Knowing when to let go

January 16, 2013

Relationships as well as friendships are much like marriages; it’s important to know when to let go. It can happen at either end. We all have a choice as to whether we wish to continue to be part of any relationship and either party can decide the time is up. The degree of anguish, hurt, or relief is a matter of which end of things one is on.
friendLe’s take an example. Suppose you’ve been in a very long friendship, say one that has endured for 25 or 30 years. You and your friend have exchanged visits, holiday cards, gone on trips together and talked about each other’s families for all those years. And then one day you begin to have trouble reaching this friend. At first, you figure he/she is just busy. After all, you’ve been friends for so many years and you didn’t have any arguments, what else could it be? So you begin to figure out what the other person is doing that would keep them from responding to you. Perhaps one of their children has been ill, or maybe they’ve been dealing with life issues that they don’t want to bother you with. This begins the excuse stage.

Next comes the worry stage. This is where you really start to wonder why your long-time friend isn’t returning your phone calls and/or emails. You begin to go over the last conversation you had examining how it went. Could there have been some clue that you missed? Why doesn’t he/she get back to you? Is something going on that you haven’t figured out yet?

Then there is the irritation stage. What have I done to deserve this behavior? So you try again. With one last attempt to be nice and give the other person the benefit of the doubt, you write an email, “I know how busy you must have been since I think one of your children is due to be married….”. A few weeks later, a response comes with no salutation, just the news that indeed the daughter or son or whomever did get married, but it happened months before (so guess what? You weren’t invited and I’m only telling you now to get you off my back…. Words in parenthesis are unspoken but implied). Wow. Now you know. It’s final. The relationship no longer has meaning. If your words of congratulations had meaning, then the news would have been provided more timely. People send invitations even to those they know can’t come just to “include” them. At a minimum, they send a notice. Not to receive anything is certainly a realization that one is less than an acquaintance. How did this happen?

When one begins the process of re-evaluation of the relationship, the whole thing begins to unravel. Was it ever a friendship or just a matter of convenience? No response is necessary. No other phone calls will ever be made or answered. It’s done. The realization is complete that the relationship is over. All that is left is to accept that a life-long friend may have been a mirage.

Talk about a life lesson. How can one discern friendship? Perhaps it was there for a while. Perhaps it wasn’t. All we can do is live with it and hope that our new friends are more worthy of our time and attention.


ECN Blog Article: New Year’s Resolutions – Less is More

January 10, 2013

It’s really hard to believe that we’re really here in 2013. It seems so futuristic. I can remember when such a date was so far into the future and now its well, here. So now that I’ve accepted the date, I guess it’s appropriate to figure out what to do with this New Year. What resolutions are appropriate for such a special date as 2013? What comes to my mind is to consider that less is really more. Ok, so this one is going to take some explanation. Well, what did you expect?

First, let’s take a look at what resolutions are meant to accomplish. We write down statements at the beginning of the year to help us resolve to do better, become a better person and thus create space to move forward in our lives. Thus, these positive statements become resolutions. I’ve even heard some people say that they don’t make resolutions so that they never have to worry about letting themselves down or failing. That’s one way to look at it. Of course, it’s the negative way. I prefer to be more positive. Remember that nothing positive starts from a negative so certainly we shouldn’t be negative about our New Year’s resolutions. With this concept in mind, let’s begin.

We must first evaluate our priorities. What is really important? If it isn’t important why would we want to worry about it in the first place? Why would we want to change it? So, what is important to you and what do you want to do about it?

Next, how do you make room for the things that you’ve listed as important? Remember the old rock in the jar trick? Put the big rocks in the jar first and then fill around the rocks with smaller pebbles and finally, fill in the empty space with sand. The big rocks are the big things in your life that you’re making room for first. The smaller pebbles are the next level items and then the sand is everything else that we might want to do with our lives. Seems pretty simple until we get going with an activity that’s just wasting time but we keep doing it any way. I’ve been guilty of researching some silly thing that I really don’t need for hours on the internet with a really hard time to break away. It can become addictive even when one knows that it’s happening. So, remember the big rocks and why they go into your jar of life first.

