One of my yogi's sent me a request for a theme on how to unleash your inner drive. Being the google freak that I am, I googled that. I didn't come up with anything that struck me as helpful, but did you know there are sites for unleashing your inner geek, inner Jedi, inner Hasselhoff, inner beast, inner foodie, and inner Odysseus...who knew? I guess I am already more enlightened! Let's start by defining inner drive. In my opinion, your inner drive is your force that pushes you forward to try and/or accomplish certain feats or goals. Let's use donuts as an example. If you feel like maybe you should stop eating donuts because they are bad for you (a mind thought) yet you have no inner drive to stop eating donuts (a heart truth), the force is not there and you are going to eat all the donuts you want. That doesn't mean eating the donuts is wrong. It simply means that not eating donuts is not a truth to your heart. To release your inner drive, you need to find your truth; what you are passionate about. In fact, what are you so passionate about, you almost cannot help but act and move forward? “For those who have an intense urge for Spirit and wisdom, it sits near them, waiting.” ― Patanjali, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali Your inner drive becomes squandered when you allow it to be. When you give your power to someone else to control. If I am not sure if I should quit eating donuts and ask someone else to make the decision for me, how can I have a driving force to act no matter which decision is chosen? Your inner drive is directly tied to the amount of passion you hold in your heart regarding the situation. Therefore, to unleash your inner drive, you simply need to choose to act in alignment with your heart and intuition. I was watching a Dr. Phil show about this man who had an affair and chose (not accidentally) to have a baby with his mistress. At the time of show, the mistress was 5 months pregnant. To give them some perspective of the mess they had created, Dr. Phil had on a woman who was the intentional pregnancy of an affair her father had. She felt it was her fault that her illegitimacy had broken up two different families. She said she was worthless and undeserving of love. She was completely broken as was her marriage and she was furious with her father and his mistress for being so selfish as to bring her into the world. Although I felt for this woman, it was apparent that she has given away her power. She has a lack of will to live because her inner drive has been extinguished. But the optimistic aspect is that we all have choice and she can choose to take back her power at any time. Father of yoga Patanjali says we create our own suffering. This woman did not create her circumstances or how family members treated her but she chooses to live from that viewpoint. You know deep down her heart would choose happiness and life and love (who wouldn't?). When she takes her power back she will unleash an inner drive that no one can buffer. Swami Satchidananda says in translation of the Yoga Sutras, "If a handful of people come forward with strong wills, nothing is impossible. One Buddha changed half the globe; one Jesus, three quarters of the world. We all have that capacity. ” He also writes, “The cause of bandha and moksha (bondage and liberation) is our own minds. If we think we are bound, we are bound. If we think we are liberated, we are liberated. . . . It is only when we transcend the mind that we are free from all these troubles. ” And lastly, "We are not going to change the whole world, but we can change ourselves and feel free as birds. We can be serene even in the midst of calamities and, by our serenity, make others more tranquil. Serenity is contagious. If we smile at someone, he or she will smile back. And a smile costs nothing. We should plague everyone with joy. If we are to die in a minute, why not die happily, laughing?" ― Swami Satchidananda, The Yoga Sutras
2 Comments
What was one of the first things you said to someone this morning? What was one of the final things you said last night? What feelings do you suppose your words left behind? Good, happy, loved, sad, angry, depleted...? My son has a teacher this year that tells the class how much he doesn't like them, how they won't succeed, how they are his worst class ever....I have to wonder what he was told. There's a story in the book Life is a Verb about the author's daughter. She was in first grade and she came home excitedly to tell her parents she had taken her first test. Without thinking, their first question was How did you do? (Aren't we all in that habit?) And her daughter cheerfully responded I got 30%! The mom stopped herself from saying how terrible she must have felt and instead rephrased by saying How did that make you feel? Her daughter, still excited, said I got 30% right!! Think about the words. If the mom had asked her original question, her daughter would have suddenly questioned her results. As she thought about it, she would be thinking Terrible? Should I feel terrible? I was bad? Her little head would probably have dropped as her smile faded, her shoulders