The Call of the Promise

The New Year is almost here and I want to look at it a bit differently.  Most of us by a certain age have given up the long list of goals we know by now we most likely won't fulfill....oh well, it does feel good to dream!

Running Free Rocks!

This year I want to start talking about The Promise.  Not the type of wishful thinking most of our dreams revolve around, but rather the means to find the purpose of our lives.  We were each born here with a purpose and we were also given the promise of learning what we needed to learn to be able to experience what we came to be.

You'll notice I didn't say "do," which is what most of us are trained to believe our purpose really is.  But part of making the spiritual leap is to realize that the physical actions we take in this world mean very little in the realm of eternity and infinity.  I can barely remember what I did last week, but I can very clearly remember what I have learned this last year.  It is not concrete in terms of objectives defined by a list of clearly identified life goals....No...not that easy I'm happy or sorry to say?

I've done all that, well most of it - the house, the car, the relationship, the money, the stuff...oh geez, the stuff....but none of that has given me anything more than the sense I've really been wasting a LOT of time on things that I only now understand have very little value.  Though they have a tremendous burden attached to them.

Clearly these things could not have been my purpose or the Promise for my time here on Planet Earth? If not them, than what?

Freedom is the Promise

I like the idea of a Promise more than a Purpose because in my belief system as it stands now I understand that I was given everything, as was everyone else - what purpose could there then be that needed to be served, doesn't that imply that something is not right or is lacking?   Doesn't that defy the entire message of The First or our Creator that was given to us?

A purpose feels like I'm looking for something I don't have.  A Promise feels like I've got something really good and I am guaranteed to get it, unless I refuse it.  Much better odds I think!

This year I want to share with all who stop by, the Promise of Freedom.  While it may not be tops on your list like mine, it is really the pinnacle of what we have been given.  If it doesn't make sense to you now, my hope is it will as we go along this year.

If I don't get back here before next year, may your year end with joy and your new one begin with glory!

Jill
jillelizabeth.net 

Endless Rain....

Just last week the weather was so stunning it was hard to believe it was winter!  This week it's hard to believe last week ever happened.  It's rained for several days in a row now and there are several more to go.  Why is it so hard to focus when the weather is bad?

I suppose the first obvious statement is don't judge the weather, so okay.  I'll re-ask that question...why is it so hard to focus on what I want when the sky is dark, the clouds are surrounding my home so it looks and feels like I am isolated from everyone else, and the constant drips of the drops is driving me crazy???

As I think about it now (though ironically  not my intention when I sat down a few minutes ago) is that this kind of weather is an exact representation of why it can be so hard to focus on thought of what I want once I've started thinking about what I don't want.  The more I focus on the ideas surrounding what I don't want, the darker the thoughts, the denser the clouds, and the more frequent and persistent the thoughts drop on my mind.

Huh....So, this rain is either showing me who I am and where my mind is right now or it is providing me with an opportunity to strengthen my ability to think and focus no matter what is going on around me.

I often liken training the mind to training for the marathon...these last few days of rain are pushing me into marathon training territory!  Will I rise to the challenge or pull a mental muscle or worse, just quit and give up?

I'll go with the second choice because for the first time this morning in a very, very long time, I actually was able to acknowledge what I really wanted and not try and find new and improved ways to sabotage it!  Well, maybe not directly, the rain could very well derail my many focused efforts from this morning!

When we know what we want and find the freedom, relief, and joy that comes along with the right track of knowing - it's not surprising to see a little rain fall around us.  Who doesn't have some residual doubts lurking around in a cloud or two?  So Yea!!!!  What's a little rain on such a grand day?

My parade will still go on!

Jill
jillelizabeth.net

Human vs. Universal Law

I've been struggling with how to balance living by the legal law of the state and still feeling like I'm practicing what I believe is the application of Universal Law.  It wasn't until this morning that I made sense of the pit of frustration and anger in my stomach that I haven't been able to let go of regarding the rules which I am legally bound to live by in my country, my state, my county, and my body.