Back to the less is more. Fewer rocks will fit into the jar but they will be the important things in your life. Thus, in the end your will have more of what gives you pleasure in your life. Less will become more. Become aware of the time wasters like the internet surfing I described or perhaps you have your own distraction (sports on TV, or other TV programs, or perhaps more serious addictions) and do less of it.

Be sure to include your favorite people in your life. Make time to visit, socialize, talk and interact in real time rather than just texting, emailing, etc. We need to really be among and with people. Too often these days people are with technology and not interacting with their families, friends and communities. Get back to doing things with people and gain humanity. Less technology and more humanity is a really good resolution.

How can you create a New Year’s resolution for 2013 where less is more?


We made it through “12/21/2012”

December 22, 2012

Today is December 22, 2012 and we’re still here. The sun is out and the day looks very much like any other day, except that it’s a very special day. You see, today is the beginning of a new world age.

According to the Mayans, every 5,125 years is a new beginning called a “world age”. The last time this occurred in 3114 BCE, we as a people were just at the forefront of human civilization as we know it. This time we are supposed to be more spiritual, more aware. Only time will tell if we are either of these. To understand this situation, let’s take a closer look at what it all means.

Remember at the end of 1999 when we all wondered if the clocks on computers were going to cause a catastrophic event when the programmed dials turned beyond December 31, 1999 since they were only “patched” to do so and not built that way? Well as we all know now, on January 1, 2000 we all woke up to find that the world in which computers now had a very important role was operating just fine. The system programmers may have worked late into the night to make sure that nothing happened, but in the end, we were all ok.

What we have now is a situation with similar aspects; expect instead of technical types “saving the day” it is the spiritual types coming to the rescue. According to the Mayans, this fourth world age that we are entering today is for a more enlightened world were balance is restored to the earth. This type of prediction is not unique to the Mayans. A new, brighter world where people work together has been predicted by many cultures. But this is also coming with a mixture of earth changes until the balance occurs. The Mayans predicted that “unless we balance out, the earth will respond”. With a new world age comes changes of many kinds. Some of these changes are part of natural cycles in the earth that happen over such long periods that we are not familiar with them. Take the cycle of the zodiac – the twelve planets that we know by our horoscope – Aries, Pises, Taures, etc. Well, it takes an astonishing 26,000 years for this cycle to occur and guess what, it is happening now. (NASA calls this cycle the procession of the planets and the change point a GREAT YEAR and it occurred on December 20, 2012). We are experiencing the end of one cycle of the planets and the beginning of the next.

The recent hurricanes and tornadoes in my local area of Virginia as well as all up and down the Eastern coast of the US is a testament to these earth changes. But please understand, these ferocious winds, rains and the devastation they cause are not normal, this is true. However, they are part of a larger natural cycle when we look at a much, much larger picture, just not what any of us have ever experienced in our lifetimes, or in this last world age for that matter.

When people say that we are living through special times, it is very true. What we need are people who are spiritual enough to get that we need to bring back balance and harmony into our way of life. Especially at this holiday season where excess in spending, eating, partying can allow us to get totally carried away, we need to remember that this is a time to share, love, extend ourselves and although we need to have fun too, it all needs to be done within a framework of proper balance. Excess is a negative and nothing positive starts from a negative. Let’s all start the New Year from positives. Remember what the theme of the holidays was meant to be and work to regain the spirit of love in any way you can. Only buy what you can afford. Share what you have. Help others less fortunate. Take time out for reflection.

In the end, these small bits of spirit will help the planet to find balance and perhaps help to calm the negative energies that are affecting parts of the globe at this time. It’s been shown that when large groups of people sit in meditation /prayer and send loving energy to a region, there is less conflict. Let’s be part of that energy to help the world be a better place and help to manifest what the Mayans hoped for when they predicted that 2012 would be the end of life as we know it and the start of something new. All the best for the new year…


Remember Your Attitude of Gratitude

December 4, 2012

 

It’s always important to hold an attitude of gratitude, but it’s particularly relevant around the holidays when we should stand back and count our blessings. As we approach the new year, I’d like to thank all my clients whom I’ve helped achieve their goals; and, I never forget that each and every one of them has taught me something along the way as well. And for that, I also say, “Thanks!”

