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The dictionary definition of gossip is: casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true.
In essence, gossip is any conversation about other people while they are absent.
Often gossip involves personal opinions and judgements of another person, who is not there to defend himself or to set the record straight.
We probably have all done it on one occasion or another; gossiped about mutual friends. Often accompanied by a phrase like: I do not condone gossiping, but... And ended with something like: But we really shouldn’t gossip now, should we...
Yet the lives of other people seem to hold a fair bit of interest to us. What they have done. How they have handled a particular situation. How stupid they were doing that.
And by the same token, we seem to always keep in the back of our minds what they would think about us: “But they said...” is the flip side of the coin that is called gossip.
It leads me to wonder, what is so appealing about the life of others; or for that matter, the opinion of others, that we talk about it so much; that we give it so much time and energy? That we tend to give it more importance than we give our own life.
What is lacking in our own life, that we feel the need to focus on the lives of others?
Think of all the things we can accomplish, if we only would approach our own lives with the same vigor with which we look at the lives of others; if only we would apply that energy to the things we would really like to manifest in our own life.
So why don’t we?
For one thing, focussing on our own lives takes work. To make our own lives better, it is necessary to release the things we no longer need, to decide what we want to get out of our lives; and then to take action to actually get it.
Ultimately it comes down to the choice whether we want to watch the soap opera of somebody else ~ be it on television, or through gossip ~ or if we will take action to solve our personal ‘soap opera’ and manifest into our lives those things we really want. Do the things we really want to do.
To live our own life in such a way that it will turn out better than we ever dreamed possible.
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Friday, July 29, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Getting it
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There are many ways in which you can ‘get it’. Ways in which you can understand, or grasp something.
From one perspective one could say that understanding can come through the use of each of our senses ~ touch, smell, hearing, taste, or sight. And in our language we have the sayings to prove it:
We can ‘feel something out’, we can ‘smell something fishy’, we can ‘hear the whispers in the wind’, we can ‘taste the fullness’, and we can ‘see how it works’.
And then we can come to a mental understanding ~ again something that has a number of different ways in which to go about it: Logically, intuitively, or even from an ‘inner knowing’ perspective.
Whichever way is the manner in which you look at the world around you ~ or things in that world around you ~ you feel the need to understand; often it still comes down to the interpretation of that which you are seeing, sensing or analyzing.
Especially as there are any number of things that make the process of observation and understanding a personal, and therefore subjective one...
On one hand we have this tendency to not ‘see’ the things we don’t believe to be true ~ even though they may be right in front of our eyes. And then there are the things we sense ~ they can be incredibly accurate, yet hard to put into words. And it gets even harder to express that which we are now comprehending when we gain this understanding through, for instance, the sense of smell or taste...
Looking at the mental side of things ~ a lot depends on asking the right questions. Whether we ask them of ourselves, or of others that may be able to enlighten us. And this is independent from whether the answer is reached through a logical process, or via intuitive means.
And all of these possibilities are assuming that there are specific answers or information sought after and ~ hopefully ~ eventually given.
But what if the answer comes as a parable or a fable? A series of pictures, perhaps, that show a story line which, at least at first glance, has hardly anything to do with the question asked ~ let alone with an answer to those questions?
Then the answers get to be even more personal ~ sometimes even relying on the individual symbolic meanings aspects of the parable. This means that the person receiving the answer as a parable, needs to be the one interpreting the answer and putting it into words. If anybody else would give it a try, the answer might turn out to be totally different...
Ultimately it doesn’t matter how a person gets to gain the understanding one is after. It is important, however, that one is true to Self interpreting the answer.
Got it?
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.
There are many ways in which you can ‘get it’. Ways in which you can understand, or grasp something.
From one perspective one could say that understanding can come through the use of each of our senses ~ touch, smell, hearing, taste, or sight. And in our language we have the sayings to prove it:
We can ‘feel something out’, we can ‘smell something fishy’, we can ‘hear the whispers in the wind’, we can ‘taste the fullness’, and we can ‘see how it works’.
And then we can come to a mental understanding ~ again something that has a number of different ways in which to go about it: Logically, intuitively, or even from an ‘inner knowing’ perspective.
Whichever way is the manner in which you look at the world around you ~ or things in that world around you ~ you feel the need to understand; often it still comes down to the interpretation of that which you are seeing, sensing or analyzing.
Especially as there are any number of things that make the process of observation and understanding a personal, and therefore subjective one...
On one hand we have this tendency to not ‘see’ the things we don’t believe to be true ~ even though they may be right in front of our eyes. And then there are the things we sense ~ they can be incredibly accurate, yet hard to put into words. And it gets even harder to express that which we are now comprehending when we gain this understanding through, for instance, the sense of smell or taste...