When I had asked for guidance on this I was told to let it go and it would come when it was ready.  Of course the answer didn't appear right then and there - but no big surprise that my ego's wish wasn't immediately granted by my spirit!  But it did come this morning and it was so obvious I was struck yet again how we can't see what is clear when we've tried to decide for ourselves before we are willing to be told.

The answer didn't come with the question, it just showed up on its own.  Then I linked it back to my previous concerns regarding how do I live in integrity in this world.  And the obvious answer?  My feelings of frustration and agitation with human law was coming in response to its conflicting with Universal or Spiritual Law and the fact I was afraid to honor my truth over another human being's version.

To not kill another person doesn't need to be a law in the realm of this Universe.  The reason is if you do kill someone, you must accept the consequences.  In the world of human, we have legalized some forms of killing and criminalized others.  We have created the lie that we can kill legally and not be held accountable to any consequences, human or divine.

The conflict comes to us internally when we try and rationalize that human law is more powerful than divine or Universal Law.  My ego/self will try and convince me this is okay to believe, but my spirit won't let me rest until I acknowledge that this can never be real in the Universal Truth that all life, not just human must live by.

Killing may be a more obvious point to discuss, but what about more nebulous issues like paying taxes?  Marriage?  Debt?  Having Children?  How do we distinguish  what is Universal Law vs. Human Law in the areas that are not as concrete to our sensibilities as murder may be.

What if I am okay with paying local taxes to support my community, but opposed to federal taxes that support a war and other nefarious dealings that lead to things like murder, theft, arson, slavery and more?  Am I complicit in these acts if I support them with my tax dollars?  Am I now going to be at the receiving end of the consequences because I chose to support these decisions with my dollars?  Can I claim "innocent bystander" because I was following the rules dictated to me by my government, even if I was the one who voted that said government in?

These are the types of questions that cause me to feel agitated, frustrated, helpless, angry and ready to blame and point fingers at the many "others" who may or may not have put me in this position of conflict.  But Universal Law tells me to judge, condemn, criticize, blame or even acknowledge that anyone or anything I don't like is its invitation into my life and my experience.  But do I just look away and pretend these things aren't happening?  Isn't that how we all got here in the first place?

What seemed clear this morning that hasn't been up until today is that no, I can't pretend what's happening isn't happening in this country and this world.  But what I can do is to be willing to live with the consequences of my decisions, both in this lifetime and any that follow.  I would rather try and live by decisions that bring me peace and are in alignment with my integrity than to deny these feelings of anger, helplessness and sometimes rage at what is being done in the name of "God" or peace or righteousness by self-decree.

Every interaction we have is a relationship.  We are in relationship with each other, with our governments, our country, our businesses and the earth around us.  If a person was taking my money based on a false agreement, human law would tell me I could stop payment.  If a corporation or governmental agency or its representative is taking my money based on a false agreement, human law dictates I must remain in that relationship until I am either dead, declared by court free to go (more money to a different arm of the same beast) or I go to jail.

But what does Universal Law state?  It is based on a single and consistent principle.  Human law is based on who has the money and the power to change the rules to fit their needs even when they don't fit mine.  Universal Law states I am free to stay in relationship with a criminal, but if I do, I must accept the consequences.  Human law says I am not free to leave a relationship with criminal, but if I do, I must accept the consequences.

My conflict isn't with the Universe, it's with the humanity that I am trying to find a way to live with and still be in alignment with my divinity, my truth and my consequences.  As long as I am conflicted within, I will experience that conflict without.  As long as I am afraid of the external consequences of my decisions in this world, my internal world will be filled with depression and pain and illness.

Universal Law has given me the Free Will to choose my consequences.  Human law has attempted to control my consequences through fear so that I can be herded down a path that may not be in alignment with my own values and integrity.  So, which do I value more?  My relationship with the Universe or God or Source or Creator?  Or my relationship with this world.  Do I choose that which is eternal or that which is temporary?  Do I have courage or am I meek and afraid? 

This world is filled with complex laws and questions, but what is true in this Universe is a very simple answer.  Complexity confuses us and leads us astray.  Simplicity guides us clearly and efficiently to where we want to go.  The simple choice this Universe asks is which do you want to give and receive?  Love or the opposite of Love?  We can't give war, hate, murder, theft and slavery and then expect to receive a loving and peaceful life experience, much less an entire world.