What happens when Gratitude is missing?

Here’s a story of a team that I worked with wherein appreciation and gratitude were not the watch words, and what happened as a result.

While working on a particular assignment, I was asked to work beyond my normal duties as a project manager. When the PR person left the team, I was asked to take over the job of creating and getting the monthly newsletter out until the replacement was found. Although my official manager objected, I agreed to help my matrix manager in this temporary situation. It was a favor, he said, as he called me “a good writer” even though he knew quite well that this task was out of the range of my duties.

Unfortunately, the prior PR person left in a huff with no processes or procedures in place to guide me in this new activity so I reached out to those that had pieces of the puzzle and to the team to write the articles that would be part of the organizational newsletter. It all had to be coordinated and required some late nights since I still had my standard consulting duties to perform as well. When “we” pulled it off and the newsletter went out on time, I was very happy. I said, “yeah!” Just a little “Yeah”, not loud. About an hour later we had a meeting and this manager, rather than acknowledge the good work or the extra effort that not only what I had done, but the team accomplished in getting the newsletter out, he said

“There will be no end zone dances here!” I was shocked, to say the least and it was on my face.

Later, I sent a thank-you note to the team expressing my gratitude for their support to me, for without it the job would have been impossible.

Here is the result:

This manager got angry. He wrote me up for “boasting”. There was no “thanks” for the extra work and he didn’t want anyone else getting any thanks or credit either. In his view, apparently, if one chooses to do the extra work, well, that’s all it is and one shouldn’t be thanked for it.

What’s the probability that someone will do extra assignments for this manager again? Certainly not me! I learned a lesson on that one. If someone is not appreciative they won’t get midnight oil burned from me.

Teams need to have gratitude and appreciation and they need to celebrate their successes in order to continue performing.

In all my many years as a program and project manager, I supported my teams in every way possible, and, as a result, when the time came to push for deadlines, they always came through. Then, I gave them praise, gratitude, appreciation and whatever physical manifestations to prove it as I could from my grade level. This attitude of gratitude has served me well in my professional career. I never lost a project. The same concepts can be applied to any business environment.

So to all my clients, I do thank you for your belief in me and I look forward to serving you in the future. Happy Holidays to all!

 


Tune on and Tune In

October 15, 2012

A couple nights ago, I was speaking to the woman that hosts the monthly local dance in my neighborhood who also sells dance shoes. I was speaking to her about the shoes, indicating how lovely they were, even though I wasn’t in a position to buy them. For the first few sentences, she was polite and then, suddenly, she just turned off. There was no polite phrase indicating that she’d given me her “ok my time is clocked in already at five minutes so now I have to move on”, just a shift of the head and on to the next person. My reaction was of total shock. Sure, she wanted to make a sale; but, it was a public dance and selling shoes was not the whole point of the program. For me, social interchange while getting some exercise was the real reason for attending that evening. As I read energy quite well, what I felt as this was occurring was like a door slamming in my face. I was in mid-sentence when she turned her head so it seemed like my words had been cut with a knife. Wow, quite a reaction.

The next night I attended another dance in a different part of town. This time the host was celebrating one of the regular’s special birthdays. Since I knew this person, I went over to tell her how great she looked and to wish her well. Again, this woman gave me a couple of minutes and then, without warning, she turned her head and started talking to another person. Déjà vu. It had happened again.

Now I’m really good with getting my messages so here was a similar situation happening to me on two consecutive nights. In both cases, I was looking for polite conversation otherwise known as social interchange. What indicator was I not reading from these people? It was obvious that they were not interested in continuing conversations with me, thus this behavior signals that these people are not my friend. Ok, I can deal with that. I don’t have to be friends with everyone. However, where have manners gone? Alright, perhaps I’m too sensitive. Did I merely overstep boundaries? Would a sentence or two have been enough, so that by the third sentence, they had tuned me out?

Well, now I realize that I’m over-analyzing. The fault isn’t mine at all; sort of. I’m picking the wrong people to try to have a conversation with. It’s all about the energy. Not just the energy of the situation but the energy of soul development.

