Bless You

Myriam’s Muse
April 29, 2006


My mother told me I was blessed, and I have always taken her word for it. Being born of -- or reincarnated from -- royalty is nothing Like being blessed. Royalty is inherited from another human being; blessedness comes from God.

Duke Ellington
1899-1974

I have been thinking a lot about blessings and blessing and what it means. There are many ways to look at this idea but whether we are counting our blessings, blessing someone else or his or her life, or being blessed by others, it is all an energy of sharing divine goodness. Even when someone sneezes and we say “Bless You” often just as a reflex, it is a good feeling to hear the words. Blessings are the ultimate feel goods in our lives.

Often when we walk through a time of difficulty on the path of life, it is very easy to ignore the blessings that surround us or to thank those who bless our lives by just being present and loving us when we often feel unlovable or totally off track. Blessings come into our lives everyday sometimes in small ways and sometimes in large ways but they are always a part of our lives.

Every day we have the opportunity to bless another by loving him or her or doing some simple little thing to make his or her day a little easier or a little happier. It doesn’t take much to shower blessings around. Every morning I talk with my sister Glenna – our morning conversations bless both of us with a sense of connection and caring.

How are you blessed? Even if you are in a dark night of the soul, you still have blessings around you if you will light a candle of hopeful expectation to discover what you have been blinded to by being caught in a deep depression. Sometimes we have to prime the pump to realize the well of blessings waiting for us to experience that sense of divine blessedness. Just start everyday by writing down a blessing that has occurred in your life. Soon you will discover that sense of being blessed is sparkling and flowing from others to you and from you to others.

Today Accept that YOU ARE THE BLESSING.

Beauty

Myriam’s Muse April 27, 2006
You can only perceive real beauty in a person as they get older
Anouk Aimee

I remember Mother lying in her bed at age 98, as she was being bathed she held out her leg and turned it in a very sexy way and said: I have always had lovely legs.


Age is a funny thing and totally a matter of perception. One thing I noticed is that when Mother reached the age of about 97 when she was asked or talked about her age she said she was going on a hundred. I remember when kids are little they are not 6 or 7 they are 6 or 7 going on 7 or 8. And at 12 you hear I will be a teenager my next birthday. Sweet sixteen is a celebration that indicates that one has gone through puberty and is close to becoming a young adult. Different ages are definite markers of our growing into new phases of our lives. Many may remember in the sixties, the statement was you can never trust anyone over thirty from the youth and the older population would repeat the motto of perception of youth since the writings of the early Greek philosophers: What is wrong with today’s youth?



The further we move from youth to our so-called "golden years" the more our memories begin to cloud with created memories that are made from repeated stories that we tell ourselves. We are constantly repeating our history embellishing some of it for the good and some of it for the bad. I would imagine that most of our memories are as close to reality as rocket ships were in 1906 when my mother was born.


I have discovered one great gift as I grow older, the things that I used to try and guilt myself with and perhaps ignore, I now forgive and often forget. I find that when I felt so old at 30 or 40 when I look at my children I see how young I was and still foolish. But our foolishness and our profound understanding over the years help create who we are now and help recreate who we will be in 20 years or so.


And now I see why my mother had such tolerance and unconditional love, her beauty within grew with her watching her life move through time. As she grew older her tolerance for others grew immensely and she would often point out to me that one never knows what goes on in a person’s life that brings them to the place that they are. I never truly saw the true beauty of my mother until her last year of life as she shared more and more of the stories that she remembered and as she would tell some of the more horrific stories she also shared that she had learned to forgive because it is often just the folly of youth that would create some behaviors.



Today when you look in the mirror, appreciate how truly beautiful you are and how each day with each experience you become a more vibrant kaleidoscope of unique expression that no one will ever match.