Free will states you get to decide for your Self, but that's the thing - just for you...your free will doesn't get to decide for my free will....no matter how much money, power or imagination you possess.

Today I made my decision.  When will you make yours?

Jill
jillelizabeth.net

Time flies even when you're not having fun....

Welcome back, to me that is....it's been a while and so much has happened that I don't know where to start or even if I should.  My last post was on "New Beginnings," but life wasn't listening and what showed up instead was just more endings.

But time hasn't slowed down and more time has passed than I could have imagined.  I thought that the month of November would bring a clarity of direction for this journey I think I am on, but instead it is just highlighting that while time is moving forward....I seem to not.

While in the grandest of schemes and levels loss may not exist, is sure feels like it does down here on planet Earth.  With loss must also come a little time to adjust to it, trying to pretend we don't notice it or feel it only results in disorganized energy patterns that show up as "problems and illnesses" down the road.  I've been coping with many losses these last few months, none that were planned or desired, but real for me in this here and now.

But I've also been opened up to new information and as I let the pain of what was go, the possibility of what could be has more room to enter in, to expand and to grow.

Today I am hoping that the new will now overtake the told, that the ending that was will transform itself into the beginning that could be....time will tell even as it flies by with ever increasing speed.

The rainbow has long been a symbol of new beginnings, hope and something we value at it's end.  Here's to chasing more rainbows and finding more gold (or what is really of value to each of us).

Jill
jillelizabeth.net

New Beginnings

While Mondays can seem like the beginning of an old cycle, they can also be like new beginnings.  Sunday's have always been about letting what ever is of the world go and trying to just let the day be.  Sometimes I'm successful, sometimes not.  But this Sunday was a bit of a dark day, spent reflecting on what I understand is an old cycle coming to a close, but still a bit painful at times to acknowledge.

But with every ending must come a new beginning and so far this Monday has represented just that.  Another step closer to letting go of the old ways and letting the new stay a while.  I wish I could have one of the "aha" it's all done now kind of awakenings, but mine has been two steps forward, two miles back - well, that's a bit of an exaggeration!

I broke my Sunday up with the movie "Field of Dreams" since I am having one of those crazy kind of inspirations that make no sense to my self, my budget or my current limits!  But while it elicited a good cry, it was also good reinforcement that the best ideas we have are often the ones no one but those who can believe can see.  Right now, it's only me seeing it, but I'm hearing it reflected in others words as they speak.

So this Monday is full of hope and possibility because the old routine is fading away, rather quickly as I notice yet another month has gone by - I swear it's really only April right?  November is my target date.  It's the month everything either comes crashing down or blossoming up - we'll see...though it's bit off in its timing as November is the cycle of closure and not new beginnings....maybe I'm just a few months early - maybe it's really all targeted for next March???

Regardless, time will tell and I hope you'll stay tuned as my Field of a Dream either gets built or buried!

If You Build It......

Yesterday I wrote about being inconsistent, but today I want to write about being consistent when you get committed.  Like so many these last years, I've watched the life and world I knew fall apart, despite my best "thought" efforts to create what I had thought at the time I wanted.  I know this is all part of the process on Earth - the old must crumble to make way for the new, but it can be really hard to sit around feeling like you can't make any progress because whatever is next isn't here yet!

I've had ideas brewing for years, but nothing ever held and I could not seem to commit to anything 100%.  If I thought I had, well it didn't take long to get distracted or removed from that track and moved onto another one.  Moving along this path has not been straight and direct as I would have thought it "should" be!!!

But this morning, I had a new feeling and it felt really clear and focused.  I've had this feeling before and when I have had it in the past, well I'll move those mountains because I've finally committed myself to my "cause" as Cause.  Before I share all of it, I need to sit with it a few days and make sure it wasn't the coffee or lack of sleep!  But if it's the idea and dream I think it is, well, hold on world because it's time for the next phase to kick in!