Looking at the mental side of things ~ a lot depends on asking the right questions. Whether we ask them of ourselves, or of others that may be able to enlighten us. And this is independent from whether the answer is reached through a logical process, or via intuitive means.
And all of these possibilities are assuming that there are specific answers or information sought after and ~ hopefully ~ eventually given.
But what if the answer comes as a parable or a fable? A series of pictures, perhaps, that show a story line which, at least at first glance, has hardly anything to do with the question asked ~ let alone with an answer to those questions?
Then the answers get to be even more personal ~ sometimes even relying on the individual symbolic meanings aspects of the parable. This means that the person receiving the answer as a parable, needs to be the one interpreting the answer and putting it into words. If anybody else would give it a try, the answer might turn out to be totally different...
Ultimately it doesn’t matter how a person gets to gain the understanding one is after. It is important, however, that one is true to Self interpreting the answer.
Got it?
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Friday, July 22, 2011
Rain
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Where I live, rain is something that we relate to all seasons but Summer. And yet, for the past number of years it has rained quite a lot during the Summer season. As well as during the other seasons...
It seems to be a part of the changes in weather patterns that are being experienced all over the world. And it may not be as much that a certain area sees weather that is totally alien to that specific place on the earth ~ it is more that the weather is different than it has been traditionally. The dry spells seem dryer than before. The cold feels colder. Storms turn up just a bit earlier or later than usual. And yes, when it rains, it pours...
The funny thing with rain is that when it falls on a very dry soil, it might as well fall on concrete. It will run off rather than be absorbed into the earth. It starts a kind of flooding that previously was not all that common...
Then, as the rain keeps falling and the ground catches up with it, the water brings fertility to the earth. The high Summer temperatures combined with the plentiful rain allows for plants to grow pretty much anywhere!
Water indeed is life-giving.
It also is cleansing.
Just as we take a shower to clean ourselves ~ so does nature!
As the rain falls it cleanses the air, the leaves of the trees. It washes the dirt from the streets... Then when it stops raining, it seems magic has happened! Everything feels and smells fresh. And especially in Spring or Summer when the temperatures are higher ~ one can almost hear nature grow...
Most people don’t seem to like the wet weather quite as much.
We tend to carry umbrella’s ~ sort of bringing that ‘portable roof’ with us to fend off the rain; to stay dry as we rush from the car to the indoors.
Few of us seem to remember those days when we were young and enjoyed the rain and the puddles it left on the sidewalks. The pleasure the splattering of the water gave us when we jumped into those puddles... And even when we had an umbrella ~ the most fascinating thing might not have been that we stayed dry, but rather the sound of the rain drops falling on it. The subtle music that made. The rhythms that were different when it rained softly, and invigorating when the rain poured from the skies...
Rain is an important part of our lives, of nature. And equally as influential whether it falls unto the earth, bringing abundance ~ or if its rhythmic music is absent for too long, creating deserts.
Yet when it is there, every drop of rain permits life to unfurl...
.
.
Where I live, rain is something that we relate to all seasons but Summer. And yet, for the past number of years it has rained quite a lot during the Summer season. As well as during the other seasons...
It seems to be a part of the changes in weather patterns that are being experienced all over the world. And it may not be as much that a certain area sees weather that is totally alien to that specific place on the earth ~ it is more that the weather is different than it has been traditionally. The dry spells seem dryer than before. The cold feels colder. Storms turn up just a bit earlier or later than usual. And yes, when it rains, it pours...
The funny thing with rain is that when it falls on a very dry soil, it might as well fall on concrete. It will run off rather than be absorbed into the earth. It starts a kind of flooding that previously was not all that common...
Then, as the rain keeps falling and the ground catches up with it, the water brings fertility to the earth. The high Summer temperatures combined with the plentiful rain allows for plants to grow pretty much anywhere!
Water indeed is life-giving.
It also is cleansing.
Just as we take a shower to clean ourselves ~ so does nature!
As the rain falls it cleanses the air, the leaves of the trees. It washes the dirt from the streets... Then when it stops raining, it seems magic has happened! Everything feels and smells fresh. And especially in Spring or Summer when the temperatures are higher ~ one can almost hear nature grow...
Most people don’t seem to like the wet weather quite as much.
We tend to carry umbrella’s ~ sort of bringing that ‘portable roof’ with us to fend off the rain; to stay dry as we rush from the car to the indoors.
