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Knowing Better and Doing Better

October 24, 2011 by Leslie Green 4 Comments

In my last article, “JOY and SORE,” I wrote of the joy I felt deep down inside.  It was a joy that had been going on for several days.  That joyous feeling came to a train-wreck sort of a halt when I picked up the phone later that afternoon to hear that one of my sons was in the principal’s office.

As my son came home later that afternoon, he wouldn’t look me in the eyes, too ashamed of his actions.  No doubt he already had some idea of the impact his actions had had.  I felt sad and disappointed and he knew it.

The next morning, I decided he and I would watch some of Oprah’s LifeClass series on her new network OWN.  We watched a beautiful show on Finding Your Purpose.  We engaged in dialogue about what he truly loves to do and what brings him joy.

We followed that show by another LifeClass where the lesson being taught was, “When You Know Better, You Do Better.”  We sat and watched in silence, both sipping our tea.

When the show had ended, he was very clear on the message.  We discussed it at length and it was apparent that he felt truly penitent.

Later that day I wondered something.  Clearly, he already knew better.  If he hadn’t known better, he wouldn’t have exhibited the shame he did.  He wouldn’t have cried what I’d call ‘sorrowful tears that stung’.  He would have justified and made excuses.  But the thing is, he did know better.  Yet, he chose not to do better.

So here’s what I wondered: “Why, when we know better, do we at times choose not to do better?  Why do we repeat actions that we know to be unloving, forging ahead anyway?”

I believe there are many reasons why we do this, each different depending on the circumstance.  But in time, my hope is that we lessen the frequency of these blunders.  That we learn along the way and continue to grow from such experiences.

As much as I wanted to dole out severe consequences, I sat back and looked at the bigger picture, at what I know to be true.  I know him.  He is a good kid who made a poor choice, and truly felt remorseful.  This was not a repeat of some prior action.  So why pour salt on the wound?  He felt badly enough all on his own.  (That’s not to say he didn’t have certain privileges taken away; I wouldn’t be doing my job as a parent if he didn’t.)

Knowing Better and Doing Better.  Sometimes it takes a few go’s before we get it right.  But if you Trust, Trust that there is a bigger picture, a bigger Knowing driving what IS, I believe you’d concur we’re exactly where we’re supposed to be on our path.

It’s that Trust that gives me comfort.  It’s that Trust that I hope gives you comfort.  And although my son is young, and perhaps doesn’t yet have the maturity to fully understand the concept, I hope that in time he comes to feel that same Trust.

Trust on that level is Freeing.

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Knowing Too Much?

October 20, 2011 by Leslie Green 1 Comment

While on our way to a doctor’s appointment several months ago, my son and I drove quietly, listening to music.  He and I spend a lot of time together in the car, usually full of chatter, but that day was different.  He was very quiet.  Was he simply enjoying the music?  Was he thinking?  As we sat at a red light, I glanced over at him.  Furrowed brow, eyes narrowed.  Yes, he was thinking.  It was the type of thinking that a mother doesn’t interrupt.

As I pulled into the parking lot, the quiet, contemplative spell was beginning to lift.  As I removed the key from the ignition, he looked over at me and said, “Sometimes getting older scares me because I know too much.”

“I know what you mean,” I replied.  “I understand.”

And with that, we walked into the appointment.

What I believe my son was referring to was actually becoming aware.  The opposite of, “Ignorance is bliss.”  All of a sudden you go from the standpoint of not knowing any better, to knowing in such a way that Life has taught you lessons that cannot be untaught, or unlearned, for that matter.  And to a child, I imagine that the knowledge of this new responsibility would feel scary.

Although at this time in my life, I wouldn’t choose the word “scares,” I completely understand what my son meant.  The more we understand about Life, of what IS, the more accountable we must hold ourselves to being true to who we are.  (More accountable can sometimes feel scary.)  And in today’s culture, that’s not always the easiest, or most popular task.  But it’s the task one is faced with, once Aware.

