A new idea...

I´ve had a lot of personal responses from friends and a couple of randoms (thanks everyone!) about wanting to try Beyond Intellect the same way that I use it... by asking a random question and opening up the book.

Not everyone has the book (yet!) so my mom and I were talking and perhaps there is a solution... you can privately email me that you would like a reading done for you, and then I can post what I find, using the same techniques I already use on this blog.

The magic about this is that you don´t even have to tell me what the question is.  You can just email and say "Hey chica.  Can you check your mum´s book?".  I will open the book to wherever I open it, and read what is there.  I´ll use my own intuition to identify the part that needs to be shared.  I will then post the answer from the book using either your initials or a name you want me to put or something anonymous, and then you can read what it says.

If it speaks to you then it would be wonderful if you could share why it was relevant to you or what you learned.

At this point, I´m thinking of starting a new blog for this experiment... but for right now, I´ll use this site.

And, I have one to share for "UE".

Acceptance page 48...

"You can begin to increase your ability to be more flexible in your personal and professional relationships when you can recognize your own and others´ developed and under-developed traits. You can use your knowledge of the four categories of reliability, congruence, openness, and acceptance to bring about cooperation, respect for diversity, and enhanced interpersonal effectiveness.

It is particularly useful to be aware of your under-developed traits.  That knowledge can be used to effectively analyze situations that are not turning out the way you hoped.

Practice performing the new behaviours you have pinpointed and you will find that interpersonal conflicts can be resolved easily and more effectively."

Lots of love,
Sara

Your Happiness Quotient

As I´m still working on courting my "masculine" energy (and finding a balance with my feminine energy) I decided to just open up Beyond Intellect and see what it says.

It is REALLY good.

I think everyone would find a different meaning to the biography that Susan has cleverly shared about Happiness. 

Page 158 is where it is at my friends.  How does it speak to you?

xxoo

Yup. My masculine energy is revved up (because my feminine energy feels totally misunderstood)

So, I decided that I was going to embrace my "masculine" energy this week, and see what happened.

So, these are some of the things that I did:

• On Friday, I dyed my hair a darker colour because I was feeling like my hair was too light at the bottom and too dark at the top and I wanted a same consistency so that I would stand out. I´m sort of against hair dye because I think it´s bad for you, but I told myself "NO MORE WALLFLOWER Sara!"
• On Friday, I told everyone at a party what my opinion is (and internally told myself that I make no apologies).
• On Saturday, I felt like the biggest loud mouth in the world and wished to god that I would have kept all my thoughts to myself.
• Lots of emails to friends and for work over the past week, and then about an hour later thinking that perhaps my friends and colleagues were offended by what I said because maybe what I said sounded heartless or wasn´t written in a pleasant enough way.

So, all in all, I think it has been a successful week of courting my "masculine" energy and feeling TOTALLY UNCOMFORTABLE... so I know my "feminine" energy is still in the driver´s seat.

I suppose this will be a work in progress as I haven´t quite found the balance I am after.

"Mutual Respect" page 152

Bonjour!

This evening I decided to open the book and see what it says.  No thinking about what I´m thinking about and then asking for an answer, just letting the answer come... and then I´ll find out what the question was!

Well. I just read it, and for me, I took it as a reminder that I need to up my masculine energy.  Lately I have been feeling like I´m the smallest mouse in the room with the tiniest voice.  People interrupt me mid-sentence all the time, or something happens just as I get to something important to say, and so the conversation is cut short.

I´m feeling a bit of a wall flower lately and I want to shine dagnabbit!

So... this week will be about courting my masculine energy.  Let´s see what happens...

Cheers to chosen pain!

Well, 9 months later and what do I have to show?  I think visibly I have a few more lines on my face, and a few more grey hairs.  But, all in all, I am happy and healthy.

I emailed my best friend from high school today, and it was funny to realise how much of a Gemini I really am.  Sometimes I like to think that I am less Gemini.  But, nope, I´m all mercurial.  That is me!

It has been difficult to write lately, because so much change has been going on.  All self induced, but nonetheless heart-wrenching and painful.  In some ways I think that if pain just happens to you, you can at least find comfort in it being totally random and out of your control.  When you feel pain because of choices that you have to make... then the responsibility lies entirely with you.

You go through the pain of the experience of the choice you have made, and all that you can think is ‘you chose this' (so stop feeling sad).

But just because you make the choice, doesn´t make it less painful or less sad.  And, maybe your choice was less painful than the choice of continuing on in a way that was not working.

Amen.

Let´s see what Beyond Intellect has for me today... I opened the book to page 18, and my eyes went to "A Path With Heart".

After reading a few pages, what I am gleaning from the information within, is that, I need to remind myself that I have my permission to live my life based on what works for me.  And that I am not bad, or wrong for choosing what no longer worked for me. 

[My] Personal Energy Audit (pg. 104)

I have been feeling low.  However, I can't quite put my finger on what it is that I feel low about.  My life is beautiful.  I am healthy, I am discovering new delights in a new country, I have a degree from an Ivy League University, I have a slew of impressive employers and films, I have a wonderful partner, a great family, awesome friends.  Am I just ungrateful or a pessimistic Debbie Downer?
I open Beyond Intellect to page 105 and what I read about is my "bank of personal energy we can call upon in the pursuit of what we want...". There are four types of "accounts" that you can access throughout different parts of your day and for different interactions.  Susan suggests that "to establish a substantial, full, rich, and abundant inner core you must learn to redeem your inner calmness and peace by seeking time to muse and dream, to contemplate, to learn, and to uncover and discover the forgotten, the disowned, and the disused aspects of yourself."
I close my eyes and imagine meeting my "best future self" in the safety deposit vault of my bank.  We each use our key in the locks and slide the metal box out onto the table. We sit down.  Future self is looking calm and self assured.  Current self is looking more apprehensive, hesitant and scared of being wrong. 
I open the box and the symbol I see is "a glowing, illuminating light.  It is yellow and white and emanates from a strong core. There is no sound, but it is so bright that it feels present.  It also feels warm but is only light, so it doesn't burn".
What this symbol means to me is that I need to just be me and not worry about it (easier said than done).  That old hymn "This Little Light of Mine"comes to mind straight away.

This little light of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine.

Hide it under a bushel? No!
I'm gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bushel? No!
I'm gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bushel? No!
I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine.

Shine all over

[name of town]

I'm gonna let it shine
Shine all over

[name of town]

I'm gonna let it shine
Shine all over

[name of town]

I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine.

 

Speaking of "being the change"...

After weeks of not blogging, I have heaps to say.

I've never been good at patience, so, I thought, I'll just go for it now.

I have a horrible, horrible secret to share.

When given the opportunity, I will watch hours of E! entertainment television.  It is so awful.  I watch these trainwreck of television shows that just exploit people, or show people being dumb or nasty to one another.  I also like to read this website called DListed. The guy is so clever and funny, but it talks about famous people I don't really know about (since I haven't lived in the States for seven years) and I still check it out (wtf!?!).

I am stuck in a Catch 22. I watch this crap (or read it) and give fire to the industry that spits out these awful vapid people.  Then, I think about my young nieces and nephews, and the children of the world, and realise that this is potentially their inspiration.

I'd like to see some stories about real cool people coming out from network television.  People who have aspirations to get a higher education, or make a positive difference to the world.  People who can serve as roll models for the next generation.

I need to turn that crap off.  Stop having conversations about it.  Stop buying it.

Change happens by action, including and ESPECIALLY THROUGH MONEY.  If CEOs, Board Members and shareholders can't make money off of their bad taste ideas, then it will stop the madness.

What do you think?