Holding The Paradox

There is so much that I am learning.  There is so much that I am wanting to apply in my own life and as areas to bring into the Consciousness of my Coaching Clients.  There is so much that I am naturally applying in my own life and I love the opportunity for Self-Reflection to see what is working and new opportunities for growth.

Often it is just the Awareness and the bringing into Consciousness that can create HUGE Shifts.  For me I have been Consciously bringing myself into a State of being Present (more often, most often), being more in Body, and less caught in my Thinking or Feelings.  Being in my Body is my resting place - and from here I am Guided by my Intuition.  When I am resting in my Body, being Present, I feel that I am in my Soul's Home, My Yellow Heart.  The image of My Yellow Heart always brings me back to this place.  When I find myself Overthinking or getting caught up in the Past or be in my Worrying Shadow - I bring in the image of My Yellow Heart, and I come back into being Present in the Now.  This Awareness and Consciousness is changing my life.

In this place of My Yellow Heart, I am able to experience and enjoy Holding The Paradox.   This is a new Concept for me, so simple and so Powerful.  I can hold the Dark AND the Light.  It is no longer about quickly shifting from the Dark to the Light, or just staying in the Dark, or there being just Dark OR Light.  When I am Holding The Paradox, it is not about 'but', it is about using the word 'AND' - using it from a genuine, felt sense, heartfelt place.  When I am Holding the Paradox, I am in Balance - there is one hand Holding the Dark and one hand Holding the Light.  In My Yellow Heart I am Grounded and I am filled with Spirit, I am in my Strength and Authentic Power and Truth.  I am not just saying the words I can have a strong sense and feeling of Holding The Paradox.

In my Life I feel comfortable Feeling into my Emotions, being Present to my Emotions.  By Being in my Body I can feel at a gut level what is real for me, not what I Think I am Feeling.  And as I sit in my Emotions, sometimes sadness or pain, I can also Hold the knowing that there is Light and Joy.

I am Holding The Paradox in many Areas of my Life right now.  Paradox defined -
" A seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true: the paradox that standing is more tiring than walking."
- "An assertion that is essentially self-contradictory, though based on a valid deduction from acceptable premises."

I can be in pain and sadness AND feel Happy and Grateful.  I can feel a sense of isolation and aloneness AND a strong sense of Love and Connection.  I can feel a sense of being stuck AND know I can take a step and start to move.

By Holding the Paradox, I do not feel distressed or weighed down or overwhelmed.  Especially when it comes to my loved one - right now I am Holding The Paradox of concern about my Parents and my Man who are all sick AND believing that they are getting the care and medical attention that is required and the Love and Light from me.  By Holding The Paradox I do not waste mental or emotional energy that does not serve me or serve the situation - instead, I can be fully Present to what is needed on a day to day, needs by needs basis.

I am Holding The Paradox that I am not earning as much money as my previous Management Career AND I can Trust and be Excited that I have found my Lifework as a Coach.  

I am Holding The Paradox that my work Monday-Wednesday does not make my heart sing and does not utilise all of my Strengths and Skills AND I am Grateful to work close to home and be busy in my job without a feeling of stress.

I am Holding The Paradox of there is so much still to learn and embrace AND I have learnt and grown so much.

I am Holding The Paradox of feeling less fit and not being able to run AND I can enjoy Walking and Yoga and a more relaxed pace of exercise.

I am Holding The Paradox of feeling I have so much to organise in my Home and garage and clutter to clear AND I am taking steps every day to create a Happy Home.

I am Holding The Paradox of day to day living with my Man and whatever that brings us in our day AND the Excitement of a deep and loving bond and wonderful times for our Future.

I am Holding The Paradox of being tired AND energised with all of my Dreams that I want to fit more into my day.

By Holding The Paradox I am Holding and Acknowledging the realness and the Truth AND I am also Holding a Light, Holding and Acknowledging being Grateful, holding Hope, holding my Dreams.

I can be Present to both Light AND Dark.  I can Hold both Light AND Dark.

In this Space of Holding both, I am neither Light or Dark.  I am at Peace.  In My Yellow Heart I am Love and Light.  And from this Space, I can draw in my Sage, my Wise Self.  My Sage is my Resource, infused with energy of God and Spirit, filled with rays of energy, helping me for my Highest  Good.  My Sage is Present when I am Acting, Speaking and Being in Wisdom.  While I am Still when I am Holding The Paradox, my Sage can help guide me towards my Next Steps.

And in my Purpose to Spread The Yellow, I am Holding The Paradox of:

- I am only one AND still I am one
- I cannot do everything AND still I can do something.

I am Holding The Paradox of wanting to rush out and get busy with Action and 'To Do' Lists AND  allowing space, living in the flow and trusting the Universe to show me the way.  I am asking God to show me the way and show me how I can live my Purpose to Spread The Yellow each and every day in the big and small ways.  By Holding The Paradox, this allows me more mental and emotional energy, more freedom, to be in the right Space to Love and Serve others.

And now it is time for me to wash up - one of the simple ways I can Spread The Yellow in my Home (since my Man hates washing up).  And then time for bed - Self-Care.

Help Children In Poverty

I am Very Passionate about wanting to Help Children In Poverty, Children Living In Poverty.