drooping from their once excitedly high state. The author tells of another instance in 4th grade where her daughter took one of those awful word problem math tests; the kind where if so-and-so is driving at 40 mph for 20 minutes....you know the ones. Her daughter got 1 out of 6 correct. The teacher wrote You got 1 right! Great effort!!! Why shouldn't we encourage others for what they do right? Why shouldn't we encourage ourselves for what we do well? "There is no failure, only feedback," Robert Allen. What words are you feeding back to yourself? Make them happy. Allow your words to your precious self to be of praise and awe. Celebrate your accomplishments. Light birthday candles every day and make your wishes be heard. People like my son's teacher do offer a life lesson. As one would not know light without knowing dark, would not recognize love without experiencing hate, how would my son appreciate the good teachers without having some bad? My son will always remember the no so nice things this teacher has said to the class but I, have hopefully, countered those statements with enough of the opposite that it really won't matter. But what about the other kids? Try to raise people up with your words. Raise yourself up with your words. Take control of your future by creating it with positive words and affirmations. Here's a list from positivelypresent.typepad.com to get you started. Maybe choose one each day and choose to own it! ADAPTABLE ADORED ADVENTUROUS A L LURING ALTRU I S T I C AMBITIOUS AT H L E T I C AUTHENT I C AWESOME BEAUTIFUL B I G -HEARTED BLESSED BRAVE BRIGHT B R I L L I A N T CAPABLE CA P T I VATING CHARMING CHIC CLEVER COMMENDABLE COMPETENT CONF I D E N T COURAGEOUS COURTEOUS CREAT I V E CULTURED DAPPER DARING DARLING DASHING DA Z Z L I NG D E C I S I V E DELIGHTFUL DEPENDABLE DESERVING DESIRABLE D I S T I NGUISHED DREAMY DYNAMIC E F F E RVESCENT E L ATED E L E C T R I C ELOQUENT EMPOWERED ENCHANTING ENERGIZED ENTERPRISING EVOLV I NG EXQUISITE E Y E -CATCHING FABULOUS FASCI NAT I NG FEARLESS F E TCHING F L AWLESS FOXY GENUINE GLEEFUL GLORIOUS GLOWING GORGEOUS GRACIOUS HANDSOME HAPPY HEALTHY HOPEFUL HOT HUGGABLE I L LUMINATED IMPRESSIVE I NSIGHTFUL I NSPIRED I NS P I R I NG I NTERESTING I NTRIGUING I N T U I T I V E I R R E S I S T I B L E JOV I A L JUBILANT KISSABLE KNOWLEDGEABLE L E V E L -HEADED L I B E RATED L I G H T -HEARTED L I K E A B L E L I T H E LOVED LOV E LY LOV I NG LUCKY LUMINOUS MAGICAL MARVELOUS MASTERFUL MERRY MINDFUL MOT I VATED OPTIMISTIC OVERJOYED PASSIONAT E PEACEFUL PHENOMENAL PLAYFUL POISED POWERFUL PRESENT PRODUCT I V E RADIANT REGAL RELAXED RESOURCEFUL RESPLENDENT RESTED R E V I TA L I Z E D SAT I S F I E D S E L F -ASSURED SERENE S I L LY S K I L L F U L SOPHISTICATED SPARKLING S P I R I T E D SPLEND I F E ROUS SPRIGHTLY STELLAR STRIKING STRONG STUDIOUS STYLISH SUCCESSFUL SVELT E SWEET TALENTED THOUGHTFUL TRANQUIL TREMENDOUS TRIUMPHANT UNCOMMON UNIQUE UNSHAKEABLE UNSTOPPABLE UPBEAT U P L I F T E D VALUABLE VIBRANT VISIONARY V I VACIOUS W E L L -ROUNDED WHIMSICAL WINSOME WISE WITTY WONDERFUL WORTHY ZESTFUL A couple of mornings ago I awoke from a dead heavy sleep. The kind that makes you feel like you haven't slept at all except, of course, you have. I knew I had dreamt a couple of dreams that seemed already like a distant memory; but I also had the nagging feeling in my gut that I needed to pull them from my subconscious to decipher their meanings. I went downstairs to make some coffee and looked out the window. There was a tree reaching her branches into my view; there was a tree in my dream. I tried not to pull to hard at the memory lest it disappear before my eyes and it began to return to me on its own. There was a house or building- not important. I just remember feeling the solid structure of it energetically versus openness. In front of it was a small area of grass, maybe15' x20'. It ran up against another solid, a sidewalk or road, perhaps, but also insignificant. In the top left corner of the grassy area, closest to the building's entrance, was a huge tree. Huge. Two of me would not be able to wrap our arms around its trunk. It's span of branches and leaves was nothing short of awesome and I felt an attachment to this particular tree that I cannot explain. Try to visualize this patch of grass and the tree as a starting point. In your mind, draw a circle from the tree, all around the perimeter and then back to the tree. It is an imaginary circle that will help me explain the following to you. In my dream, I felt I telepathically asked the tree to move. I did not see the tree uproot and relocate. It was just suddenly in a new spot approximately 3 feet down from where it was along that circle you envisioned. It felt like this was a normal thing for a tree to be able to do. I again reached out, energy to energy, to have the tree move and it did. It was suddenly at another point on the circle. It never jumped across th circle; it always moved along the imaginary line until, finally, it ended up at the point in which it began. I remember thinking, does anyone else notice this tree has moved, that this tree is different? That it has somehow