This Is Your Wake-Up Call <<<< 9 Paths to Wholeness

Good morning, fellow traveler.

This is a wake-up call.

A little nudge to remind you to shine your authentic light. [1]

First Step - A Few Questions

This awakening starts with questions. Please don't scroll through them. We hurry so much these days. Sometimes we forget to enjoy our lives. So, please, give yourself space to linger and listen. Read the questions aloud. This will help.

• Do you ever feel like you're working against your own happiness - in jobs, relationships or life situations that regularly leave you feeling inauthentic?
• How often do you feel that way?
• What makes you feel alive?
• What makes you feel complete?

Questions. Questions. They are good medicine. Especially if you don't answer them right away, if you wait and open your heart and let the answers seep to the surface from a place deeper than your thoughts.

Sit with the above questions every day for 10 minutes. Do this for 10 consecutive days. Read the questions aloud in a peaceful place. And wait. And listen. For what may come. For what you may discover.

This is the first step.

Second Step - Embrace the Truth You May Be Ignoring

I have some amazing news for you. Though this truth has been around all your life, it may have been hovering under your radar. So, part of this wake-up call is just to remind you of your rather miraculous gifts:

You are alive. You have the capacity to love. You are part of the abundance of our planet. You are sentient and conscious. You are unique and connected. You are whole.

Not to shabby, eh?

Now.. read the essence of that paragraph out-loud and own it:

I am alive. I have the capacity to love. I am part of the abundance of our planet. I am sentient and conscious. I am unique and connected. I am whole.

Affirmation works. Not if it's total crap, of course. But the above statement is true. True for everyone. So it is potent. Potent for anyone.

The more you say it, the more you can see it in yourself and your life. Because it's already there. It's obvious: waking up isn't finding something new, it's opening your eyes.

9 Paths to Wholeness

Please remember:

The 9 paths I've indicated below are only useful as ways to remind you of a truth that is already a part of you. If my words don't resonate within you, ignore them. Let their lack of rightness lead you to what does feel right.

Read each path and then pause. See what arises. Resistance is normal. Again don't get hung up on what doesn't work. Let it go. And ask this question:

What resonates for me when it comes to living authentically?

Let that question be your companion.

And remember, the answer may take its own sweet time in arising.

By the way, don't be surprised if you start to feel radiant as you read this post.

We all feel good - relaxed and resourceful - when we feel at home and accepted.

And just so you know. You have already arrived in two important ways:

1. You are always at home in your body, and
2. I already accept you. (So, does the universe!)

Path #1 - You Are a Human Being, Not Just a Human Doing

The doing is only valuable if it allows the light of your being to shine.

Is what you do in alignment with your being?

If not, is there a way to change what you do so your light may shine?

Or can you change the way you do it, so you may better align with whom you really are?

No matter what clothes we wear, no matter what psychological garments we put on, we are all naked spiritually. Wherever we go, whatever we do, our spirit emanates from us. That spirit is whole.

Be still. Listen.

Can you feel that there is something deeper than your thoughts or your emotions?

Can you sense that you are part of the whole? A whole being in a whole universe?

Ask your deepest self - your essence beyond your pain and your struggles: Does this feel true?

Path #2 - Start Each Day by Forgiving Yourself

Each morning, just after you wake up, forgive yourself for everything that didn't, doesn’t, or won't work out the way you might have wished.

This is preemptive grace. The sooner you forgive yourself, the sooner you can forgive others (including your children - or your parents).

Forgiveness opens us to the agility of acceptance. [2] We make mistakes. We don't need to adopt them as our identity. Yet, by acknowledging them in forgiveness, we are free. In that freedom, we can relax and find a greater flexibility. Be still. Listen. Consider.

Can forgiveness be a path to resilience? Does this feel true to you?

Path #3 - Relax and Let Awareness Be Your Companion

We need focus in life. We do not need anxiety.

Stress compounded by worry distracts us – not only from enjoying our lives, but from producing our best work.

So, take a breath. Be of no-mind for a moment. Witness that. Stillness. Silence. Let each thought go until you are focused on no thoughts at all. No worries. No ideas.

How does it feel when you do this?

What happens inside you when you don't have to find a solution?

Imagine accepting whatever you experience - not approving or disapproving --- just accepting it as "what is." Make space free of judgment. Just be a "witness" as Eckhart Tolle says. If you do feel yourself slipping into reactive thinking, just witness your reaction.

What is it like for you to take this perspective?

Can this awareness allow you to tap into a deeper resource within you?

Path #4 - Inspiration not Expectation

Keep something you hold dear in your heart at all times. Not as a destination, but as a direction. Not as a goal to be achieved, but rather as an aspiration to guide your choices and actions.

This path asks you to focus on process rather than results. Less on the "what." More on the "how."

Imagine holding a way of being in your heart. Not as a temporary goal, but as an approach to life, an ongoing intention. Kindness, gentleness, tolerance, courage, love. There are so many possibilities.

Some times we build our lives according to an architecture of acquisitive desire.

What would it feel like if we let go of expectations for particular outcomes - domestic bliss, a new house, an electric car, great sex, winning the lottery, leveling up in our favorite video game?

What if we woke up each morning and asked ourselves this question:

How will I make an effort with people today to connect and appreciate? [3]

Path #5 - Pray, Even If You Aren't Religious or Spiritual

Some people look for the divine in the heavens. Some people don't look for the divine at all.

But what if God or Atman or Allah or any of the many other names for the divine were simply synonyms for the Universe? For everything and everyone and how we are all connected?

