I went to the movies recently and a 7 year old child said "Wouldn't it be cool if there was a movie and the story was about about no problem and 10,000 solutions?"
I immediately thought that she had started to read the Tao Te Ching or was channeling Lao-Tzu.
She explained further about what she meant. To paraphrase, the story would be that someone would be just living their life and get something really cool (like an ice cream cone) and be thrilled.
I agreed that, yes, that would be "super cool".
And maybe, that's how it can be, if we allow ourselves to see it that way.
Perhaps our lives can be without problems and 10,000 solutions. In other words, we can see life's challenges as just that- not problems or dramas, but challenges and opportunities to view the unlimited solutions that are available if we can get out of "problem mode" and into "solution mode".
I know it can be a challenge, at times, to see what is happening in your life as an opportunity. In fact, in the moment, it may feel extremely painful, lonely, or at least a pain in the butt, but it is all created by you, for you. Even when it feels like it is all against you.
Experiencing ugliness allows you to appreciate beauty, hunger allows you to enjoy food. When we stay in the ugliness or the hunger because of our minds, we postpone the beautiful food that can be in our midst. When we are no longer condemning the ugliness, we can access the beauty in everything.
And, yes, there are many people in the world that experience daily horror and terror, hunger and violation. I would often focus on how horrible it all was and be stymied about what to do. I would be overwhelmed by the problem and be closed off to the solutions. But in those experiences as well, there is an opportunity for the world to see the 10,000 solutions that exist right now.
There is enough food in the world to feed the world. There are projects that assist families in wellness, as well as, emotional and financial ways. Local communities are shifting their awareness of how members, particularly women and girls, are treated. Little by little, folks are becoming aware of the myriad of solutions regarding economic scarcity. Does there need to be more of this? Absolutely! Join in!
We are in fact joined together in mutual liberation in these experiences. It is not about being in denial, it is exactly the opposite. It is stating what is without drama or judgment. It is about awareness that we have all that is necessary for our joy.
When we focus on the opportunity- instead of the "problem"- we gain access to the possibilities, the solutions, and we all expand and evolve together.
How do you experience the challenges of your life? Are they problems with no solutions? Are you overwhelmed and frightened or inspired to see how it all unfolds? Can you see the 10,000 solutions?
Monday, August 24, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Appreciation and Letting Go to Manifest Your Desires
On Saturday morning, the piano from my childhood, where I learned "Chop Sticks" and Mozart, was delivered to my home. It had spent many years at my brother's home where my nieces had learned how to play and now they were off to college and careers.
Having the piano here was something I had desired for a while, but moving it here seemed complicated to me. It seemed more expensive to move than it was worth.
Then, when my eldest daughter expressed a desire to learn the instrument, my husband suggested we finally pluck it from my brother's house. There was a guy who did moving at my husband's work who was willing to do it for a favor and we made plans.
Great, not complicated!
On Saturday morning, when my husband and the team of men arrived, he immediately came up to the front door to deliver some "bad" news before I noticed. "It got damaged."
Perhaps it is not as uncomplicated as it seemed.
"Oh.." I thought. Let's see. They got the piano inside and it looks like it really needed a chiropractor. Its back was uneven, as if it was twisted.
The moving guys were really mortified and when I mentioned that the piano was from my childhood years, they felt even worse.
Apparently, it fell in the truck.
After they left and I studied the keys (some were inaudible and other stuck) I immediately went into blame mode. "Why did I let guys, with no piano moving experience, move a piano?" "How could it have fallen?" "Why didn't I just pay some more money and get insured movers?"
I realized with time that I was not OK with this situation. My husband told me to start calling piano repair people. I was trying to avoid complications, and yet here I was, in a situation that was getting more complicated. "Trying to avoid" anything usually brings to the fore, right?
I got appointments with two repair men to give estimates of repairing the damage. The first one arrived on Wednesday morning and looked the instrument over. "I would condemn it" he said. It would take at least $1000 to repair plus moving costs. The piano was worth only about $400. "It's totaled." "I've never seen this type of damage before" he added.
After he left I emailed my husband with the sad news and decided to cancel the 2nd repair estimate. Then I went upstairs and looked for consolation in my latest Wayne Dyer read Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life which is about the 81 verses of the Tao Te Ching. The verse it opened on was about letting go of attachments.