Let’s look deeper at what’s going on here. In both cases, I went into the scenarios with the best of intentions just wanting to be pleasant and to enjoy myself. In both cases I was totally snubbed. When we interact with those of lower vibration, it doesn’t go well since there is nothing with which to relate. That’s what was happening here. Both of these people just don’t care. They may seem to, but it’s not in there soul development to be concerned about anyone that’s not on their priority list. And that day, it wasn’t me.

However, I stop and try to help people when they come to me, no matter who they are. And, if I need to step away, I will offer some polite accolade, “Excuse me, I need to …..” or “I don’t mean to be rude, but I have to talk to ….. before they leave”. If people are not polite, it’s because their soul development is just not where we are, pure and simple.

So, no more analysis and just consider the source. Turn on your intuitive capabilities and tune into your inner light. The answers of how to behave will always be there.

Meanwhile, excuse me, I need to go fix dinner.


May it be written

October 2, 2012

The ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kipper, are called the days of atonement since we are to ask for forgiveness not only for our own misgivings, but for the rest of the world as well. We do this even for those we don’t like, even our enemies, since we are all children of God. Thus, it is a time to assess our lives, be grateful for our blessings and to ask for a sweet year – one represented by health and happiness.

While sitting in synagogue on Rosh Hashanah, happily listening to the sound of the shofar during the morning service, I noticed something in need of attention. The cloth upon which the Torah (the Bible in Hebrew) scrolls were being read was old and faded. It just didn’t seem appropriate for such a revered setting. The curtain covering the box or Ark of the Covenant which contained the other Torah scrolls was beautiful, deep blood- red velvet, with deeply embroidered design. In comparison, this table covering didn’t match up and was sorely in need of replacing, in my estimation.

My mind began working. As the words of the service passed by me, “We ask for forgiveness for…” my thoughts went, “I wonder how much fabric and trim would be to make the Rabbi a new table cloth for the Torah scrolls?” And then I continued, “But should I even think of such a thing? Maybe the fabric will be too expensive for me. Or, perhaps I won’t buy the right kind of fabric for such an important undertaking. “And, “Who am I to think that I could make such a cloth worthy of the Rabbi and the synagogue?” Then, I came back to more positive thinking and decided to wait until the end of the service and ask the Rabbi for his opinion.

“Rabbi, am I allowed to make you a new cover for the table where you read the Torahs?” I asked. His face brightened at the thought, since he recognized the state of his current cover and although he was a modest person, he seemed happy at the prospect of a new one for his simple synagogue. He responded that yes it was fine. I qualified my offer with being able to find fabric that I could afford and that was appropriate. Before I left, he came over to me and again mentioned the cloth. I knew he approved of my offer which made me smile inwardly. Since it was a religious holiday, I couldn’t do any serious measuring. Thus, I merely used the length from my wrist to my elbow knowing that it was approximately one foot. This is how I figured out the size of the cloth to be about six feet by six feet.

As I left the synagogue I said a little prayer, “God, if this is something that I’m supposed to do, help me find fabric that is suitable that I can afford.” I fixed a price in my head. When I went to the shop to actually look for fabric, I told the shopkeeper of my creative project and he began to help me. I couldn’t find velvet in the right color so I had to find another alternative. The shopkeeper went into this work room and came out with a gorgeous tapestry fabric that looked quite regal and contained the deep blood red that would match the synagogue’s Ark curtains. The only problem was that it was on the small side. I then figured out that about 12 inches all around would be a good border in a gold color and would add enough fabric to be the correct size. As luck would have it, he came out with a  bolt of gold dupioni silk. There was exactly 2 yards left on this bolt and when we did the calculations, it was just enough to add the border! Wow, the two fabrics matched together beautifully. Then I needed gold tassel trim. The shopkeeper found some trim and gave me a good price. Since the other fabrics were end of the bolt, he gave me a remnant price. All together the price came to exactly half of the figure I had had in my head for fabric that would have been several hundred dollars retail. Including my work the tablecloth would be valued at close to $400. I was very happy.