Myriam’s Muse
http://myriamsmuse.blogspot.com/
http://manifestreality.com/

Questions

For an answer which cannot be expressed the question too cannot
be expressed. The riddle does not exist. If a question can be
put at all, then it can also be answered.
Ludwig Wittgenstein

Many of us – or at least those who are brave enough to explore our lives – a time comes when we feel blocked and unable to move in any direction. We may be physically moving forward in time but in our hearts and minds we are in effect in a state of stillness.

The idea that we cannot come up with any answers is because we have just not been asking the right questions. How do we learn to question our lives and thus discover the answers that we need to create the life that we desire to manifest.

The signals that we are moving physically forward but emotionally and spiritual blocked are the times when we keep doing the things like going to work, keeping our daily needs taken care of, or, the worse case scenario we make ourselves ill or depressed. Listen to these signals and dedicate time to find the questions so that you can find your answers. It may be that you will not like the answers that you discover but you will discover that the really great questions are the ones that give us answers that provoke new questions that keep moving us forward like great scientific experimentation. In essence our lives are experiments of a spiritual being using the four dimensional reality we exist in to expand our knowledge and awareness. We are all an experiment or a work in progress.

There are social markers in our lives that manifest times of questioning to adapt to change: going to school, getting married, our first job, a divorce, the death of a friend, retirement and so forth. These social markers are our friends and help us continue to grow if we are willing to ask the tough questions and then shake the answers free to help us move forward. However, there are other markers that those in search spiritual growth will encounter that are more subtle and these are what I wrote of in the above column.

If we are depressed or unhappy, a great question to start with is when was I happy before and what was going on. Think of as many times when you felt laughter, joy, fun, and contentment. Then ask what can I do now to bring these feelings back into my life.

If you feel spiritually blocked, it is time to ask what moments in time did I feel a closeness with the divine? How do I feel differently now than I did then? How can I adapt my life now to create that sense of divine connection again?

All answers are possible if you are willing to ask the person who knows the question. That person exists inside of you and for some reason or another you have blocked part of you from your conscious awareness. You can remove those barriers and move forward.
Be willing to let down your barriers and ask the hard questions. Then be brave enough to listen to the answers and sift through them and they will lead you on an exciting journey of self exploration that will get you back onto the spiral of spiritual growth that will be manifest in love and contentment.

Nationwide is not on my side

Avis goes to Sunday Doggie School!

After what seemed an unbelievably long drive we arrived at the school. First thing in the door and Avis was a spazz. She thought she was at the vet where she loves to go and then picked up a different energy. Something was out of the ordinary because when she tried to go to back room which she always does, the owners German Shepherd was tied to a loop on the wall and there was no way Avis was going to make it through that door. So Avis was confused and upset and being the little Poxer (Pit Bull Boxer Mix), she was not a bit intimidated and was ready to go after that dog that had at least 60 pounds on her and muscles. Of course she was controlled but the trainer was assured that Avis was probably an aggressive dog so when we went outside where the classes were to be held Avis was forced to stay at the back of the class and she was tied to a door. She was one unhappy pooch.

Oh she would listen when we told her to sit... to Avis when you say sit it means she goes down on all fours like a lazy cat.

As you looked down the line there were an array of dogs and owners. First the big guy and his wife with a rat terrier. Then a woman with a little hairy barky dog. Then the most adorable papillon with a mother and three daughters there for the training. Then a black poodle with her hippie owner there to learn to behave so she could be a therapy dog in nursing homes. Next came the young Rottweiler with a nondescript owner. Next to them was the adorable Pit Bull which the trainer insisted was an American Staffordshire Terrier and gave a little wrong lecture about differences between Pit bulls and Stafordshires (as I kept my mouth shut by the way). Then a cute little mutt and another mix with some kind of big canine ancestry followed by a beautiful German Shepherd with three owners there to learn how to help her socialize.

Now you have to remember that Avis and I pretty much stay at home. Mark is the one’s who runs around all the time. Avis loves going to the vet which we call her Doggie Hotel and was definitely surprised that she was not treated as the queen that she is. I could see some of me in her as she was ready to take down that Shepherd. All of the people and animals were more than I could deal with wisely. I felt panic all the time that I was there and Avis probably picked it up. I am going to drug me next time I go and maybe even find a doggie tranquilizer for Avis since she doesn’t care for Martinis.

