When the tide turns

After all I have been through the last few months, things have finally turned---I will spare you all of the details, suffice to say that I have a new job in my calling--my old profession. Back where I belong feels both strange and good. It hasn't been that long, but it was long enough to appreciate it more.

This journey is not over. Despite the fact that normalcy is returning to my 'material' world (I know you're humming the Madonna song now...), that doesn't mean that the journey has ended. This hasn't been about my job life--this is a journey for my soul...

Which is why, in this blog, I want to talk about WHAT to do when things begin to change for you...

In any endeavor you will have ebbs and flows. As you start to do things correctly; like living in the moment, being grateful for what you DO have instead of bitching about what you don't have, being compassionate and forgiving etc...things will begin to turn in 'your' way--Now that concept is a perception only. Things never move for us or against us. Things move only as they will, neither for or against us. It is only our perception of negative and positive that makes these things seem real. --Regardless, as you do things right you will begin to feel as if things are happening for you instead of against you. When this happens, we sometimes lose focus on what got us on the path in the first place.

Now that the perception of negative is being replaced by the perception of positive, I need to remain focused on my goals.

So we start by being grateful for the change. I have written a short mantra that has helped. Feel free to use it yourself if you like...

I am grateful for what I have. I am grateful for why I have it. I will never forget why I needed it. I will never forget how I got it.

When things begin to change for you--in whatever way you choose to perceive it--It is important to remain grateful.  And it is very important to EXPRESS that gratitude--Whenever you can.

Peace to you! Be nice to each other!

Kit

Don't Dam the Water--Just follow the stream

When a man walks lost in the woods and happens upon a stream--a wise man doesn't tell the stream which direction to flow. He thanks the stream for its presence---and follows it....If he tries to direct the stream by damming it, the stream is no longer natural and will only lead him to where HE wants it to go and that stream then becomes a stagnant pond with no direction..it won't lead him to where he was meant to be had he just surrendered and followed.


I wrote that this week and I think it is an important lesson. I was trying to make a point to a friend and thought to myself that I should save this and talk about it in a blog.

Too many of us try to make the stream head in the direction that WE want it to flow. We try to throw rocks into the stream and make the water flow in a specific direction. This is not the way to ocean!--

You have to be in the moment. You have to float or walk next to the stream. Follow it. Get into the stream, lie on your back, close your eyes and be in the moment.

Do you think it is a coincidence that the word CURRENT means both NOW (present) and FLOW (going in a specific direction)? There are no coincidences.

When I catch myself wanting something specific, looking toward the future or lamenting the past; I know that I am weak. I know that I am on the wrong path. I know that I am lying to myself. I am looking for a truth that doesn't exist. There is only ONE truth. And that truth is this: We do not have the ability to change the past, or predict the future. So why bother? What is the point of that? It is a waste of time--it only brings feelings of pain when we focus on things that we regret or covet things that we want. It only brings anxiety because we "don't have" or "wish we had" - And pain, regret, anxiety are all negative emotions.

We can search all we want. We can "try" different religions and philosophies all we want--but while we are doing that--we do not know what we are doing. We don't have the answers. We can't teach. We can't show others--because WE are still searching for the truth...We do not KNOW the truth while we are still LOOKING for the truth.

And THAT is beauty of the truth....It doesn't change. It doesn't move. It simply is....The truth is the ocean. It is always there. No matter how many rivers we dam, no matter how many rocks we throw, we will NEVER change where the ocean is...we only divert ourselves from finding it.

And the only way to the ocean, is to get into the current (the NOW, the FLOW) and let it take us where it will.

I have a new job opportunity. For those of you who have been reading this, you know how much I was being negatively affected by my job, but you also know that I allowed the current to flow. I was grateful (usually) for the paycheck. I didn't like the job, but I found something to be grateful for....and I allowed the flow to carry me.

Now I have a great new opportunity. Some will say that I manifested this job....so HOW is that different from wanting something to change--coveting a new job? Because I didn't ask for it. I only showed my gratitude and trusted that I was in the right place at the right time. I trusted that I was in my old position for a reason. I learned lessons while I was there. I learned more about myself...and when that lesson was learned, I let go and relaxed in the stream.

I never asked specifically for this new job. I never said "I want to go to Montana and get back into the radio business..." I simply said "Its time for me to move on...take me where you will...."

I didn't manifest a new ocean. I just manifested a boat.

Peace to you. BE NICE to each other---Give what you don't have. Take what is offered from those who give with their heart---and BE NICE!




Kit

Riding the Wave

This weekend was a really interesting weekend for me. By interesting, I mean that it was MORE than enlightening. It was more the eye-opening. It was...

Justification. I have been shown PROOF. I have been shown that faith is repaid. Diligence is repaid.

The thing is that justification is not a right, but when it comes, it is a gift. We don't walk the path in an effort to  "get what's coming to us," or to get vindication for all of the good work we are doing. We walk the path because it is simply the right thing to do. If we do get something in return that is all just icing on the cake.

During my meditations the last few weeks, I have been constantly told to "trust" and to "ride the wave."

Also during these last few weeks, I have been "told' to leave my job and to trust that everything would be fine. I was scared to take the steps that were required (quitting the job that was slowly killing my soul without having another one, and refusing to accept help from someone to whom I KNOW I would eventually "owe" to the point that they would hang it over me forever.

Instead, I trusted. I trusted people who had never let me down before, I trusted friends who followed through on promises, I trusted and was grateful to the Universe for the messages and guess what? The responses came. Good things happened. New opportunities have come my way--opportunities that, when they come to fruition, will be the first step in turning things back around for me.

So I am maintaining trust, I am maintaining gratitude and maintaining hope.

I still need support. I still need faith and I still need the occasional hand--

But make no mistake, I have been given a gift---and I won't forget it.

Help me....Please.

I have an opportunity to spend 2-4 months on the Sioux Nation in South Dakota in a volunteer project to help teach and work at the youth center--helping children between 4 and 18 years old. 

These kids are living in one of the more impoverished areas in the United States and have very little access to educational sources that we take for granted. I will be doing everything from teaching basic computer skills, working in the kitchen and helping with office work. Some of the kids come from homes where there is substance abuse or abandonment issues - 

Here are some of the issues that these kids and their families have to deal with....

• Unemployment rate of 80-90% 
• Per capita income of $4,000 
• 8 Times the United States rate of diabetes 
• 5 Times the United States rate of cervical cancer 
• Twice the rate of heart disease 
• 8 Times the United States rate of Tuberculosis 
• Alcoholism rate estimated as high as 80% 
• 1 in 4 infants born with fetal alcohol syndrome or effects 
• Suicide rate more than twice the national rate 
• Teen suicide rate 4 times the national rate 
• Infant mortality is three times the national rate 
• Life expectancy on Pine Ridge is the lowest in the United States and the 2nd lowest in the Western Hemisphere. Only Haiti has a lower rate. 

I am also hoping to start a boxing and self-defense program for the little kids- Children who only know poverty and abuse have a lower self-esteem and a lowered outlook on life. I am a firm believer that helping them achieve their educational goals AND I know from teaching boxing to kids will build self-confidence and help them in other aspects of life. 

In order for me to take that much time off of work, getting no income, I need to raise $2000-$4000 for expenses and to pay for my housing while I am there.  Some of the money will actually go to the volunteer organization that makes this possible.

Please help in any way that you can. In addition to helping the kids, you would be helping me do some good in this world--after 47 years of taking--it is time for me to give back....Maybe you too?