Next came the construction of the table cloth. To say it was a labor of love is an understatement. With the added work of the border and the fact that I wanted to line it (I just happened to have lining material at home), it took me close to 30 hours of sewing! In the end, the Torah scroll table cover turned out beautiful, the Rabbi was thrilled when I gave it to him in time for Yom Kippur, and I felt like I had done a mitzvah (good deed) to be sure. In addition, I wrote a dedication to my father’s memory on the lining which the Rabbi said was very special.

My creative project turned out to be divinely inspired, guided and blessed. Hopefully, I’m forgiven for any transgressions over this past year. But, rest assured, I didn’t do it for that reason. I did it because I felt the urge and decided it was the right thing to do.


It’s Either Fear or Love

September 21, 2012

If you’ve been following my writings perhaps you remember me saying that “fear and love” cannot be active at the same time. But this is a topic that deserves repeating. Let’s start off with a definition:

What does it mean, “It’s either fear or love?”

Fear is active from our second energy center which is also where our drivers of sex, power, and money originate. It is also where anxiety as well as illness begins. Love, on the other hand, comes from the heart, the fourth energy center. Only when the heart is open can we be in a loving, caring, nurturing state. When fear is operating, the heart is closed and so not open to the positive energy that is possible.

 Why are we in fear?

When we are afraid that we’re not good enough, we shut out possibility. Being afraid only causes the energy of fear to multiply and come back in the way of chaos to harm us. How can this be the case?

Let’s say that you decide to start a business but are afraid you won’t be successful. The next thing you know events start happening that take up your time, while preventing you from moving forward with your vision. Thus, your fear has a self-fulfilling prophetic impact on your life.

Now let’s change the attitude to one of belief in yourself. By sending out positive thoughts such as I can do this or I deserve this because I’m a good person; I know my field and I am capable (all essentially coming from a love perspective, you set up the energy of positive events to come back to you. The next thing you know, opportunities are presented that allow you to fulfill your vision and you are successful.

Another example is with relationships: We may not be going out thinking, “Why bother, I won’t meet anyone anyway?” This is fear taking over when really the attitude is one of I’m not good enough.  The playing out is much like the above scenario. We don’t go out, there’s no opportunity to meet any new people, and thus the self-fulfilling prophesy takes over. If we change the attitude to, “I’ll go out and just have fun; while I’m out perhaps I’ll meet someone”, this positive outlook is inviting and will most likely attract new opportunities. And so it goes.

Why not try recognizing the fear for what it is, the shadow self, attempting to hold us back from moving forward with new opportunity. Let go of the fear and open space for love to enter your life.


We need more Lightworkers

August 20, 2012

Recognizing the need for Lightworker Community Kabbalah teaches that when there’s chaos, we’re not allowing enough light to come in. Thus, when I started to have lots of issues with a new computer, new cell phone, new bathroom renovation… I stood back and asked myself was this a message that I wasn’t allowing enough light to come in? Sure, I was creating posts of hope and inspiration to over 5,000 people on my Facebook page, as well as operating my intuitive life coaching business, but apparently it wasn’t enough. At least I believe that the underlying reason for this sudden “chaos” in my life was that the universe was making use of the time that I wasn’t utilizing to the proper spiritual level based on my soul’s purpose. Wow, what a job!

Spiritual community is always a good thing I feel it’s crucial to go back to basics from the spiritual perspective, which is why I started a new group called the NOVA Lightworkers (www.meetupsdc.com/NOVALightworkers/  – or was pushed by the forces of nature. In this sense, a Lightworker is one who uses their inner light of knowledge and wisdom in service to self and others. Our inner light connects us to our divine source, which is also of “the light” as opposed to the “darkness”. Not only do I feel a need to reach out to other spiritual souls on their life path desiring to be of service to others, I felt that there is a need to create a group in my local area. Sure there are plenty of “spiritual groups” but each leader comes from a different perspective and so will draw individuals with whom they resonate. Thus, with my personal focus of intuition development and energetic philosophy, those that stay in my group will resonate with me. The students will always find the right teacher for them. Those that are already teachers will find compatriates.