Yes, I was really attached. I was attached to a $400 upright Hammond piano. I was attached to my fond memories of making music on this piano and then hearing my daughters do the same. I was attached to the sounds of a piano in my home. It had been out of my life for more than 20 years and then back for 4 days and I was really attached.
Then I opened another book at a random page and it talked about how temporary everything is. "This, too, shall pass", a phrase my mother repeated many times in my childhood, was sitting on this page for me to see. My favorite part, which was also in the Wayne Dyer book, was that in a seemingly terrible ending is a beginning.
I clung to that one. What's the beginning here? What beginning can the end of this piano bring to me? And then, I decided that all I can do now is be sad. Allow the sadness to come and not try to change it.
The rest of the day, more or less, I was sad. I was grieving the end of my days and my kids' days of music with this piano.
My husband encouraged me to have the 2nd repairman (Richard Ziss) see the piano after all. I was hesitant to waste his time, but left a second message to have him come anyway.
He arrived and looked at the piano the same way the 1st man did. Taking off exterior pieces of the piano cabinet and explaining the damage. Then he got out a mallet, raised the piano off the ground, and using another piece of wood to protect the piano, he began to bang the piano cabinet. I left the room. It was like watching a doctor continue to try to perform CPR to a lifeless body.
The pounding stopped and I returned to the room. "Well, it's back in place." He said matter-of-factly. He ran his fingers up the keyboard. They sounded great! No stuck or inaudible keys.
"Oh, my God! You did it!" I exclaimed.
"Yep."
"The other guy said it was condemned...."
"I've heard that before. Sometimes, these old pianos just need some adjusting..."
I couldn't believe it. I had said good-bye to this poor twisted instrument that I hadn't really appreciated until I learned that it was leaving, and now someone just made it so it can stay.
He explained what other repairs needed to be done to protect from future problems and made an appointment to return next week to finish up. He charged me just a couple hundred dollars for all the repairs and tuning. Money gladly spent.
I realized that there was a lot to learn here. The biggest lesson for me was that appreciation can create miracles. Through the damage sustained in moving the piano, I appreciated the music we created with the piano. Through the potential loss of the piano, I appreciated the instrument itself and all the joy it brought me in childhood and now. Through the process of getting another opinion, I appreciated the repairman who fixed it (and the one who could not) and my husband. I also appreciated hearing and watching my kids enjoy the piano. You can find out more about appreciation creating miracles through the Abundance Course.
The second lesson was that letting go is so important in manifesting. I had to let go when the piano was damaged, when I got the news of it being "condemned", and in being sad. Then I had to let go of the prognosis that I was sure was final and see what Richard had to say.
Here's the experiment: What are you holding on to that could be holding back a dream? What could you be appreciating that can help you in allowing your dream to come to fruition? Are you feeling like it is just not possible? That's OK. Allow yourself to grieve your attachment to your dream and know it is an ending that brings a beginning. Then let it all go and appreciate the opportunity to acknowledge the attachment. Letting go of the attachment is what makes you free. That's what makes it not matter whether it all happens or not. And when you appreciate what you have and let go of what you desire, it allows for miracles. Either way, you are whole.
Need a piano repaired or tuned? Gotta call my "Miracle Piano Man" Richard Ziss: 973 325-5052 or pianoman07059@aol.com
Having the piano here was something I had desired for a while, but moving it here seemed complicated to me. It seemed more expensive to move than it was worth.
Then, when my eldest daughter expressed a desire to learn the instrument, my husband suggested we finally pluck it from my brother's house. There was a guy who did moving at my husband's work who was willing to do it for a favor and we made plans.
Great, not complicated!
On Saturday morning, when my husband and the team of men arrived, he immediately came up to the front door to deliver some "bad" news before I noticed. "It got damaged."
Perhaps it is not as uncomplicated as it seemed.
"Oh.." I thought. Let's see. They got the piano inside and it looks like it really needed a chiropractor. Its back was uneven, as if it was twisted.
The moving guys were really mortified and when I mentioned that the piano was from my childhood years, they felt even worse.
Apparently, it fell in the truck.