Few of us seem to remember those days when we were young and enjoyed the rain and the puddles it left on the sidewalks. The pleasure the splattering of the water gave us when we jumped into those puddles... And even when we had an umbrella ~ the most fascinating thing might not have been that we stayed dry, but rather the sound of the rain drops falling on it. The subtle music that made. The rhythms that were different when it rained softly, and invigorating when the rain poured from the skies...
Rain is an important part of our lives, of nature. And equally as influential whether it falls unto the earth, bringing abundance ~ or if its rhythmic music is absent for too long, creating deserts.
Yet when it is there, every drop of rain permits life to unfurl...
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Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Confrontation
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Literally ‘a hostile or argumentative meeting or situation between opposing parties’, a confrontation seems to have a less ‘hostile’ yet still intense meaning in the energy of today. And then I am aiming at the confrontations we may have with ourselves...
These may be confrontations between the things we really want to have in our lives and our inability ~ for whatever reasons ~ to manifest them for ourselves. Or between the things we really would like to do, and the job that is paying the bills. Or even something basic like a confrontation between the physical, logical part of our lives and the spiritual aspects of our lives...
No matter what example you look at, in the energy of this point in time it seems like everybody is confronted with those things in their lives that don’t work for them. These may be things that worked quite well in the past; or perhaps even things that have no logical reason for happening ~ or not happening, as the case may be ~ at all!
They can also be inner things like attitudes and emotions ~ feelings of fear, or guilt.
And it all is not only coming to the surface, it has a tendency to be ‘right in your face’...
The good thing about this is, of course, that it is immediately obvious what things in life need looking at. Especially when observed from a spiritual perspective, this mechanism provides us with an exceptional tool for our own personal (spiritual) growth!
The danger is that it can bring you into a situation where you feel you are putting out fires hand over fist ~ and as soon as you have solved one problem, something else that needs your attention pops up right away. Leaving you hardly any time to take a breath, or to sit back and regain your balance.
Ultimately, each confrontation ~ whether it is an ‘inner confrontation’ or a confrontation with something or someone outside of ourselves ~ brings us closer to understanding what we are all about. What is our priorities are. What we enjoy in our lives and perhaps more importantly, what we can do without. Bit by bit it helps us confront our fears, our feelings of guilt ~ and all emotional binds that tie us to the past; that hold us back from moving forward.
Given the fact that each opportunity to confront ourselves ~ and to make a decision on some aspect of our lives ~ comes up so strongly; we may as well take some time to look at it. To observe it. And maybe most importantly ~ to listen to ourselves... When you say something like: “I don’t need this in my life!”, you are in essence telling yourself that you have already made the decision whether you want (to keep) it, or not. All that is left is to take action and remove it from your life...
Yet, in this energy that in itself can be a confrontation!
.
.
Literally ‘a hostile or argumentative meeting or situation between opposing parties’, a confrontation seems to have a less ‘hostile’ yet still intense meaning in the energy of today. And then I am aiming at the confrontations we may have with ourselves...
These may be confrontations between the things we really want to have in our lives and our inability ~ for whatever reasons ~ to manifest them for ourselves. Or between the things we really would like to do, and the job that is paying the bills. Or even something basic like a confrontation between the physical, logical part of our lives and the spiritual aspects of our lives...
No matter what example you look at, in the energy of this point in time it seems like everybody is confronted with those things in their lives that don’t work for them. These may be things that worked quite well in the past; or perhaps even things that have no logical reason for happening ~ or not happening, as the case may be ~ at all!
They can also be inner things like attitudes and emotions ~ feelings of fear, or guilt.
And it all is not only coming to the surface, it has a tendency to be ‘right in your face’...
The good thing about this is, of course, that it is immediately obvious what things in life need looking at. Especially when observed from a spiritual perspective, this mechanism provides us with an exceptional tool for our own personal (spiritual) growth!
The danger is that it can bring you into a situation where you feel you are putting out fires hand over fist ~ and as soon as you have solved one problem, something else that needs your attention pops up right away. Leaving you hardly any time to take a breath, or to sit back and regain your balance.
Ultimately, each confrontation ~ whether it is an ‘inner confrontation’ or a confrontation with something or someone outside of ourselves ~ brings us closer to understanding what we are all about. What is our priorities are. What we enjoy in our lives and perhaps more importantly, what we can do without. Bit by bit it helps us confront our fears, our feelings of guilt ~ and all emotional binds that tie us to the past; that hold us back from moving forward.
