Unexpected Gifts

All those statistics that you are gathering about your own experiences

and about others are only about how somebody has flowed Energy.

It isn't about any hard fast reality.

Abraham-Hicks

(Excerpted from the workshop in Detroit, MI on Saturday, July 8th, 2000)

Yesterday’s “messages from the universe” arrived in multiples, as though the only thing the divine has to do is to support and guide me. I agree with you that this is not about a personal “I”, however, as life is there for each of us all the way every day. Some days it is easier for you to see that, though, and yesterday was another one of those days for me. 

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow,

for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.

Matthew 6:34

I admit that these messages are more significant to me personally right now, as I will be having a hysterectomy on Monday morning to aid the healing that is already happening by removing a significant cystic tumor from my left ovary. In the past couple of weeks I have had more tests than in the previous twenty years, and there are more to come.

Yesterday, though, my thoughts were less on me than on the way we are all interconnected. Last week I learned about Roger Price and the Breathing Well process, and in less than 24 hours, I had shared it with a friend who was hospitalized for treatment for cellulitis and having an extremely rough time of white-coat syndrome. Proper breathing got her blood pressure down and got her home!

Check out the introductory video and see Debra’s Monday, November 26, 2012 Tip for Well-being at http://scs-matters.com.

Perhaps the whole point of our finding gifts along the way is being able to share them with others. I would like you to take a few minutes to meet a remarkable young woman: Elizabeth Ossowska. You will immediately see that Ela, as her grandmother calls her, is a lovely, sweet, ten-year-old. Not so obvious just looking at her is that she is undergoing treatment for cancer. With all that treatment involves, what does Ela dread most? Being poked by needles—“because they hurt”! 

The woman who was interviewed with Ela said that needles are often the worst fear for kids with cancer. I was reminded of the young man who was going to have both of his rib cages removed, flipped over, reversed, and reinstalled, and he was afraid of the shots! You can read about James in Success Stories on the Imagine Healing website, and (p. 44-45) in FallingTogether in Love, Stories from My Heart For and About YOU

Ela holding her baby brother during the TV interview.

Join me in healing intention for Ela. Hold her in your loving thoughts and prayers. May her Christmas wish come true—to be finished with treatments. Meanwhile, hold energy also for Ela’s grandmother who is going to let the news interviewer and those at the Stollery Hospital (Canada) know that children (or anyone, for that matter) can clear the fears! 

Fears can be released quickly and easily using the Fast Phobia Cure, developed by Richard Bandler, co-founder of Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP). If you are new to NLP, here is a video of Joel Bowman (co-developer of Subtle Communication Systems) helping Liz get over the fear of public speaking.

What unexpected gifts we experience in it all when we realize what we are learning is not for us alone, but is to be shared as blessing for the world. Now that is truly something worth giving thanks for.

A Heart Full of Grace

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle,

and the life of the candle will not be shortened.

Happiness never decreases by being shared.

~ Buddha

This evening I was in the middle of my muddle when I received an email message from another human being navigating the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" called health care. "I am in the midst of so much conflicting information (all of which seems to have good scientific basis) that I have temporarily decided to just choose one system and stick with it alone until I see how I am doing after a reasonable trial."

 

She went on to say, "I am just curious—how do you handle things when there is too much conflicting info, most of which makes sense on its own?" As is often the way it happens, clarity and peace comes when you open your heart on behalf of another.

You are very right about each of us needing to find what fits for us. So often we're looking for something external, rather than understanding well-being as an internal state that is ever-present, untouched by the current conditions.

The itching of a broken bone is evidence of the healing that is happening. At times of healing crises, physical or emotional or mental or spiritual, that confusion is really an indication of change. When you can welcome that as a litmus test, you can soften around it and you will discover "it"—whatever "it" is, changes.

At this time we are all experiencing confusion and overwhelm and overload, each with our unique circumstances. The beauty is that life is designed to help us.

Just today, two friends and I were together, and we were scheduled to be at another friend's home at 1 o'clock. It became obvious we were going to be about 15 minutes late, so we looked for the phone number of the woman where we needed to be. Although all three of us thought we had it, none of us did.

Linda drove her car planning to make couple stops and meet us there. Nancy and I left 815 Main Street, and went to Tosi's for a bowl of soup. When we walked in, there sat Kate's husband! He was able to give her a call, and let her know we would be arriving about 15 minutes late!