Like so many I talk to, I've felt the restless energy moving, wanting what ever is next to show up.  Be it the dollar crashing or the war starting or somehow the world returning to some new form of normal.....but nothing out there seems to be changing with any great speed.  It's been a slow death with out any sign of which way it's going.  It's hard to know which way to turn or what to commit to or invest it.  Will the place I move to be there a year from now?  Will money I earn be worth anything next month?  So much uncertainty is a huge contributer to these feelings of not being able to be consistent.  How do you commit when you can't count on anything???

For now, I'm just asking the questions, but soon I hope to be writing about the answers and ideas I think are finally ready to stop percolating and agree to be poured into my cup...and if I'm on track, let my cup runneth over!!!!

Jill
jillelizabeth.net

Consistently Inconsistent...

Well, I've already missed my goal of writing daily.  I do write in my private journal everyday and have for most of the last 32 years.  But not here and that was my small goal.  While I've already had the guilt fest on my own, I'd like to take this opportunity to look at what the purpose of wanting consistency actually is.

These last 3 days have been busy and in all honesty, writing here isn't a part of each day's immediate goal.  However, writing here is part of a long term goal, so how do we chose each day which set of goals to meet?  Do short term or long term goals take priority?  If I don't meet my short term goal, what happens?  If I don't do the steps to meet my long term goal, what won't happen?

But the real question I am asking myself today, is why do I so consistently sabotage myself in both my short and long term goals by being inconsistent in both arenas?  I have been aware of my inability to be consistent with anything that contributes to my own long and short term happiness and success for some time.  However, being aware hasn't been enough.  Nothing is changing except the amount of time I have left to keep up this very unproductive behavior.

But yesterday provided an experience that resulted in me asking a very important question about all this to my self this morning.  Perhaps it's the first real question I have ever asked my self or at least listened to my self ask!  It wasn't what I wanted to change about the effects or results in my life...rather it was the only real question we can ask ourselves...who do we want to be as Cause?

What does that mean?  It means that we've all become so focused on what we want to get, we rarely ask ourselves who we want to be to get the results we seek.  I have asked this question in other forms to those who have read my materials and to myself endlessly...but today I heard it in a new way.  Mostly because yesterday I touched a bottom of sorts - no alcohol or drugs involved - but a level for me that I don't want to stand on any more.

Who was I being as "Cause" that created this "effect" I never want to be a part of my life again?  And then more specifically, why do I keep hurting, denying, sabotaging, attacking and depriving my self of what I really want while I chase after effects I really don't care about?  How much longer was I going to deny who I AM Being that is creating what I am getting?

The first step in change is awareness of the problem. Been there, done that....what's next? And then, how do I become consistent in what I want to BE long enough to create what I want to have in my life?  The more I create of what I don't want out of this life, the harder it is for me to stop looking and feeling myself rage against it long enough to allow the next idea to manifest.  Again, I'm back to consistency.  Consistency hurting myself is no longer something I want to excel at.  But as always, am I willing to do the hard part and reverse gears long enough to achieve the real goal in life, not the effect, but who I AM as Cause?

Creativity Crisis or Revolution?

I read an article recently on how America is declining in the scores of children's CQ.  That's Creativity Quotient, you know IQ (Intelligence Quotient) and EQ (Emotional Quotient).  While normally I'm not a fan of labels and testing, this idea struck a chord.  After all, Creativity is the life blood of the entire Universe. 

You can find the article here:  Newsweek Article

You may or may not agree, but as science and spirituality begin to overlap and merge, we're finding the Universe is very creative, dynamic would be another word for it.  The thing I like about the idea of Creativity is it's neutral, it doesn't spark wars or debates like scientific or religious beliefs do.  If you ask your average person if creativity is something they'd like more of, most would probably say yes.  If you asked if they'd die to defend it, most would probably look at you like you were crazy.

Take away a person's creative response to life and you might as well sign up for the best health insurance policy you can find.  Creativity is what sparks us to live, lack of it squelches the life force within and we're that much closer to death.  Life is Creative, change or perish and die is the call of nature.

I've got a lot more to say on this subject, but for now I wanted to post the article so you can see how it inspires you.  It has certainly inspired me!

Jill
jillelizabeth.net

Does Time Really Fly?