Given the fact that each opportunity to confront ourselves ~ and to make a decision on some aspect of our lives ~ comes up so strongly; we may as well take some time to look at it. To observe it. And maybe most importantly ~ to listen to ourselves... When you say something like: “I don’t need this in my life!”, you are in essence telling yourself that you have already made the decision whether you want (to keep) it, or not. All that is left is to take action and remove it from your life...
Yet, in this energy that in itself can be a confrontation!
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Friday, July 15, 2011
Expect your prayers to be heard!
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While we, as mankind believe in a Higher Force ~ and have searched for ways to contact, or even placate that Higher Force in order to receive help, healing, or an abundant harvest throughout time, we still seem surprised when our prayers are being answered...
Almost to a point of a sense of ‘un-believe’. And this makes for an interesting paradox. On one side we believe in this Higher Force that holds our lives in His Hand. On the other side we have a really hard time accepting that this Higher Force would actually help us living our lives.
And this duality is one that is common in many areas of our lives, especially where we deal with thing we know, can logically understand, and can touch versus the things we believe in, the things we sense, and even can feel to be true...
As a result we may believe that there is an aspect of ourselves that is unseen; a spiritual part if you wish, and we know there is the physical, logical part of us ~ and yet when something happens that harms our sense of wholeness, we only look at the physical part of ourselves...
By the same token, we may pray for guidance, answers, or even fully implemented solutions ~ and then when we get what we have asked for we all too often see what comes to us as ‘punishment’ rather than the answer to our prayers.
Or maybe we just don’t understand...
Now, if we would live our lives from the premise that our prayers will be answered ~ always! ~ we might be more on the lookout for new and unexpected solutions coming our way. And we might recognize that when something happens that can be exactly what we asked for in our prayers.
Like when there is a drought and more and more people ~ independent from each other ~ start praying for some rain to fall. To freshen the air. To feed nature. To save our crops...
And then when it starts raining ~ and raining, and raining (!) ~ we feel like we are punished because there is no sunshine, and it feels like Autumn in the middle of Summer. And all the while we forget that this rain in essence is the answer to our prayers! Even when it is a bit more than we ‘bargained for’...
The thing is, that often we forget to look at life with an open mind.
We ask for some rain in our prayers, and we have already decided in our own minds that we would like to have one nice thunder shower in the evening, followed by another day of sunshine. If we get less rain than that which we have in mind, we have a tendency to dismiss it as too little. Do we get more rain than we had in mind ~ we feel punished because the nice Summer weather is taken away from us.
And we forget that what we asked for was rain, and what we got was rain...
So expect your prayers to be answered ~ yet be careful what you ask for!
.
.
While we, as mankind believe in a Higher Force ~ and have searched for ways to contact, or even placate that Higher Force in order to receive help, healing, or an abundant harvest throughout time, we still seem surprised when our prayers are being answered...
Almost to a point of a sense of ‘un-believe’. And this makes for an interesting paradox. On one side we believe in this Higher Force that holds our lives in His Hand. On the other side we have a really hard time accepting that this Higher Force would actually help us living our lives.
And this duality is one that is common in many areas of our lives, especially where we deal with thing we know, can logically understand, and can touch versus the things we believe in, the things we sense, and even can feel to be true...
As a result we may believe that there is an aspect of ourselves that is unseen; a spiritual part if you wish, and we know there is the physical, logical part of us ~ and yet when something happens that harms our sense of wholeness, we only look at the physical part of ourselves...
By the same token, we may pray for guidance, answers, or even fully implemented solutions ~ and then when we get what we have asked for we all too often see what comes to us as ‘punishment’ rather than the answer to our prayers.
Or maybe we just don’t understand...
Now, if we would live our lives from the premise that our prayers will be answered ~ always! ~ we might be more on the lookout for new and unexpected solutions coming our way. And we might recognize that when something happens that can be exactly what we asked for in our prayers.
Like when there is a drought and more and more people ~ independent from each other ~ start praying for some rain to fall. To freshen the air. To feed nature. To save our crops...
And then when it starts raining ~ and raining, and raining (!) ~ we feel like we are punished because there is no sunshine, and it feels like Autumn in the middle of Summer. And all the while we forget that this rain in essence is the answer to our prayers! Even when it is a bit more than we ‘bargained for’...
The thing is, that often we forget to look at life with an open mind.
We ask for some rain in our prayers, and we have already decided in our own minds that we would like to have one nice thunder shower in the evening, followed by another day of sunshine. If we get less rain than that which we have in mind, we have a tendency to dismiss it as too little. Do we get more rain than we had in mind ~ we feel punished because the nice Summer weather is taken away from us.
And we forget that what we asked for was rain, and what we got was rain...
So expect your prayers to be answered ~ yet be careful what you ask for!
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