I believe you, the reader, are there: You Are Aware.  You are the exact audience I am meant to write for.  You wouldn’t visit this blog if you weren’t interested in exploring and seeing what IS and growing from within.  I read your emails.  I know.  The emails I received in response to the questions I posed in What Do You Own? were so raw and so real.  They exhibited such trust.

Within several of your emails was the theme of ‘losing faith’ at one time.  The word ‘scared,’ either in the past or present tense was also used with some frequency.  But along with losing faith, regaining faith, feeling scared, overcoming lost loves — you are also seeking something deeper.  And this something deeper comes from within and is nourished from within and above, simultaneously.  I believe it becomes more apparent as we become more aware.

So is it knowing too much?  Or is knowing more simply a product of becoming aware?  Once aware, you no longer believe you are alone.  You regain your faith and begin to Trust in Life.

I was reminded of this lesson while speaking to a dear friend yesterday.  I shared with him a quote I keep in my car, placed in a location where I see it each and every time I drive anywhere.  It’s a quote I jotted down in a dark movie theater on my ticket stub.

God Dwells Within Me, As Me

 

God dwells within you, as you.  God dwells within each one of us.

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How Would You Live if You Could Trust Life Fully?

August 23, 2011 by Leslie Green Leave a Comment

Today’s article, “How Would You Live if You Could Trust Life Fully?” comes to us from guest blogger and friend, Doug Stearns.  As I sat down to write my last article, “Synchronicity Magnet,” I had Doug in mind.  Here’s our synchronicity story:

On my recent trip to New Mexico, I kept stumbling upon labyrinths, three to be exact.  When I mentioned this to Doug, I was shocked to hear the way we became friends began with him taking a class on labyrinths!  Long story short, he took this class and was quite moved by something the facilitator said.  So much so, that he noodled on it for several days before writing an article about it.  (This article, which you can see is completely unrelated to labyrinths.)  I found his article on the internet, it resonated with me, so I sent him an email, we emailed back and forth, and now he teaches me Quantum Physics, among other things, via phone 1-2 hours per week.  It all started with a class on labyrinths, and today:  Good Friends.  And next week?  He and I will be meeting in person in Seattle!

