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Welcome to Off Topic Thursday. Let’s talk about how to create positive change. We are in the third week of January and it seems timely to talk about real and lasting change since most people that made a resolution to change on January 1st will be giving up before the month is over. Apparently, making a resolution to change is not enough to create something new.
Did you make a resolution to change something this year? How is it going? I am guessing that if you are listening to Positive Change with Dorena that you are one of those people that are always choosing positive change and not necessarily organizing your choice around a calendar date. That’s me. I started Happy Body in December just because that is when it was time.
I didn’t have any plans for a change in January. However, when I woke up on January 1st, on the spur of the moment, I decided to do the opposite of what other people were doing. While others were resolving to increase their effort to make positive change in their lives, I decided to let go of all the healthy practices I did that were taking effort. At the time I was doing about 5 hours of meditative practice each day. I am not sure where the urge to practice so much had come from, but when November came up I lost interest in all the business activities I had been engaged in for the past year and just wanted to be quiet and meditative. My regular practice at that time took about 2.5 hours a day and I was surprised how I slipped effortlessly up to five or more hours.
On January 1st, I decided to let go of it all – one moment at a time and see what happened. Again, I am not sure where that urge came from either. And it took a little effort for me to not do my habitual activities.
My first Tai Chi teacher used to say: “When you empty, the universal energy naturally moves in to fill up the emptiness.” Perhaps that could be paraphrased as nature abhors a vacuum. Choosing to let go of my fixed activities seemed like a good way to create more. You see, I was doing a lot of practice, but I was not sure if it was creating the freedom I desired. I also was wondering if what I was choosing to do was the most direct method for creating freedom. I let go, one moment at a time, and I started to be in these questions:
- What will create the most for me right now?
- What is for my highest good?
- What is beyond this?
- What have I concluded that is limiting me?
- Is it possible that an uncharted path would create more for me than a “validated or proven” method?
- What else am I capable of being now that I never could before?
- What have I already created, that I am denying so that I continually go back to try to create it?
- Are my old ways no longer appropriate for the new me?
- What is it time to let go of?
- What am I hanging on to that if I let go of could change everything for me right away?
I was focused on clearing what was no longer needed. Clearing things out of your house and/or life is one of the first things I recommend when people are looking to change, especially when they are not sure what they want different. This allows space for the new to come in.
I have a story that illustrates this principle. Six years ago, I was interested in having a spiritual partner. One of the methods I used to create this person involved making room for him in my life. I got rid of my twin size bed and bought a queen size bed. I only slept on one side. I made sure there was room in my daily routine for a partner and in my physical space. Did it work? Well sort of. I am now married to the man I met and targeted at that time. And it seems that the bed I bought for him is the only mattress he can sleep on comfortably. A match made in heaven. But we didn’t get together right away, instead, he told me he wasn’t available and while that space I had created was open in my life, it got filled with one of my high school students from the year before. The teenage boy’s mother, at wits end, called one day from out of state and shipped him to me to keep him out of trouble. My future partner, sensing the space closing, waited another four years before propositioning me. Ahhh… but all is well that ends well.
So creating space is a good way to welcome the new in. Of course, one of the things that happens when you open the doors is that the universe may send you a wide variety of opportunities. Remember to stay in the question with each new opportunity. They may not be the one that will create the most for you. You can say, “This is great, but is there something better coming.” Or maybe you are offered something you don’t like. Then you can say, “Hmmmm, will this create more for me than I’ve imagined?”
So after three weeks of letting go, what remains? Well, I have kept the things I do that give me tangible results. I do Dragon and Tiger Medical Chi Gung every morning because it always clears my head, energizes me and gives me a fresh perspective on my life. Only 15 minutes and nice returns. I have kept the Happy Body Program. You can hear my results doing the program in episode 27 of Positive Change with Dorena. Forty-five minutes a day and I feel energized and refreshed. My strength is increased as well as my flexibility. Just today I reached my ideal body weight, although I still have fat to lose and muscle to gain. And since I enjoy it, it is definitely a keeper. Vajra Dance and Tai Chi have also stayed, although I am a little less insistent. When it is cold and foggy or rainy outside I have skipped the outside Vajra Dance and opted for inside Tai Chi. These movement meditations help me stay connected to all that is.
What has gone? I am doing less sitting meditation and mantras. Instead I am spending more time in the now and being in the question of what can create more for me than those old activities. Who knows, I may go back to them.
I have also given up keeping track of my practice. This is hard for me, since I use a practice journal to motivate me. I like knowing how much practice I am doing and many times in the past a journal that records my practice will create more for me. I’ll practice more and longer when I am keeping track. Now I am questioning if more is better? Or if it is possible to create more doing less.
What else has gone? My hurry. Letting go of three hours of practice has created more time. But more than that I am reminded of a quote by Madame Guyon. She talks about God being in constant repose and to become one with God one must match that energy. Being in constant repose and an amazing creator sounds like something I’d like. What would it take to be in constant repose?
Yes, what would it take to be in constant repose? One of my habits is to keep pushing to create the life, body, business, relationship, home and everything else, I desire. I have a sense that there is a thing such as effortless creation. What would it be like to be in constant repose, yet an active creator? I don’t have an example of that. I know people that push and are unbalanced, but are creating a lot. And I know people that are easy going and in repose, but not really creating much. I haven’t run into anyone that has exactly what I would like. Well, not that is not exactly true. I do know people that have the freedom I am desiring, but they put effort into becoming free. That is why I personally effort so much. However, I get a sense that it is possible to allow the change to happen more. Am I recognizing all that I have created?
So for me, right now, I will continue to be mindful of what I want and question if what I am choosing is creating it. I look forward to my next adventure as my healing horse and mule come next week.
If you have enjoyed this podcast take a moment to give it five stars and write me a review. If you are feeling stuck and would like to have a session with me, visit my website at changeanythingnow.com to find out more. Sessions for this podcast I do for free. How does it get better than that?
CREDITS:
Music
Cheery Monday by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Voice Intro:
Dylan McClosky
https://www.fiverr.com/dylanmcclosky
Podcast: Copyright 2018 Dorena Rode – All Rights Reserved
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