"Your singular job in this life is not to send out the message that you must 'get better' or become more than you are now. All that is asked of you is to simply demonstrate who you are right now." Neale Donald Walsch
Art by my dear friend, Lori Portka
A couple of months ago,
I was walking through the Kmart parking lot with my two girls—it was one of
those typical winter days in Oregon— rainy, gray, chilly—a mirror reflection of
what I felt on the inside. It felt like all that rainy gray was sitting
on top of me and inside me too. I just felt totally blah. I was stuck in my
own head, fixated on and frustrated by what wasn't happening
in my life, I felt angry that things never seemed to flow the way I believed
they could. In other words, I was fully focused on lack— what wasn't happening,
what I didn't have.
As the heavy gray
pressed down even heavier, I remember saying a little prayer that went
something like this....please, please give me some clarity—help me to see
what I'm not seeing. And immediately, I heard this:
GIVE.
I heard this with
crystal clarity, a clarity that jolted me out of that rainy gray and put me
right where I was, in that parking lot, holding my little girls' hands in mine,
both feet on the ground, breathing in and out.
As the girls and I were
driving out of the lot, I saw a man standing out in the cold with a sign in
hand—a sign that said something like: Anything helps.
And a rush of compassion
filled all the little stuck places inside of me. I got it. I so
understood what it feels like to need, to hurt, to feel lack, to want…to long
for help, love, compassion.
I saw him standing there
out in the cold and knew I needed to give him what I could.
As we were leaving the
parking lot, I was trying to find a way to get to him without causing some sort
of chaos (he was clear on the opposite side of the street). And then the
light turned green and I had to go. As we were driving away, I said to
the girls with a feeling of urgency, I have to give that man money, I
have to turn around so I can get to him.
So I did a big
turnaround and heading back, parked the car, scrounged up every bit of cash I
had, walked myself up to that man and handed him the money. He smiled and
said, thank you so much ma'am, God bless you.
When he said this, my
eyes filled, my whole body smiled back and I knew, with every part of me, that
I had just been blessed in the most unexpected, beautiful way. If my
little ones hadn’t been waiting in the car for me, I would have stood there in
the rain with him and cried big, understanding, releasing tears.
As I walked away, I knew
that sweet encounter was more for me than it was for
him.
When I gave what I could, rather than sitting in my head wishing that someone would give to me, the gray scattered into light little manageable pieces and floated away.
All of this reminds me
of a post I wrote a while back called "Doing it Differently." It was
a story about a date night my husband and I had...on this particular date
night, I decided that, rather than waiting for my husband to do what I wanted
him to do (give me attention, act like he was having fun), I would give to
him what I wanted to get. And, let me tell you, in that
moment, on that night, everything shifted...if you'd like to read about that
evening, click here.
At the end of the post I wrote:
It's a choice, a
decision, a knowing that we alone have the power to change everything.
I see clearly that when
we decide to BE THE SOURCE of whatever it is that we think we
don't have, everything shifts.
When we give (and
very often this giving it to ourselves first) rather than waiting
to get, everything shifts.
When we see the
abundance that we already have, that we already are, rather
than focusing on what we seem to be lacking, everything shifts.
Can you imagine what
life could be like, if we all really and truly believed knew that we
already have all that we are seeking? That we are actually the SOURCE of
all that we long for? Imagine if, whenever we feel we're lacking, we
simply GIVE what we think we're lacking? If we say thank you and thank
you and thank you for what is right here, right now...
I see clearly that when our focus turns from lack to abundance,
from damning it all, to blessing and saying thank you for it all—everything
shifts/opens/expands/flows.
And I see that no amount
of getting will ever bring us the peace/joy/expansion that
we're seeking...that good stuff comes when we recognize that we already ARE all that we seek.
We already ARE the good
stuff.
And when we decide,
without any hold back, to give and give and give this abundance away, the sun
shines in and around us in a way that will blow the hell out of our little
minds.
A thousand hallelujahs
to that.
a thousand and one.=)
ReplyDeletexoxoxo
Smiles.
DeleteThank you for being here, Kelli.
My heart echoes your heart, friend. I have experienced this very thing so many times. When I am most needy, gray, self-focused, when I give -- yes, the very ground shifts inside my heart.
ReplyDeleteI especially love this proclamation: "And when we decide, without any hold back, to give and give and give this abundance away, the sun shines in and around us in a way that will blow the hell out of our little minds."
Amen!
I love that our hearts feel and see and know the same things, dear Ashley.
DeleteDouble amens!
thank you for this!
ReplyDeletei am forgetting to GIVE what I WANT and the imbalance in my life is spiralling a bit out of control ....I want my kids to be happy, grateful, kind.....their moods often opposite and I want more and they behave less and, more notably, I behave less in these ways!!!
today, when they whine, complain, grumble or argue....i will try to choose happiness, patience, kindness, gratitude!
thank you!!!
I so hear you, Christy!
DeleteWe are so conditioned to reflect back whatever we are receiving (or whatever our children throw at us!)...it takes so much conscious attention to respond with gratitude/love/kindness. But when I've been able to muster the energy to respond with love...whew--how it changes everything. We receive so much in return when we stay in that place of love (much easier said than done but so worth it).
Thank you for being here, dear person.
I love it when you ask for something and answers come, it's such a blessing. I'm so glad you listened to that voice and opened yourself up to the moment.
ReplyDeleteLove you sweet sister,
Xx Amy
Me too, Amy. And yes, it is such a blessing.
DeleteI love you hugely, my sister.
I am so in love with this post (and you). Yes. This is IT. Thank you. ♥
ReplyDeleteJodi, thank you so much for stopping by & leaving a bit of you here.
ReplyDeleteWith so much love & gratitude.
Oh Julia, it's been long overdue for me to return here to this beautiful space. I just love being on your pages.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this gorgeous, powerful post. I learned in January at the Clearmind women's workshop that I have to GIVE the experience I most want to have. Wow. So if it's a sense of safety I most want to feel in my life, I have to give that first. If it's abundance, it is for me to give abundance first - to give and live with all parts of my being, not holding anything back from this present moment. Incredible.
I got shivers all through my body when I read about you passing the man. Wow. Thank you.
Much love,
Elloa xxx
Elloa...I lit up when I saw you here.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm seeing this so clearly. When we GIVE what we think we need to get/what we think we lack, we see that we already have it...we already ARE it and it all just expands from there. We lack nothing. Isn't this an amazing truth? We can give it all because it's/we're absolutely limitless. Wow.
I love you more than I can say. Thank you for starting this b-day morning out with the surprise of beautiful YOU.