Before the end of the class, however, she had demonstrated that she was very people friendly and even smelled a few dog butts. She walked well and thought playing with a ball was no motivation for training. She likes steak, cheese, chicken.... real food. Hard to carry a pocket of that along as you are dog training.

We left with our homework which was to create a personality profile of Avis to discover what will be her greatest motivation so that she doesn’t feel that a taste of German Shepherd isn’t such a big deal.

Oh, in case you don’t know it, the reason Avis is going to school is because of a stupid insurance investigator who came to look at the house and she wouldn’t let him near my office so he reported her. She does her job and gets in trouble.... Doesn’t sound like Nationwide is on her side.

Dreams – The key to positive decision making

One of the most effective gifts of dreams are that they help us make decisions that are for our highest good.

When we are faced with an important decision we use logic to try and look at all the facts and find out what would be our best action, but often we are only using logic to convince ourselves that what we want is what we truly need and want.

Sleeping on a decision is the wisest choice anyone can make when faced with a dilemma. Whether it is to apply for a new job, leave a cheating lover, or accept that date. If we act immediately we often make mistakes and then we spend time in regret over making the wrong decision.

The right decision already exists in our unconscious mind. Factors that we ignore in a waking state actually lead us to do things that are often dysfunctional and even based on the pressure of others. Like when we go to buy a new car and the salesman convinces us that our lives will be sexier and more fun with the more expensive model of car.

Delaying decisions and sleeping on them lead us to wiser choices.

It is important to know that while there are archetypes that apply across a culture, each one of us has a wide range of symbols that have meaning to us in our dreams. Once we learn to interpret our own symbols we then are on the way to consistently using our dreams to make correct decisions that enhance our lives.

Learn what the symbols in your dreams mean to you. The easiest way to do this is to keep a dream journal. It doesn’t have to be complex. All you need to do is keep a notebook by your bed and as soon as you wake up write down the key elements in your dreams. Then that evening make notes on the day and see if any of these elements are connected. Also, you may have family symbols that are learned over time. My mother had the symbol of the snake meaning trouble coming to our family. Over time, this proved to be true. Yet I have another friend to whom the snake means a time of change and transformation. So you can see how symbols are personal and learning your own symbolic world of dreams will help you discover your dreams.

Some dreams are truly prophetic. Others are purely ways to process our day. Others are to help us discover what is in our inner world and to find what dysfunctional behaviors we have learned that drive all of our relationships from business to family to friends. Your dreams when you take the time to learn to interpret them and to use them effectively can enhance your decision making and your life.

If you have trouble remembering your dreams here are some tips. Before you go to sleep, repeat to you: I will remember my dreams. This may take several days or several weeks. If this does not work make sure and drink a full glass of water before you go to bed. This will cause you to wake up in the night to relieve yourself. Write down any thoughts that you have about your dreams before you go to sleep. Then you will slowly develop the habit of remembering your dreams.

Not only will become friends with the unexplored territory of your dreams enhance your awareness of self, it will lead you to making better decisions daily.

When you feel pressured to make a decision, take the time to say: I will sleep on it and let you know tomorrow.

Pleasant Dreams
Love
Mother Myriam

Good or Evil – Who decides?

For many years I have talked about that if one is to be following the concepts of unconditional love and acceptance, we must also love and accept those who appear to be doing evil. This is perhaps one of the biggest moral issues that humanity faces. There are big evils that catch our attention as with terrorist and dictators and war mongers or corporate raiders, but we each in our lives face what I like to call little evils.

Many religions teach that in compassion and kindness put into practice not just lip service, that evil and war would disappear. We point to people like Ghandi and Martin Luther King that passive resistence to evil will overcome evil. Yet there are others who point to the travesty of the Nazi movement and the murder of millions and without fighting evil with military power this evil would have taken over the world and thus there are justifiable ends for us acting in unkind ways for survival.