energetically changed besides it physical location change? When the tree made it back to the original spot, I remember the ground was cold and frozen. There was frost in place of grass and I looked up at the tree. Although it still had its expansive branches and leaves, I remember thinking that the tree filled the space differently now. This dream, in my interpretation, is symbolic of how we grow and change and move through our lives. The grass changing to frost was too obvious of youth to aging that I felt this was not really part of the message. It was the way it struck me that the tree filled its space differently. Isn't that true of all of us? Doesn't your current you fill your energetic space differently than the 5 year old you, than the 16 year old you, than the 30 year old you? And don't we sometimes feel there is a lot of changing going on inside of us and how come no one else seems to notice? They don't notice because they are thinking the same thing. I love the concept of our space. Oprah once said to be responsible for the energy you bring into your space because it effects everyone around you. It is possible, though I saw myself in the dream with the tree, that the tree was also a representation of me. That would explain the tree moving without me physically seeing it move. I change and evolve on my circular path that leads me back to where I started but the changes I go through are sometimes unrecognizable as changes until they are complete. Right? Sometimes you do not see you are involved in learning and changing until the change becomes obviously apparent; like a tree moving its location. But what I love about the huge tree is that it also symbolizes to me a huge root system that is grounded, despite moving. This tree is so grounded it can move. It can change. It can adapt. We are that tree in our hearts. My interpretation of the tree starting out at the top of the circle as already very large and old is the representation of already having been here many lives before. Trees are an accumulation of wisdom and knowledge . We are the accumulation of wisdom and knowledge from all our past lives. I read on numerous dream interpretation sites that dreaming of a tree is your subconscious trying to get you a message. This made sense to me since I had felt so compelled to remember my dream. "Who dreams of a tree, can hope for knowledge and insights which will help you in the real life." (dreamomania.com) But I think we can all dig deep for these subconscious messages by simply sitting under a tree and letting go or gazing out the window at a tree and deciphering the dance of its leaves or even through visualization. The following is from another dream interpretation site. Visualize a tree in your mind's eye and look, listen, feel or sense our message. "The tree depicts the living structure of yourself... It is what has grown from the past into the present.. The roots depict your connection with the earth through food, air and water, as well as your psychological roots in family and culture. The trunk shows your body and what you have developed in your life, the main thrust of your expression. The branches are the different avenues you have explored and developed, your children, your relationships and ideas. The seeds or flowers are your own fruition, the expression of what is deeply your own unique self manifesting creatively. They are also your reproduction as a parent with children or ideas in the lives of others. Dead wood represent parts of you that no longer carry life and energy, perhaps ideas or opinions that you no longer hold... "The tree is our whole life, the urge which pushes us into being and growth. It depicts the force or process which is behind all other life forms – but seen as it expresses in our personal existence. "The phrase ‘family tree’ describes a way the unconscious uses the image of a tree to represent something that is an internal reality. Within the unconscious there is an awareness that our present personality is built upon the lives and character of our forebears. So our face may be presented on the top or surface of the tree, but behind our face, or on lower branches, or in the trunk, lie the lives of our ancestors stretching back throughout the ages. "(dreamhawk.com) Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars... and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance. Look at the flowers - for no reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are.- Osho Let the trees be consulted before you take any action every time you breathe in thank a tree let tree roots crack parking lots at the world bank headquarters let loggers be druids specially trained and rewarded to sacrifice trees at auspicious times let carpenters be master artisans let lumber be treasured like gold let chain saws be played like saxophones let soldiers on maneuvers plant trees give police and criminals a shovel and a thousand seedlings let businessmen carry pocketfuls of acorns let newlyweds honeymoon in the woods walk don't drive stop reading newspapers stop writing poetry squat under a tree and tell stories. - John Wright |
Archives
March 2024
|