Okay, enough preamble.  Please join me in welcoming Doug to Trust Life Today!  I hope you enjoy his article as much as I have.

~~~~

“How Would You Live if You Could Trust Life Fully?”  by Doug Stearns

During difficult times, how easy it is to think of life as a solitary experience. Alone on the rough seas of life like a shipwreck survivor on an unstable, makeshift raft, whether the victim of someone else’s actions or our own, at the mercy of the elements, it’s a common experience to conclude that this is the way it’s always going to be, that there’s no way out. However, that assumption is an illusion.

Instead, what if you knew with certainty that you could trust life completely? What if you had absolute knowledge that life would protect you in every situation and circumstance? What if you knew that every undertaking you initiate, large or small, would have an outcome filled with success? What if you knew that every part of your life experience including health, finances and relationships, would be forever heaped with overflowing abundance, regardless of short-term appearances? How would you live your life?

Can life provide this kind of shelter from the trials and sufferings of everyday events? Yes, it can. In fact, it wants to. It even needs to, but it only can if you permit it to. What’s standing between you and that kind of life experience is a shift in conscious awareness. It’s not necessarily easy to do but the process is simple in concept. It begins with an acceptance of the truth that we shape our life experiences with our thoughts.

The truth is that physical life – that experience bounded by what you hear, see, smell, taste and feel with your bodily senses, and what you remember about those sensory experiences and what you think about them – is basically an illusion. At its foundation, it is not physical. It is mental. Contemplate this for a moment. The real you isn’t your body and you know it isn’t. Nor is it the thoughts that emanate from the activity of your brain. The real you exists at a deeper level of consciousness. You are the observer within. However, it’s easy to forget because every physical perception you have comes from those five senses and what you think about them. It’s no wonder we’ve been taken in by the illusion!

Visual illusions are commonplace. Here’s one that’s fun to examine. It’s persuasive. Look at the blocks labeled A and B. Which block is the lighter shade of gray? Since you’ve been told this is an optical illusion, you know the question is a trick. Nevertheless, study it and try to determine the relative luminosities of the two blocks in question.

Gray Square Illusion
I’ve never shown this to anyone who didn’t think that block B was the lighter of the two. In every case, they were certain, in spite of the fact that they knew they were being tricked. However, they were wrong.  The truth is, A and B are the exact same shades of gray. Hard to believe? Look at the next illustration for proof.

 

Gray Square Illusion Proof
The second picture superimposes two vertical stripes across the picture, each shaded to the same degree as the two blocks. Look closely. It proves that A and B are identical.

So, what’s going on here? Simply stated, your eyes (or more precisely, your brain) are tricked by the shadow that extends from the green cylinder.

The human visual system has evolved to allow a person to distinguish objects in particular ways that give rise to the greatest odds for survival. It’s good at what it does. However, the system might be slightly outmoded at this stage of human evolution. Nevertheless, it persists.

This illusion tricks the visual system and nothing more. Imagine an illusion that challenges not only sight, but also hearing, taste, smell and all sense of feeling throughout the body. This includes more than the sense of touch. It includes the ability to feel heat and cold. It includes the sense of balance, the ability to stand upright and even the ability to know one is standing, not sitting.  This is the kind of illusion that our physical perceptions are responsible for generating. It is the way it is because we could not navigate physical life without it. However, that does not change the truth: what we perceive physically is not the way things truly are.

Every person is an expression of the life force. There are no exceptions. That force is an expression of consciousness. The physical realm arises out of consciousness.  The foundation of our experience is not in the physical domain, it is in consciousness. The total of consciousness is Oneness, or God. That’s why we shape our life experiences with our thoughts, without exception, whether or not we know it or believe it. In this respect, it’s like the force of gravity. It operates on us and our surroundings regardless of our desire or willingness to participate. We wouldn’t likely try to defy the force of gravity. We know we cannot. Yet we regularly try to defy the force of life.

Imagine what your life would be like if you had complete trust in Life’s ability to protect you. You can live that life. All you need do is shift your conscious awareness. You are One with consciousness and it is all Good. There is nothing outside the One that can affect you. There is nothing to fear.

~~~~

This essay was inspired by the following quote by Susan L. Taylor, an editor, writer, and journalist, formerly editor-in-chief at Essence Magazine and co-founder of National CARES Mentoring Movement.