I don't know if you have noticed, but time just keeps moving faster and faster.  I know they say as you get older, it will feel like it's moving more quickly.  Remember when the school year dragged forever and the summer flew by so quickly?

If you look at prophecy, the years between 1987-2012 are meant to move at an ever increasing speed.  At this point I don't think I can deny it.  I seem to blink and and BAM, weeks turn to months and the only thing that seems to have been accomplished is my weeds are taller!  I know technically time can't fly, but it sure can FEEL like it does!

Indigenous people didn't have clocks, so they used cycles and seasons to measure time.  It didn't matter how old you were within that cycle, just what set of tasks were meant to be accomplished.  If you didn't gather food when it was ripe, you went hungry when the plants were withered.  It wouldn't take too many cycles of time to figure out if you didn't do the task attached to that cycle, you'd be at the effects during the next season.

As I find my self feeling the intensity of time seeming to close in on me, I find myself pushing against it even more adamantly.  But if you understand Universal Law you know that what you push against you just make more problems for your self.  Is my pushing against the speed of time the reason it feels like it is moving away from me?  I have to say, when I sat to write this I didn't think of that, it just showed up as I was typing, but it makes a lot of sense!

As always, it comes back to control....have you ever asked yourself just how LONG it takes to learn certain lessons!!!  Time is not something we will ever be able to control, but how many of us keep trying?  My intuition says stop fighting it and find your center within each moment.  As I talked about yesterday, I don't like abstract ideas - I much prefer specific solutions or concepts.  But if I further define what my pushing is, I can find the specifics I seek.  To begin with, how about not making the "to do" list wildly unrealistic so that it just highlights how much I am not doing in the amount of time I set aside to do it in?

The Course of Miracles states that one of the purpose's of time is to teach us what we need to learn within it so we will then no longer need it.  That only helps a little.  I find for myself that time as measured against what I need from it is really just me focusing on what I am afraid will happen if it fly's by too quickly.  Fear of what will be keeps me from finding peace where I am now.  Add in a little lack of faith and you've got the perfect formula for watching time move faster than you can control what you believe should be happening within any given moment.

Okay, deep breath.  Time flying by would be a lot more fun if I could ride on its back like Jake Sully does in Avatar on his dragon like partner - especially the big guy!

Jill
jillelizabeth.net

Defining Love

One of the problems I have with so much of the information that is talked about in the world is its generalities and abstract qualities.  Using the word "LOVE" is probably one of the most abused and misused words and ideas when it comes to mis-information.

We say we the word love as a way of describing how we feel about another person, thing or event.  But if you look to spiritual definitions of the word love, it is described as indescribable, so how do we know how to actually use it accurately?

This has been an ongoing area of study and seeking for me, but it rose again this morning as I did my journal and prayer work.  How many of us say or hear the idea that there is only really love or fear in our world?  Again, it seems obvious but very abstract.  And when things get too abstract they lose any value to us individually.  How can you change or learn from something you don't really understand?

My stuck point was that no matter what I believe, do or want, the basis of how and what I get boils down to "do I love myself to create something good or do I hate myself and make something not so good?"   Where I get stuck is that deep within me there is still the belief that for me, love=pain.  So to love my self means things are going to get much worse.

It doesn't matter where or why those insane beliefs are born within our minds, all that matters is that we acknowledge them so we can let them go.  I can say logically that love should never equal pain, suffering or loss.  If it does, it's not real love.  But if logic was enough to fix me, well, all this struggle would have been over a long time ago!

As my world is shaking apart I am aware that I really need (duh!) to get over this old and useless belief that love = pain.  I'm tired of it, but even that is not enough.  I've learned over the years I have an incredible tolerance for pain.  That may have been a badge of honor at one time, but now it's just tiring and ineffective for what lies before me!

What is love?  It is acceptance of self, no matter what.  It is acceptance of others, no matter what.  Love can't have exceptions, or it's not love.  Love is really the power that holds this Universe together.  It is the Creative Force that we know as Life.  Trying to force it to conform to a label or definition that is not real in its world (like romantic love or conditional love) only causes us pain.  Love itself never changes.  Only we can deny it, it is there always and forever, unchanged, perfect and accepting of us.