Always when there is an enemy (perceived or delusional) it is important to make the enemy less and dehumanize them to justify our anger, fear or aggression. On a large scale we do it with propaganda on a small scale we do it with gossip and self talk about how bad we have been treated or someone else has been treated.

It is easier to be angry when faced with evil than to look with compassion and seek to understand what causes an individual or a nation to manifest this behavior. This is an absolute with the only exception being mental illness: No one does anything bad unless bad things were done to them.

Here is another truism: When bad things happen to us, many times we have set ourselves up to attract negative behavior into our lives. This is not a bad thing if we use these events of negativity to learn and grow. However, if we keep repeating the same behaviors and drawing people into our lives that support our believe that life is against us or that we are cursed or we are unlovable, then we are not learning the lessons that are the reason for relationships to exist.

When penitentiaries were first created by the Quakers in the United States, it was thought that if people who were doing evil were to be confined to meditate and contemplate their behaviors they would find answers within themselves and be rehabilitated. Now we have learned the opposite is true. When we place dysfunctional people together they will reinforce and teach each other greater fear, hate and socially unacceptable behaviors.

There is only way a person can be rehabilitated or become healthy and that is through self-motivation to take responsibility for one’s behaviors and start to act and believe in ways that manifests a new way of responding to life and other people. While I totally believe that psycho-therapy is a great support in this process, ultimately the change happens within and is self-driven.

Unfortunately there are so many people in our world who are so wounded and damaged that the thought of helping them heal and find the path to love and trust again that the task seems daunting. However, if we take the responsibility to change self we will change how the world around us is manifest.

If we desire love, we must learn to love self. When we love self, others will love us.

If we desire trust, we must learn to trust self. When we trust self, others will trust us.

If we desire respect, we must learn to respect self. When we respect self, others will respect us.

If we desire good not evil in our lives, we must learn to live a life that is good and avoids evil. When we learn goodness than goodness comes to us.

We must remain vigilant that we do not gossip about others or listen to gossip because then we perpetuate the power of evil and fear. We must remain vigilant about propaganda and thus when we do this we learn to see when the government, big business and so forth our manipulating our fears and controlling our reaction to life and the other humans that inhabit this planet with us.

Good or Evil? It is up to you to decide which you will have manifest in your life.

It is time to say NO

I have reached another turning point in my life. It seems that they seem to come faster and faster as I get older. Of course, this could just be perception because time keeps moving faster and faster in my mind and spirit.

And like all turning points, I don’t have a clue where I am going. When I was younger and wore a suit, I used to make up goals to make those in positions of authority happy. It is sort of the accepted way of doing business. However, it is not the accepted way for doing life.

My goals are always fuzzy and seem to flow with spirit rather than having plan a, plan b, and plan c. It seems in my life that sometimes plan c just comes into play before a or b and there I am saying what the heck happened.

What happened is that I live my life according to instinct and feeling. Logic is just something that I use to explain my decisions to others who for some reason have to be able to quantify life rather than qualify life. However, that is alright with me.

As I write I realize that the turning point now for me is honesty with myself. I don’t have any plans for the future and sometimes I don’t even have any for the day. My major drive is to not be stressed and to, as much as possible, to be happy and if not happy at the minimum content. Goals do not make one content. Goals don’t make one happy. Living life fully and to the extent that it is comfortable and with the least amount of stress seems to me to be an over all meta-goal that folks have forgotten.

I don’t know if I am retired because I don’t like that word. It is like one is retiring from life. Life cannot be retired from unless one chooses to die and I don’t have plans for that since it will happen some time and right now I would just like to enjoy living.

I have realized that when I am resisting doing something my inner guides are telling me to avoid something because it does not fit my fuzzy goals of enjoying life. Which brings us to the idea that maybe procrastination is just a way of saying: No! What a cool idea. It is alright to say well someday if I feel like doing such and such I will do it. However, if I don’t feel like doing it then I don’t have to.

It is time to say no.