Consider the amazing design and function of your body.

Consider water - how it brings life to all living things, how it accomplishes everyday marvels - evaporating, raining down, freezing, thawing and dissolving and distributing more substances than any other liquid on the planet.

Consider the human voice and how we use it to connect with others - talking, singing, whispering, laughing.

The French philosopher Voltaire wrote: "Paradise is where I am." His message: We are already in heaven.

We are a part of the universe, are we not? And the universe, the infinite and awe-inspiring universe, is part of us, no? We are literally stardust.

So, talking with God/the Universe is quite logical. In truth, it can feel very natural to hold a conversation with the infinite. Try it one day when you are outside, walking in nature. Look and listen with eyes and ears of wonder.

What would you say to God if you understood that She was in every cell of your body, within the trees, and inside the melody of the river flowing over smooth stones?

Make space and stillness and let the words rise up in you.

What do you say to the Universe, your companion in life?

Path #6 - Honor the Ancestors

"A tree without roots cannot grow. When we humans lose our roots, we too begin to wither -- losing our balance, our health and our spiritual foundation." -- Ancestor Deficit Disorder

We are only here because of our ancestors. We are only who we are because of them. Think of the genes we carry. As The Lion King teaches: "They live in you."

The ancestors hold lessons and wisdom for us. Invite them into the present by learning family stories, listening to parents and grandparents and uncles and aunts. In terms of personal history, we paddle in the shallows when we could be exploring the ocean of experience which is our legacy.

Take some quiet time and address the ancestors:

How might you give thanks for your own life? What might you want to talk over with them? What help might you ask? What action might you take to honor them?

Path #7 - Embrace Mistakes

Mistakes are invitations to learn. Screw-ups, disasters, painful instances of dropping the ball in the end zone of life -- all can be preludes to greater awareness and more fulfilling experience.

Our skin is dying all the time. Our body re-generates. Our soul can, too.

Try this. Tell yourself:

That didn't work - what can I do differently now?

Remember, if you feel you make a mistake and things don't work out, you can always forgive yourself and others. (See Path #2. above.)

Authentic forgiveness carries an implicit invitation to try again, this time with greater awareness.

We recognize that children grow.? We should recognize that we are growing, too. We also learn as parents, as adults. We, too, can discard a behavior that isn’t working. We too can pick up on a new approach that brings us what we want. Freedom to excel is freedom to crap out.

Where are you growing right now?

Path #8 - Show Up for Today

Don’t wait until you are terminally ill to decide to really value each day as a special gift.

The beauty of waking up is that it can only be done in the present.

Enjoy your children, the people you work with, strangers you pass on the street. Open your heart. Be curious. Ask questions. And pay attention to your own emotions --- Eckhart Tolle calls them thoughts that you feel in your body. Ask yourself this question:

What am I feeling right now?

Ask this especially when you feel your mood changing.

Catch the feeling. Let it go. Wake up to what is around you.

This may seem like work, but we often forget that when we are alive we have an amazing ability to acknowledge, adjust and respond. Once we get started, we can create a flow, momentum, even a practice. This ability to engage is a precious opportunity.

Death is both a hub and a terminus – but all flights must go through customs there.

So be present now. Make it a priority. Try to enjoy your children, your workmates, the world outside, your range of emotions within.

Path #9 - Celebrate Who You Truly Are

Do you celebrate who you are? If not, have you ever tried? Have you even explored the possibility that you may be a wonder of nature every bit as amazing as he shoreline or the sky?

Many of us grow up focused on our limitations. Some of us spend considerable effort trying to mask parts of ourselves we think don't measure up.

What if we focused on how we are limitless?

This is your homework. Write down and illustrate five ways that you are limitless. Please don't fret if you can think of any ways immediately. Instead allow yourself to feel whatever you feel as you take this first step towards celebrating your true nature and being.

The Journey

This isn't some fantasy, some fiction designed to sell you something. I'm asking you to wake up to the real you beneath any anxiety, fear, anger and disillusionment you feel. Beyond the suffering that you and all of us experience. This is your truth. Not my prescription. Your awakening.

You are opening a door at the end of a long journey in winter.

A warm hearth is awaiting you.

Are you ready to give it a try?

Awesome. Welcome.

Just setting the intention is enough to lift you.

And remember. This is only a beginning. Later, you may find a practice you can do every day to embrace and explore who you are and how you can be of service to others. But right now, what matters most is to begin with authentic purpose.

The beginning steps are by far the most important.

No beginning, no journey.

[1] None of the ideas here are my own. The best ones have come through me -- from wisdom teachers of all kinds, including the ancestors and realms beyond my imagination. In recent days I have been re-reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. He calls the book: "A guide to spiritual enlightenment." For me it is a revolutionary, transformative and practical invitation to living in the present. This post is inspired by his approach of "yielding to the flow of life."

[2] Consider this from Eckhart Tolle: "Nonforgiveness is often towards another person, but it may just as well be towards any situation or condition - past, present or future - that your mind refuses to accept. .. Forgiveness is to relinquish your grievance and so let go of grief... Forgiveness is to offer no resistance to life - to allow life to live through you." (Power of Now. p. 101)

[3] Ebenezer Scrooge, the archetypal curmudgeon and miser, and my personal hero, finds redemption and bliss by radically re-centering his life on inspiration. After the transformative visit of four spirits on Christmas Eve, he transforms from one of the most uncaring of characters in literature into one of the most joyful. He simply says: “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." Charles Dickens adds: “And it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us!’’