We are never tasked with more than we can handle. Thus, I accepted this divine “assignment” even wondering from where the time would come, knowing that somehow it would all happen. I set up the Lightworker group on “Meetup”, paid the fee and said quiely, “if this is what I’m meant to do, it will be successful”. Of course, I would know soon enough if it wasn’t. I didn’t even have to think twice. Within two days of the site going live, spiritual souls thirsty for a community began to sign up. Once the initial challenge of writing the text and planning how the format would be, I began to feel energized. Perhaps the universe was guided me back on track to do something I was supposed to do. Although planning two events per month initially seemed daunting, I now feel that I will be guided to know what to do and it will all work out… exactly as it should. Maybe all the confusion was a message that I was getting stuck in my left brain with details and being human, needed a reminder to let go, and trust my guidance. What a surprise! The teacher never fails to continue learning the same lessons…


Empowerchangenow Blog – empowering change for transformation

August 2, 2012

Empowerchangenow Blog – empowering change for transformation

via Empowerchangenow Blog – empowering change for transformation.


How to Drive Customers Away

May 30, 2012

Anyone who has ever been in a sales, service business or even had client customers knows the importance of “customer service”. So why is it so hard to find quality service when interacting with people representing a company these days? Here are some possible reasons:

People are underpaid. They don’t get paid enough to deal with the issues at hand, so when they get irritated by the already irate customer, this individual hangs up. Nice way to handle the problem, right? Of course, wrong. But it’s happened a lot to me lately. This type of behavior only infuriates me more since I have to call in again only to wait in queue.

People just don’t care. They are underutilized in the job they are in. Perhaps their real profession was a higher skilled one and they are doing customer service merely to pay the bills. Their heart isn’t into it. Another version of this comes from improperly trained people. The result is that the customer gets treated poorly.

People aren’t skilled enough for the job. When I recently bought a new computer, I had to deal with a myriad of technicians who were supposed to know more than I did (should have been really easy with my level of computer savvy) only to find that they couldn’t help me solve the issues at hand. Mind you, it was a brand new computer so it should not have had so many issues. That’s another side of the problem. For now we are looking at the issue of trying to get service. I called and called only to find the person I was talking to had no clue about the particular software problem that the company I had bought it from (third party sale) sent me. I finally had to send the software back and use manual transfer of my data from my old system to the new one after I got hold of one technician who knew what he was doing. I was on-line with this guy from 9:30 pm until 3AM. It took that long to set up a new computer that I was told wouldn’t be a problem. Again, not the real issue here, but a tag along one. Sales over sells and service has to take the ball from there. I guess service is thrown some curve balls, but people should be properly trained. I also want to add that I had paid for upgraded priority service for three years on both hardware and software.

The company’s operational rules and policies are broken. I’ve just completed a 10-year line of credit with one of the huge banking/mortgage firms. After 8 of the 10 years on the program, I decided to actually use it to buy a heating and a/c system rather than take money from my investments due to the large sticker price. After all, the whole idea of the line of credit is so that the payments can be made over time, the interest rate is very low (3.25%) and the interest is tax- deductible as part of my mortgage. That’s the concept anyway. I barely got started with the loan only to find out that I had to pay the full money back within two years since the LOC was ending. Ok, so I had to make large payments which I figured I could do over my bank’s bill pay system. I was surprised to find that these ACH payments were converted to physical checks (part of this company’s policy requirements) and went into the mail. By the time the company actually got my $14,000 payment now in the form of a check, 6 weeks had gone by, I was nearly crazy making phone calls trying to track it down and I learned a lot about where the money could go along the way. I learned much more than I should have ever had to deal with. Every person I worked with gave me a run around until I finally drove over to a local branch and spoke to the branch manager who promptly helped me. After that, I physically went to the branch and made transactions. In this age of automation how bad can a system be that I can’t go online and make payments with full confidence. Just today I tried to resolve an issue with the final balance on this line of credit and again they drove me crazy until after the fourth try I got a woman who resolved my issue right away.

So in the end, if the first person doesn’t help you, hang up and call back. Eventually, you’ll get someone who knows what they are doing, is responsible, and actually cares. There are some good customer service people around. But you have to look hard to find them. Make a list and share it when you do.