So why do we reject or deny it for ourselves?  There is no answer that applies to us all.  But the solution does.  We just need to make a new decision for ourselves, that love is good and that we are that love.  Simple, but not always easy.  However, it's free, available 24/7 and waiting for us to accept it.  What more could you ask for?

Jill
jillelizabeth.net

Who believes in you?

I'm a firm believer in the idea we all need personal cheerleaders along the course of our life to keep us believing in ourselves when our own doubts creep in.

Each generation has its own symbolic representations of what it means to have self esteem and to believe we are each worthy of everything.

I watched a movie the other night "Believe in Me" with Jeffrey Donovan who plays a coach who  has moved to a small town to train the boys team.  Upon arriving he find its the girls who will be his coaching duty and he is not happy about it.  The time is 1964 and girls and sports were not thought of as something to be valued.  Title IXX hadn't been passed and resources were just hand me downs.

But what this movie is about is not the man as a coach, but a man who finds his real purpose in life is not what he thought it was.  And by following the path life showed him instead of fighting to show life the path he wanted, he changed lives in ways he could never have believed he could.

He didn't cheer the girls on as much as he believed in them so that they could then believe in themselves.  You have to remember in 1964, the country girls highest aspirations were mostly limited to being a farmers wife and raising the kids.

High school was their peak for living their own life before they turned it over to their assigned roles.

But it's also about the idea that when we stand up for what we believe even in the face of certain failure or fear, life has a way of bringing those to us who will help clear the way for a higher truth.  There is a lot of power in believing what your heart tells you over what you fear does.

It's worth a watch to get inspired by some young girls who lived a life most of us don't remember and see what it meant to them so we can remember what it means to us to have someone believe in them.

Who Cooked the Last Supper?

This is the title of a must-read book by Rosalind Miles.  She asked the important question, where are all the women in our history?  If any of us stop to think about it, it's a really good question!

Filled with humor, good stories and interesting facts that open our perspective, I recommend all women should read this book.  While the past is gone, it does give us some idea of how we got here why things are the way they are.

Where I'll add my perspective that's a little different than hers is that as we examine what happened before, let's choose to own it so we can insure it won't happen again!

As you've heard me say before, you can't move forward until you own where you are now.  And for women in this world what we all need to own is that we've not taken responsibility for the mess we've created.

There is great power in owning the idea once and for all "I am not a victim."  When you own that single idea you've taken ALL your power back.

That's not to say everything in our lives and our world gets cleaned up instantly, but it's the first big drop in the bucket of a world filled with clean and pure Truth.

There have been so many women who have walked before us with courage, grace and integrity - claiming their truth so we could live ours.  Let's honor them by doing the same, one small step at at time.

Jill Elizabeth

Florence Nightengale or "The Hammer"

I heard a little more about Florence Nightengale this morning and so today she is the inspiration for this Sunday!  Most of us may? think about this first formal nurse as someone who must have been sweet and compliant as she dutifully took care of our sick soldiers.

Well, her real nickname was "The Hammer" because she was once told she couldn't have the medical supplies she needed to help the men so she literally took a hammer to the door and let herself in!

She was also instrumental in making the now very obvious link between hygiene and disease.  For two years she meticulously documented conditions of soldiers and was able to demonstrate more were dying of disease than bullets.  She also was able to demonstrate that when you keep things cleaned up (I know, duh?), she reduced the death rate by as much or more than 80% in the hospitals.

What was key here was she just "DID IT" and didn't really wait for permission.  So the question I'll toss back to you, what in your life are you waiting for permission to do or more importantly to be?

Consistency

It's time to begin again to see if this time I can be consistent with a blog.  Do I need to be?  No.  Do I want to be?  Yes.  But I've got a new mission and a new direction and so it's time to see if this will carry me forward into some level of consistency.

My intention is to write about things that are inspiring.  People, events or anything really that keeps me focused on who I want to be in this world.  Ghandi had it right, it's not about changing anything but who you are on the inside....the last place most of us really care to look, much less be honest about what we see.

So here's to me and the challenge of consistency!