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Inside this Newsletter
1. Articles
A. Dorothy's Dream
B. Regarding Valentine's Day Riot Article
Everyone seek the key to happiness outwardly
but only the wise know it lies within.!
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When was the last time you sat down and thought about your
values and whether you have made those values a priority in
your life? My priority has been inner peace and fulfillment.
For quite some time it has been my belief that no matter
what is going on in my life my experience of it is a
reflection of my inner state. While finding inner peace and
fulfillment has been my quest I've come to the place in my
life in which I accept that as long as I am alive there will
always be stress and challenges. So my focus has shifted
from trying to avoid these situations to recognizing and
making peace with them. And that involves making peace with
those inner voices that say I am not good enough or that it
won't work. We all have some variation of this inner critic
that in coaching we call "gremlins."
Yet it is the hope that those inner critics can be silenced
that motivates and propels us on our journey of Self
Discovery. This quest is what has motivated me on my
journey. Recently as part of my journey I was fortunate
enough to have experienced an incredibly powerful 8 day
workshop, the Hoffman Process, where much of the focus was
on our childhood, the source of those inner critics. On the
way home as I continued to think upon some of my memories of
childhood I reflected upon the Wizard of Oz. The next day I
rented the DVD and experienced the movie from my new
perspective.
In the Wizard of Oz Dorothy wants to run away from her
troubles and dreams of a place, "Somewhere over the
Rainbow", in which there is perfection and beauty. Like
Dorothy many times in life we also want to run away from
what is troubling us. And the truth is that these problems
are never as great as our fears about them. In our running
away we never slow down and take the time to really look at
what is bothering us. So we usually stay busy by becoming
workaholics or developing other addictions. The cost to our
well being and happiness is that we feel disconnected
because we are never fully present or fully engaged.
When we think about the past or the future we can't be in
the moment. Ram Dass's "Be Here Now" and Eckart Tolle's "The
Power of Now" are popular books that discuss the importance
of being in the now and totally present. And yet we have to
reconcile our ability to be fully present with having dreams
about the future. These dreams are what keep us going and
give us hope.
In Dorothy's dream the message is about the hope of the
future. The Yellow Brick Road symbolizes the road to a
better life and the Wizard symbolizes the future that we
dream about that we think can make us whole. Dorothy on her
journey to find the wizard is able to balance her future
needs with her experience of the moment. In her quest, she
makes three friends who also feel they are incomplete and
enrolls them in her dream of finding the wizard; the
Scarecrow who wants a brain, the Tin Man a heart and the
Lion courage. As they continue their journey they become
bonded in their increasing hope and longing that the wizard
will provide the missing piece that will make them whole.
Our belief about what something means or who someone is
creates a power that makes this belief true. Even though the
wizard is a fraud he is able to empower our friends in
believing in themselves and to believe they are whole and
complete. Dorothy can now go back to Kansas, the Scarecrow
feels he has a brain, the Tin Man a heart and the Lion
courage.
So how we can we adopt a way of being in which we can live
in the moment and have hope for the future?
Dorothy's journey gives us insight into this dilemma.
Dorothy's journey to return home to Kansas represents our
journey of self discovery to discovering who we are at the
core. As we continue on this journey we develop a greater
connection to a higher power and to the sacredness of the
universe. As we deepen our experience of this connection our
excitement about the potential of this unfolding is
contagious. We enroll and attract others who are also
excited about this same journey. As we become passionate and
fully alive beings we live in the now. As we return home to
ourselves we are a light that inspires others.
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© 2004 Mark Susnow, formerly a trial attorney for 30
years is a coach, speaker, and group facilitator. He’s
inspired hundreds of people to believe in themselves and
to achieve their goals and dreams. Contact Mark now to
discover how you can benefit from coaching or subscribe to
his newsletter at http://www.inspirepossibility.com .
It has been brought to my attention the incident mentioned in Valentine's Day Riot article was fictitious.
The article may have been bogus but the emotions it stirred were not. To my surprise I received in support of protesting on Valentine's Day so I thought it was worth mentioning
why the focus of this newsletter had changed over the years.
I heard it said the imagination makes it true or false. If the imagination makes it true or false then we as single persons must change how we view this world for our own sake. In this way we're taking responsibility for ourselves. No more relying on others to make us happy, fulfilled, or even to accept us. It's time we took back our POWER.
After nearly a decade of supporting single women issues it dawned on me, I can rant and rave till hell froze about how society saw women particularly unmarried ones and almost nothing would change. The reason is simple, people must recognize they are to accept and love themselves before others will do the same in regards to them.
I realize what I'm saying sounds like rhetoric or at it's worst blowing smoke up the waazoo. If you chose not to care how the world saw you and focused on being the person you know yourself to be you would discover the POWER that exists inward. When we continue to look out at the world for peace of mind and those other wonderful manifestations we remain in a state of loathing, hurt feelings, and lack.
I often receive emails asking why did the focus of the newsletter change. Necessity dictated a change was to be made in order to truly help women be their best. Without a doubt we've all to some extent dealt with the expectations many in this society have of single women. So rehashing those same complaints over and over benefits no one. It's time we became self reliant.
Ok in a nutshell, I'm saying rioting at some card store on Valentine's Day because you feel excluded is not the answer, learning to not look outside of yourself for happiness and acceptance is!
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Regena English www.leatherspinsters.com
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