After they left and I studied the keys (some were inaudible and other stuck) I immediately went into blame mode. "Why did I let guys, with no piano moving experience, move a piano?" "How could it have fallen?" "Why didn't I just pay some more money and get insured movers?"
I realized with time that I was not OK with this situation. My husband told me to start calling piano repair people. I was trying to avoid complications, and yet here I was, in a situation that was getting more complicated. "Trying to avoid" anything usually brings to the fore, right?
I got appointments with two repair men to give estimates of repairing the damage. The first one arrived on Wednesday morning and looked the instrument over. "I would condemn it" he said. It would take at least $1000 to repair plus moving costs. The piano was worth only about $400. "It's totaled." "I've never seen this type of damage before" he added.
After he left I emailed my husband with the sad news and decided to cancel the 2nd repair estimate. Then I went upstairs and looked for consolation in my latest Wayne Dyer read Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life which is about the 81 verses of the Tao Te Ching. The verse it opened on was about letting go of attachments.
Yes, I was really attached. I was attached to a $400 upright Hammond piano. I was attached to my fond memories of making music on this piano and then hearing my daughters do the same. I was attached to the sounds of a piano in my home. It had been out of my life for more than 20 years and then back for 4 days and I was really attached.
Then I opened another book at a random page and it talked about how temporary everything is. "This, too, shall pass", a phrase my mother repeated many times in my childhood, was sitting on this page for me to see. My favorite part, which was also in the Wayne Dyer book, was that in a seemingly terrible ending is a beginning.
I clung to that one. What's the beginning here? What beginning can the end of this piano bring to me? And then, I decided that all I can do now is be sad. Allow the sadness to come and not try to change it.
The rest of the day, more or less, I was sad. I was grieving the end of my days and my kids' days of music with this piano.
My husband encouraged me to have the 2nd repairman (Richard Ziss) see the piano after all. I was hesitant to waste his time, but left a second message to have him come anyway.
He arrived and looked at the piano the same way the 1st man did. Taking off exterior pieces of the piano cabinet and explaining the damage. Then he got out a mallet, raised the piano off the ground, and using another piece of wood to protect the piano, he began to bang the piano cabinet. I left the room. It was like watching a doctor continue to try to perform CPR to a lifeless body.
The pounding stopped and I returned to the room. "Well, it's back in place." He said matter-of-factly. He ran his fingers up the keyboard. They sounded great! No stuck or inaudible keys.
"Oh, my God! You did it!" I exclaimed.
"Yep."
"The other guy said it was condemned...."
"I've heard that before. Sometimes, these old pianos just need some adjusting..."
I couldn't believe it. I had said good-bye to this poor twisted instrument that I hadn't really appreciated until I learned that it was leaving, and now someone just made it so it can stay.
He explained what other repairs needed to be done to protect from future problems and made an appointment to return next week to finish up. He charged me just a couple hundred dollars for all the repairs and tuning. Money gladly spent.
I realized that there was a lot to learn here. The biggest lesson for me was that appreciation can create miracles. Through the damage sustained in moving the piano, I appreciated the music we created with the piano. Through the potential loss of the piano, I appreciated the instrument itself and all the joy it brought me in childhood and now. Through the process of getting another opinion, I appreciated the repairman who fixed it (and the one who could not) and my husband. I also appreciated hearing and watching my kids enjoy the piano. You can find out more about appreciation creating miracles through the Abundance Course.
The second lesson was that letting go is so important in manifesting. I had to let go when the piano was damaged, when I got the news of it being "condemned", and in being sad. Then I had to let go of the prognosis that I was sure was final and see what Richard had to say.
Here's the experiment: What are you holding on to that could be holding back a dream? What could you be appreciating that can help you in allowing your dream to come to fruition? Are you feeling like it is just not possible? That's OK. Allow yourself to grieve your attachment to your dream and know it is an ending that brings a beginning. Then let it all go and appreciate the opportunity to acknowledge the attachment. Letting go of the attachment is what makes you free. That's what makes it not matter whether it all happens or not. And when you appreciate what you have and let go of what you desire, it allows for miracles. Either way, you are whole.
Need a piano repaired or tuned? Gotta call my "Miracle Piano Man" Richard Ziss: 973 325-5052 or pianoman07059@aol.com
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