We could not have orchestrated that!

But LIFE was able to.

We are in the process of coming to believe what is real— not about breathing, not about techniques, but about life itself. And right now, each one of us is being presented with the perfect circumstances to let us learn that lesson.

You're in my prayers, and I trust that I am also in yours.

Six months from now, we will be in a very different place around all of this. It's growing pains, that's all.

What gift it is to be able to see for another when he or she cannot see. What an honor to share the presence of mind in the face of confusion and overwhelm. What a miracle to bring ourselves to whatever is before us and know the truth, "I am enough."

Debra with friend, Ron. 

Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve.

You don't have to have a college degree to serve.

You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.

You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Beads!

I have been very surprised to find myself in a bead shop two times in the past week making strings of beads. I have not been into beads, and have never made jewelry. In fact, most of the time I do not wear necklaces, either, but these beads are not just fashion. The reason these strands of beads are so meaningful to me extends beyond the beauty. These beads are a tactile tool that corresponds to a Daily Recollection I learned at the meditation retreat last month. These beads are similar to the Catholic Rosary.

It was a wonderful coincidence (you may have heard the saying that coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous) to find that I knew the manager at the bead shop. Miranda Skibbe, of M's Jemz Bead Shoppe, had previously been personal assistant for a man I did Healing Touch™ with over several years. We already had a very heart-felt connection, so having her help me with the selection and production was pure gift. The first day we made this lovely, light, blue strand, using Czech glass beads. Glass making in the Czech Republic is an age old cottage industry, and the glass beads are still made in small quantities by hand.

Miranda with the Czech glass Daily Recollection Beads.

When I selected the beads, I was making the choices for "feel" as much as for "looks".  It was my intention to be able to close my eyes and to know where I am and what I am recollecting at each point. I imagined coming to know the words and being able to recite the intentions to myself, much in the same easy way a child learns the alphabet by singing, "Now I know my A-B-Cs, next time won't you sing with me." 

I loved the look and feel of the beads, but I soon discovered I had just one bead out of place, and since that threw off the whole prayer, I knew I would go back into the shop to have Miranda help me restring it correctly. 

While Miranda was restringing the blue beads to correct the mistake I had in the pattern, I began to browse. Before I knew what was what, I began to pick out beads for another strand. This strand was not made of glass.... It was made of semi-precious stones, and it was shades of green. Miranda finished the restringing and she enthusiastically joined me in finding just the right combination. 

There are 108 daily recollections, along with section beads, and intention beads, and marker beads. I think we both had our eye on the prices as these were significantly more money than the glass beads, but it was vital that the beads not only looked right, I wanted to be able to feel where I was. Marker beads needed to feel distinctive from intention beads, and the daily recollection beads needed to be unique from the section beads. We finally determined the round beads would best serve for the 108 daily recollection beads. There were four strings of that type of bead, but how many single beads were on each, and were there enough? Most strings had 25.... 

Miranda and I each began to count. She counted the first string and announced, "Twenty seven." I counted the second string and said, "Twenty seven." She grabbed a calculator, hit some buttons, and whispered, "Four times 27 is 108." We each picked up a strand and counted. "Twenty seven," we said together. I took that as a sign, and we designed the strand using the round beads as the 108 daily recollections. 

All endings being new beginnings, you are looking at the "center" bead, which is also the end

This version of the prayer was written by Barbara Brodsky. She and a student of hers designed the first necklace. Here is one of my favorite sections you may also enjoy:

Marker bead:                    I remember the ten perfections and will practice them well

43rd bead:             Generosity

44th bead:              Morality       

45th bead:              Energy

46th bead:              Wisdom

47th bead:              Renunciation

48th bead:              Lovingkindness

49th bead:              Truthfulness

50th bead:              Resolution (clarity)

51st bead:              Equanimity

52nd bead:             Patience

Intention bead:        In this way will I train myself

I am reminded that mistakes can lead to surprising gifts. I am reminded that what we need is already provided. I am reminded that teamwork yields magical results. I am reminded that there is a divine thread holding everything together.

This morning as I wear my beads and head out to share "When Nothing More Can be Done" as guest speaker at the church down the street, I will add these to my daily recollection. I am so thankful for all of this.