“How would you live if you felt you could trust life fully? If you believed you were totally protected and secure, that forevermore your life would be filled with love and prosperity? Think of how your fears would dissolve, of how totally accepting of yourself and others you would be–it wouldn’t matter if they met your expectations or not. Think of how you would venture forth knowing you would succeed. Think of how your heart would open, of how free you would feel. How free you would be to love. All of this is the treasure that life offers us. We just lack the consciousness to experience it.”

~~~~

Doug recently launched onto a spiritual journey when he ended his 35-year business career, sold his home and set out to become a writer and teacher of the physics of Truth. For the past year and a half he’s been writing his first book, a fictional story of how a young boy helps a retired theoretical physicist make the discovery of his lifetime – scientific proof that consciousness is the foundation for all life. As the boy grows, he learns how to transform the professor’s discovery into a practice that helps thousands live happier, more abundant lives.

Doug’s web site, dougstearns.com, explores some of his thoughts about the physics of Truth in essay form.

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See Me as Whole. Leslie’s Healing

August 4, 2011 by Leslie Green 20 Comments

Sitting…sitting…sitting. Writing, backspace/delete. More writing, more backspace/delete.  20 minutes later…still sitting. I know exactly what I want to write, but for once, I have no idea how to start. Okay, dive in.

A little over two weeks ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I found no lump. I was simply going in for my first mammogram.  That’s right: no lump, first mammogram.

There Was No Lump

I decided to start today’s article with the facts, urging those of you who have put off having a mammogram because you haven’t felt anything through your monthly self examination, to please reconsider. As I stated, I felt no lump because there was no lump. There are different types of breast cancer, and the type I have been diagnosed with is located within the ducts, therefore cannot be felt. It’s most commonly referred to as DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ), of which there are different grades and subtypes. Without getting into too much detail, my subtype is called Micropapillary DCIS, which is referred to as the “bad acting DCIS” and therefore treated aggressively.

One of the many pieces of good news is that it was caught early! And how fortunate, in this day and age, that within these two+ weeks, I have been able to meet with a multitude of surgeons, complete more tests and evaluations than I’d care to recap, and still manage to take an abbreviated family vacation and another short girl’s weekend getaway.

Life goes on, as it should, and must. This is merely a blip, as my friend so eloquently put it, “Your natural state is perfection and this is a small blip on your way back to perfection.” Thank you, Anne.

This, I can assure you: I am not worried. Apprehensive yes, as this is a new experience for me. But worried? No. I am precisely where I’m supposed to be and I’ve categorically chosen the exact surgeons to form my team of healing. This team came together in a unique and organic way to support me and ensure my physical and emotional health. But the blessings began well before the medical team was in place.

Meet Faith

A few years ago I became part of a group of women with a common desire to study FAITH (Finding Authenticity, Integrity, Truth, and Harmony), hence, the name of the group. Through their collective love and spirit, as well as the love and support from my family and other dear friends, I felt I was already ahead of the curve when my radiologist delivered the news to me. All of the studying I’ve done throughout the years on Trust, on Spirituality, on Understanding What Is — it has all prepared me for today, a place where I stand strong and confident in spirit, yet (finally) wise enough to know that it’s okay to be vulnerable and cry, too.

So it was only fitting when I ran into my radiologist’s office to pick up my mammogram films, that the doctor took me aside, and as we embraced, she placed “‘Faith the Lamb” in my arms.

breast cancer

Faith the Lamb

Faith is also an acronym, although not spelled in all caps. Her name stands for Friends Always In The Heart. She came about by one of my radiologist’s patients years ago. To this day, my doctor lovingly hands out Faith the Lamb to all of her newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, along with a little piece of her heart as she speaks candidly with you.

Attached to Faith’s ear was this tag (which I now keep in my wallet):

breast cancer

It’s as if the events of my life have sandwiched me between FAITH and Faith. What an incredibly blessed and fortunate woman I am.

In an effort to honor that blessing, I have chosen to share as many lessons as are appropriate with you all here, through my writing. I will not be accepting phone calls or responding to emails or texts about this subject, as I commit to only breathe positivity into this healing experience. And although answering questions may appear to be a neutral act, my experience thus far has been that it’s extremely draining for me.

I want each one of you to know how grateful I am, knowing many of you will be sending me prayers, love, light, and healing energy. For that, I Thank You.

During these next months, as I live and breathe true Trust, I ask one thing of you, and one thing only:

See Me as Whole, as Healed.

See me as whole and healed, in the present tense. I ask that you see me as whole and healed now.  As if it is already done.

Love, Leslie

~~~~

Mammograms are essential for early detection. Please post this message on your Facebook wall or forward the email if you receive it in that format; women should be made aware that self exams are not enough. This 41 year old felt no lump. There was no lump.

If you’re in the Dallas area (Richardson, TX), here is a direct link to my radiologist. Dr. Elizabeth Jekot is a bright, caring, and very thorough doctor. She and her staff will take excellent care of you, no matter if this is your first mammogram or your 50th.

 

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Leslie I understand that for many, Trust does not come easy. It falls into the black-hole called "Easier-Said-Than-Done." And here is why: Because as children, most of us learned the exact opposite of how trust works.                Continue reading >>

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