postcards from nowhere

Greetings!

I've been gardening a lot lately.  This is my second year in the same 
house, so it has been pretty exciting to see perennials I planted last 
year returning.  All three of my strawberry plants survived, and the 
kids and I were delighted to see three big fat juicy strawberries 
ripening.  We watched them every day, waiting for them to be at the 
perfect moment of plump sweetness.  Finally we decided . . . one more 
day on the vine and we would eat them.  With eager anticipation we went 
out to the garden before breakfast to pick our berries.  Those of you 
who garden can probably guess the end to the story - they were gone! 
And there was a fat, happy-looking squirrel rooting around in our compost
pile. 

One moment in the life of the garden.  Notice that I chose to portray 
the look on the squirrel as happy.  Another witness may have described 
it as smug!  

Couldn't 10 different people could tell this story from 10 different 
angles?  Pessimists might see it as further evidence that nothing ever 
works out anyway.  Those who are worrying about abundance see it as 
proof that there's not enough good things to go around.  Cynics wonder 
why I was foolish enough to actually think I'd get a strawberry anyway.
Optimists may say there's always new blossoms and new berries on the 
way all the time.  

And who would be right?  Is there an objective truth, separate from our 
perception of it?  Quantum physics tells us that the intention of the 
observer has an effect upon the observed.  Look for a particle, you find 
it.  Look for a wave, there it is in the same place you found the 
particle a split second ago!  Look for evidence that life sucks; you'll 
find it in the same place someone else sees proof that life is beautiful.
So which is the truth?

We know that our organs of sensory perception filter out parts of the 
spectrum.  We don't hear ultrasonic frequencies or see ultraviolet light.
Jumbled bits of various frequencies have no meaning until they reach the 
brain and are assigned a concept.  Remember that experiment where kittens
were raised from birth in a room containing only horizontal lines? When 
they were removed they showed no recognition of anything vertical and 
kept running into table legs.

Our physical organs are not capable of perceiving all there is.  It's 
not such a stretch to think that perhaps our beliefs are also filtering
our mind's experience of the world; affecting our interpretation of the 
world in the same way that tinted glasses affect our vision.  Those 
kittens couldn't see the table legs.  Could we be missing anything?

Just like jumbled bits of frequencies, data from our world is meaningless
until our mind organizes it into a conceptual framework.  But each 
framework is highly personal, made of of our own experiences and beliefs.
Meaning occurs after I project my interpretation, not in the event itself. 

Granted, not a big deal when it's about fruit.  But what about 
unemployment, divorce, illness, pain, and even death?  Could they also 
be devoid of meaning until I add it?   What if what I see, feel and 
think about anything is only a reflection of my inner belief system?  
What if this belief system could be changed, just like we can change 
the tint of our glasses?

Let's take road rage (please!) as an example.  The driver who is outraged
at being cut off in traffic is usually the one who has a belief that the 
other driver's action was personal.  That bastard cut me off!  I'll show 
him who he's messing with!  The same event could occur and another driver
might think, gee, that poor guy actually thinks he's gonna get somewhere 
faster by driving that way!  I'm glad he's not driving near me anymore!  
Or my personal favorite, gosh, that poor guy probably has to go to the 
bathroom really bad! 

You get the point.  The fact that the guy changed lanes without adequate 
clearance doesn't change.  What his action means to each of us is a 
function of our beliefs.  Are people basically good and doing the best 
they can at any given moment?  Are people trying to irritate each other 
and ruin each other's day? What color are your glasses?

Why does any of this matter? Because as Richard Bach says in his book 
One, we do not create our own reality.  We create our own illusions!  
Life goes on its merry way all around us, and our beliefs determine how 
we feel about things.  It makes no difference to Life whether we rage 
at the storm or go play in the puddles.  It only makes a difference to 
us.  We're on this planet for a relatively short time.  How do we want 
to spend it?

Once we realize that everything we see is colored by our own personal 
tint, we can hold more lightly to our interpretation of events and 
circumstances.  We can see our interpretation of events as only one 
of the many possible options.  Since we're probably not going to have 
much luck with changing squirrels and bad drivers, not to mention 
eliminating illness, pain and death from the world, it's good news 
that we are not the victims of these external events.  Good news that 
we have the ability to choose our reactions to what occurs out there, 
just like we can go shopping for new sunglasses. 

Try these on, and see if you like the view:

* It's not about you. Don't take it personally.

* Everything always works out for the best, although we may not see it 
for a long time.  It's all good.

* Everyone is doing the best they can based on their beliefs and 
resources at any given moment.

* There is a bigger picture, a tapestry that life is weaving and we are 
only one thread in the pattern.  The path we take through the loom is 
not random.  When we step back we will see that every twist and turn of 
our lives was beautiful.

What if your entire outlook on life could be changed, simply by intending
to see things differently? If you started looking for proof that we live 
in a benevolent universe, you just might find it.

Just ask that squirrel in my garden!

Blessings,

Karen

p.s.  I'm a personal coach, and I work with folks who are not who or 
where they would like to be in their personal and/or professional lives.
In sessions conducted by telephone, I'll partner with you to create a 
life that fills you with joy and overflows with success.  I invite you 
to contact me for a free coaching session.