should have made a blog post. But I simply wasn't "feeling it."

You see most people think blogging is writing; it isn't.

To write a blog post, we have to "feel" what we're writing, not simply write. Some people write about what makes them proud, others about what makes them smile.



Even the best of writers know that when your heart isn't in it, it shows!

But when your heart is in it, IT FLOWS!

That truly is the difference with blogging and other types of writing, especially business writing, where I can take any topic, do research and come out with credible prose.

So, last Sunday, Sept. 11, I simply wasn't feeling the grief for all the fallen victims. All over the television and on social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter, the American people were expressing their loss about the lives that were lost 10 years ago.

The reason I wasn't feeling the grief is simply that my "spirit" wasn't in the grief cycle anymore for those people who inhabited our world ten years ago. But this is not because I lack feeling or compassion.

You see I strongly believe that when we leave this earth we return to a state of beingness that is wholeness.


I truly believe that we go back to where we came from before we were "born" into the world.

You see I believe...and something inside me is telling me...that... we're not from here!


So, with this "knowingness" that "we're not from here," it is hard for me to work myself into a state of sadness about "beings" who have moved on to what I know to be a better state of "beingness."


You see, even when I go to funerals, even those of close family members, I do not get emotional. When I do, it is for the living, not for the dead!


The first dead body I saw up close and personal was my father's, Ivan Eleazor Vyfhuis.

I looked at that remnant of the man I knew, and I simply could not relate to "it." Yes. IT!

You see when my father was "alive," he was the most ALIVE person inhabiting the earth.


My father had a spirit that filled a room.


My father had a love that filled and embraced every Soul. He truly practiced "Agape" love!

I was the youngest of nine kids, so I never got to know the "man" as well as my older brothers and sisters.

But what I know "for sure" is that when my father was around there was a JOY of spirit among us all.

Ivan Eleazor Vyfhuis exuded love, and he was LOVE in action.



It was the same thing with my sister, Linda, who also coincidentally died in 2001, just a month and a day after September 11, on October 10.

My mother was a different story.


She exuded POWER.

All of my life when she lived on earth, and for the rest of my breathing days, my mother will be the most powerful figure I've ever met.

My mother was my world.

From the moment I took breath, Valda Eileen Vyfhuis was my everything.


I'm so grateful to God that I did not witness her demise, because I was not emotionally in the place where I am today and I know "FOR SURE," I would have lost it then and never would have returned from "nethernetherland."

Privileged as I was not to be at her side at the moment of her sudden death, I was fully composed when I saw her dead body.

Once again, the "body" that I saw, I could not relate to the "beingness" that was my "mother:" my power and light in and through the world!


And so it was with every close relative who has died.

So, when I go to funerals and I see people getting emotional...if I do, too, it is not because of the "body" lying there, but because I feel the pain for those left behind.


I hurt... because people who are alive are hurt!

I cry ... because people who are alive are crying!

I feel deep pain... because people who are alive are in deep pain!

There is so much pain in the world, it would consume me were I to begin to "feel" it whereever I go.

I sense troubled Souls a mile away. As a matter of fact, I think I attract them. {That's another story.}

Having this sensitivity ...this radar...for people and their pain keeps me humble.


It makes me want to retreat inside...where only peace dwells.

Lately, that's what I've been doing...retreating inside.

That's what I did on September 11.

I felt nothing of the grief being played out on television... because I simply didn't turn it on.

I stayed inside. I stayed in peace.

What I reflected on was "the spirit" of all those bodies that lived.

I thought about how those people must have moved through our world, sharing their gifts.


I'm sure that each person who died represented all the gifts and talents, dreams and aspirations combined of all of us remaining here on earth!

Yes, in those hundreds of bodies that departed the earth, we billions who remain were represented in some shape or form in the way those folks walked the earth.

There were people of every creed and color, every religion and belief, who died on September 11.

There were black people, white people and every other color and creed in between. There were Catholics and Muslims and Jews and atheists who died alike on September 11, 2001.

I thought of all of the dreams of those of us who remain.

I thought about all the careers we have on this earth.

I thought about all those dead "bodies" that represented the "beingness" of those Souls now departed.

Then, I thought about the Souls while they walked the earth.

I thought about the way we interacted with them, whether family, stranger, coworker and friend, whenever we encountered them.


I thought about whether we felt their pain and felt compassion for them, if we did. sense pain in their lives.

I thought about whether those who knew them when they lived were able to reach beyond their world...their comfort zone...on any given day to embrace them and let them know that they mattered...in their "beingness."

I thought about whether they knew they were loved....that they would be missed when they left the earth...because their spirit was such an important part of our world.


I thought about all they represented to us ...the opportunity they gave us to Love them while yet they LIVED!

I thought about all the missed opportunities we have each and every day with the people ...family, friends, strangers and coworkers...to let them know that they matter in our midst.

I thought about those things on September 11.

I'm still thinking about those things today.

I'm still going inside.

I've been inside as I went around looking at my world...
to see exactly WHO we are...in all this expression of
grief for people who passed away 10 years ago.


I see the actions of the Republican Congress.
I see the actions of the Tea Party.
I see the struggles of President Obama.

Then...I look at my loving family members...my beautiful friends...helpful strangers...
and...I feel HOPE.


I'm inside myself right now because that's where I go when I write.

But...

As soon as I'm done with this piece...

I know where I'm going...


I'm going outside...to embrace
the dogs...the people in my life...

the people I interact with daily...

to let them know...not guess...to let them ...
KNOW...WITHOUT a doubt...

that in MY world...they

matter.

I won't wait to witness their "body" to understand and appreciate their "beingness..." the gifts that they bring to me...

even while yet they live!


