There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
Albert Einstein
I’m Not All-Right, and You’re Not All-Right, But That’s Okay—THAT’S All-Right.
Ernest Kurtz, The Spirituality of Imperfection
A miracle is a shift in perception from fear to love.
Marianne Williamson
Let the ship set sail. I call Divine Order into my work. In the right time, in the right way, let my offering become available for the good of all. To all who need to be guided to me….
Tosha Silver, Outrageous Openness
After my epiphany moment last week, when it became clear to me that I had rescinded my act of `surrender to trusting the Universe´, I doubled down on cultivating my primordial trust once again. From moment to moment, hour to hour, I kept praying for the wisdom to know the difference between what I can and cannot change, the courage to change what I can, and the serenity to turn over what is beyond my remit.
This has had an immediate effect, bringing me into an energy field of ease and flow. There was relief in recognizing that the outcomes of the Universe do not all rest on my shoulders, and wonder at what may unfold around the next bends in the river.
On sharing my regained faith in Divine Order with a good friend, he recommended a book by Tosha Silver called `Outrageous Openness´. The title certainly piqued my interest, and I took the opportunity to listen to the relatively short audio book, read by the author, over the last few days. It has helped me greatly in my quest to re-establish my faith in the notion that the Universe is guiding and protecting me at this challenging juncture in my life. And zooming out, I could clearly see that this has always been the case.
To paraphrase the words of Tosha Silver, this is what I have learned from my current dilemma: `When a problem has existed for a long time, it can feel permanent. The critical judgmental mind has trouble imagining anything could dissolve such a seemingly entrenched state. But if I am open, sudden change can happen at any time.
When I tapped into the vision of my intuition, I had to laugh. `If I am open…´ We will see. It will definitely take a miracle! A miracle. Suddenly I realized that, in my heart and soul, I had never truly called in the Divine on this topic, though I certainly knew better (and regularly recommend to my clients that they do so in similar circumstances! For those who live without a concept of the Divine, it can be pitched as an exercise in self-fulfilling prophesy, to equal effect).
Once again, I have been unconsciously relying on my own limited strength; a guaranteed way of keeping things stuck. Therefore, I now pray that Divine Order may come into my writing and coaching. I ask that, if I can be of service and if this be the will of the Great Spirit, that the perfect opportunities will arrive to transcend this apparent state of limbo once and for all. I realize that the perfect route has already been selected. I am ready for that miracle and so very willing to be surprised.
Meanwhile, in the spirit of balancing trust and action, I will continue to do my footwork, to the best of my ability. Whenever I experience any form of emotional distress, I will recognize that my trust in Divine Order again needs to be resuscitated. On such occasions, I will make it my top priority to achieve this.´
There was an element of surprise that my Saboteurs had been able to hijack me even though I felt I had been paying the utmost attention. Then the following story came my way: Last year, while driving home across the State of Virginia on a dark November night, the car full of family and friends, my brother, Chris, spotted a white horse galloping down the ramp towards his car on the highway. Being somewhat at a distance, with several cars up ahead, he watched, alert and captivated, as the situation unfolded. Would he need to take evasive action? Would there be an accident? Or would the horse somehow avoid calamity?
As his car drew nearer the horse, which was now moving at a gallop towards them on the highway, he was taken completely by surprise by the collision of one of the cars up ahead with an, as yet, unseen object, close by. It turned out to be a black horse, the second member of the rogue tandem, which had remained invisible in the winter darkness. The collision was bad, the horse was killed, and, in the ensuing chaos, it emerged that the damage to those in the affected car was serious but not life-threatening´.
Some Saboteurs are stealthier than others. It is a characteristic of our human condition to overlook some things in our field of vision. I certainly had. There are always blind spots. This happens due to our innate imperfection. This is neither good nor bad. It is simply the way it is. Therefore, embracing and making peace with my own imperfection has also become part of this process of restoring my faith in Divine Order.
As a Mental Fitness Trainer using the Positive Intelligence (PQ) framework devised by Shirzad Chamine and the PQ Team in San Francisco, I maintain a daily fitness regime. I get new input at regular intervals each day on the PQ App. The first is the `Topic of the Day´. It sets the tone and context for the training to be done on that day.
Further input (four short exercises) follows throughout the day, in the form of brief, two-minute, guided mental workouts. The cadence and the regularity of this approach makes it easy to stay on the beam in terms of consistency of practice, a key factor in any fitness programme.
Transformation processes, to succeed in the long term, are made up of 20% insight and 80% practice. Most approaches fail because they deliver great insights but no structured practice. PQ is a notable exception in this regard, and substantial benefits can rapidly be seen (and felt), even in a matter of weeks of consistent practice, backed up by digesting the insights.
As it happens, today’s `Topic of the Day´ in my PQ Mental Fitness Practice deals precisely with the issue of human imperfection. The transcript is as follows:
Like every other human you are an imperfect being. Your imperfections are of two categories. One, there are lots of good qualities that one person or another might have which you don’t have, ranging from physical attributes to talents and skills, to possessions. Two, you have Saboteurs.
The hypothetically perfect human would look like Audrey Hepburn or Cary Grant, compose music like Bach, explore like Earhart, invent like Edison, lead like Mandela, heal like Mother Teresa, and so on. If that ideal human got 100 points, even any of these people I just mentioned would each get less than 10 points in comparison, and each of us would just get a few points if we’re lucky.
As bizarre and futile as it sounds, most of us are constantly beating ourselves down for not being that ideal perfect self. This drains our energy and prevents us from bringing forward the gifts that we actually are uniquely capable of bringing into this world. Your personality and spirit are as unique as your fingerprints. It’s the essence character that shone in you as a child.
Your greatest gift to the world is to allow that being to shine as often as you can. Today, accept yourself fully and completely. You are perfect in your imperfections. Even your saboteurs are part of your perfect story. As you notice your imperfections today, have compassion, smile, have a sense of humor about it all. Rather than fighting and resisting who you are, just be who you are today. Be comfortable in your own skin. Accept, embrace, love who you are. Paradoxically, this frees up the positive energy to make yourself just a little less imperfect…
That refreshing soul food made for good start to the day. Later, I opened the first short PQ Exercise which ran as follows:
Please close your eyes. Think of a way you’ve been hard on yourself recently for being imperfect. Maybe you made mistakes or failed at something. Maybe you’ve been procrastinating on things. Maybe you’ve not been smart enough or courageous enough or focused enough or disciplined enough, or whatever imperfection has been bothering you.
Now picture this kid inside yourself that you saw during the childhood picture exercise. This kid is perfect, unique as your fingerprint, with beautiful essence. Feel the difference between the beautiful essence of this kid, that never changes, versus the stuff you do day-to-day, which changes all the time and where your imperfections come from. Your essence being is worthy, unchanging, beautiful, and perfect. Love and appreciate this being and have compassion for this being having to live with your saboteurs and their imperfections. Great job! Open your eyes when you are ready.
Which brings me back to the topic of miracles. The miracle here is that we are perfect in our imperfection. When we engage with each other in the acknowledgement of this miracle, further miracles happen. These take the form of transformations that seemingly lie beyond the realm of the possible.
Having experienced such shifts in my own life, I know this to be true.