I'm going outside...and I will EMBRACE the world!

Namaste',

Che'

Remain O-P-E-N to LIFE!

Look to the flowers as a guide of how we need live our lives day by day. Then follow.


Think of when you're given a bouquet of roses.
When they are fresh cut, the petals are closed, not quite displaying the beauty we know lies within.

A few days later...viola...the roses open to display a splendor we knew lurked within.


Each time I see roses open up, it is a fresh experience. Each time, I know what's going to happen. But each time I am filled with joy to gaze upon each rose in its uniqueness and see it solely for its own beauty. Each rose displays its own splendor to me.


So it is with each one of us.

We come into the world all closed in and curled up.

As time passes, we begin to open up...slowly...but unrelentingly...through life.

We follow each step laid out for us by our parents or guardians.


The "flowering" within us begins around adolescence when we begin to express ourselves in unique ways, as we strive to find our own footing in the world.

We continue to search for our own individual path in life, as we strain to hear the music within our souls that guide us to become a teacher...a doctor... a lawyer...a musician...a writer...a sales person...a computer "geek"...a counselor...

We listen so closely to our Souls, as we know what we know about our talents and gifts in the world.


We walk through life with stride and with pride as young adults, having discovered, we believe, our place in the world.


During this period of time, some people do get lost to the music within them.

The music seemingly has stopped playing.

So, our ability to hear stops for many reasons, but it always is that we've stopped listening.

We've stopped listening because we've drowned it out...with exterior music not of our own.

Often, it is alcohol that dulls our ability to continue to hear the music.

Often, it is drugs, recreational drugs of our choosing, that separate us from ourselves.

Often, it is the critical voice of others telling and dictating to us who and what we ought to be as we try to uncover our path in life.

"The majority of our actions are guided by the force of other people's opinions and teachings."

Those of us who have been able to see our petals open in the directions of our dreams and are able to continue to hear some music truly are of the privileged group.

This means that despite all that the world might have thrown upon our path, we have been able to navigate successfully around all the debris and hubris and "noise" trying to separate us from the music within us...from our Souls.

"Often as we are being transformed, we cannot tell what is happening. For while in the midst of staying afloat, it is next to impossible to see the ocean we are being carried into."

- Mark Nepo, Book of Awakening

We continue to hear our music throughout our 20s...though its distinction is fading.


The music we begin to hear as we enter into our third decade of life begins to sound and seem like everyone else's.

Yes, we have traveled our individual path to career aspirations.

Yes, we have chosen the man/woman of our own desires.

Yes, we have made choices for our lives that seem all our own.

Then come the 30s...


Suddenly, the music is seeming stale and every day seems to follow a natural pattern.

We begin to look around to see what our friends and neighbors are doing to keep their music going.


We begin to stop listening to our own music because it is easier to claim the world's music as our own.

So, we follow...we follow...we follow...

the path dictated to us by mass consciousness!




We begin to walk through life without hearing our own music...we begin to operate
on cruise control for our lives as we look around and see the path that has been laid out by so many others who went before us.

Surely, there is NO more music left in me, we begin to believe!

"While feeling our hand pried loose by experience, we seldom can imagine what will fill it once it is opened."-Mark Nepo

We continue to walk. We continue to feel dull...unfulfilled...
We become anesthetized by the boredom that comes from living a life
that is no longer our own.

We hear none of our own music. We follow the world's pattern for our age and stage in life. We do. We become...this creature...that is alien to ourselves.


One day, we decide to wake up.

We begin to go within to discern and hear our own music again.

Life begins to flower again.

"...though we can't yet imagine how much fresher milk and sky and laughing will taste once we are returned to the feel of being new."-Mark Nepo, Book of Awakening

The only role you should play during this time is to remain O-P-E-N to the changes that begin to occur.

Trust like your life depends on it...because it does!

Have faith, like you need it...because you will!

Love the process...because it will lead you ...it will lead you ultimately to your good.

It is our struggles against the process of change that leads us into pain.

If only...if only...if only...we can stay O-P-E-N as the changes begin to occur, becoming a silent witness to our own lives as the spirit within moves within us, then we will not feel the pain of friction.


I know this is hard to do...to stay open...so I tell you that is the time...that is THE TIME...to immerse yourself in Prayer. P-R-A-Y-E-R.

The angel I collected during one of these periods carries these words on her wings, "Faith is having confidence in God, even when you do not understand."

Joel Osteen recently wrote in Today's Word, ‎"The God we serve is not a small God. His plan for your life is not for you to reach one level, get stuck and stay there for 30 or 40 years. His plan is to increase you, open new doors before you, and take you places that you’ve never imagined. He has something big in your future!"

Most of us don't get the gifts of life God has laid out for us and has waiting for us, because we feel comfortable stuck at the same level on the same path with the same people.

That type of life is holding you back from your good, no matter how content you may feel in that way of living.


If you wake up each day feeling the sameness of life...feeling the emptiness of NO growth...in other words...stagnant and stale...it is time for you to let your flower open up again!

Don't let the petals begin to close back in on your life even before you're dead...

Find new fields to let your petals flourish and open up again!

You flourish by staying open and willing to change.


You flourish by having new waters cascade upon your head from up above.

You flourish by staying true to the music within you.



Don't allow your flower to close because someone doesn't want to come along with you.

Your path is your own.

Your music is your own.

Listen.

Stay Open.

Flourish.

Then sprew out your scent upon us all...


you beautiful, singular rose of life!

"Despite all our limitations, the most crucial challenge of being human is to show up like a rose."-Mark Nepo

Namaste',

Che'