I heard the Call last year - feeling Inspired to visit and support Children and Communities living in impoverished countries.

This Call seemed out of the ordinary, certainly without explanation, perhaps without logic - especially since there are other Causes that are very close to my heart - and also because I have never travelled before, and rather than being excited or motivated to go on a traditional holiday - here I am wanting to pay money to volunteer to be with the children.  It makes a lot of sense in that I love children - I just LOVE CHILDREN - yet, at my age I "should" just be focusing on having my own children, which is also a wonderful dream for me.  I can't wait to have my own baby - that will be my greatest dream come true.  And I still want to Make A Difference in the world.  It would not be easy for me to just live my life, without Consciousness or ACTION.

The Call is becoming stronger and stronger - especially after studying Vision and Purpose at College.   Normally I would race and make plans and work out a checklist to make this happen - using my head and getting action plans in place.  Yet now I am learning a new way of being in the world - allowing myself to just go with the flow and see where the Journey leads.  I am showing up and I am asking for God and the Universe to guide me.  This Project desires my Yin and Yang to work together as the creative force for the Greater Good.

I have been designing my Flyer for my Coaching business and I have included the statement - "Active in supporting children and communities in impoverished communities".  For every Coaching Session I will donate $5 towards charity.  It is a start.  I also have plans for my Spread The Yellow business - products and services - where money will also be donated to Help The Children Living In Poverty.

As well as donating money, in my heart I am also Inspired to visit the children and communities and volunteer my time.  This Call is strong for me.  My Yin is intuitively being guided, and then an 'Aha' moment came a few days ago and my Yang goes into action.  I had an idea, an insight, a remembering where university students go to impoverished communities - Yin heard her intuition - Yin got her Yang to Google "students volunteer travel" - and I am EXCITED - I find some great Projects where I can volunteer for 2 weeks.  Community work with children in Sangklaburi, Thailand, organised through STA Travel, catches my eye - I look into the eyes of these children in the photo and feel drawn to be in Thailand.

These are the words about the Project on the STA website "Enjoy working with children and want to help improve their lives?  Do you want to help children in a stunning part of Thailand who are not getting the care and attention they so deserve? This project helps the staff at care homes that are drastically underfunded and where the staff are overstretched and therefore greatly need any help that you can give them. You will be able to make a massive difference to these children’s lives by giving them support, playing games with them and teaching them English. All of which will give not only the children but the community as a whole a promising future to come." YES  YES  YES  YES!!

I look up the Calendar of Terms for College - we finish College on 30 August and go back to College on 20 September - there is availability from 4 September for 2 weeks.  I feel Very Inspired.

Rather than race to book this tour I decide to just sit with this idea (at least for a couple of weeks) - yet I am Excited.

And then today while sitting at home, watching the Channel 9 morning show which is unusual for me, normally I watch Channel 7 - I see an advertisement for 'Plan' - helping children and communities.  I haven't heard of Plan - yet I have been frequently visiting websites of World Vision, Oxfam, Tear Australia, Save The Children to see all the work that is being done and how I can get involved or if I would look at donating to their Projects.  And then today I learn about 'Plan' - glad my Yin was paying attention.  I am very Excited to learn about Plan, and my Yang is active in exploring their website - "About Plan - Plan is one of the oldest and largest children's development organisations in the world. We work with communities in 49 developing countries and raise funds to support our work in 21 countries like Australia. By actively involving children, and working at a grassroots level with no religious or political agenda, we unite and inspire people around the globe to transform the world for children."

When I read their website - there are some key paragraphs that really stand out for me:

- "Child centred community development is the term we use to describe how we aim to do our development work. It's a rights based approach to development where we support communities to develop the structures and skills they need to provide a safe and healthy environment in which children are able to realise their full potential.  It is our belief, based on many years of experience, that this can be achieved only if children’s best interests are at the heart of everything we do and if children themselves actively participate in the process."  As a Coach, I love the words they use - Community, Development, Support, Children are able to realise their Full Potential - and I love that children are actively involved - they are being given the tools for their own Empowerment, realising and releasing their own power within.

- "Children are the hardest hit by poverty.  Childhood is the most crucial development period in an individual’s life. It is when an individual’s main physical, mental, emotional and social development and growth takes place. Damage at this stage cannot be overcome later in life, and poor children are likely to pass poverty onto their children, perpetuating the cycle. Poverty reduction must begin with children."

- "Poverty alleviation generally tries to increase income at a household level. Children, though, exist within households and usually have the least power and influence on how income is spent. This is particularly true for girls. Poor households often have to cut back on expenses for children and frequently are forced to rely on sending the children to work. Battling with extreme poverty every day often leaves adults too busy and exhausted to properly nurture children. To combat child poverty we need to consider the impact poverty is having on children in poor families."

What I also Love about Plan is that you can not only Sponsor children and communities but you can also organise to visit the communities, organised through Plan - this is wonderful - to see the difference your sponsorship is making in their world.  I also love that they encourage fundraising activities - which I will embrace through my Spread The Yellow business to increase awareness and donate funds to Make A Difference.

I feel so Grateful that I am open to the gifts from the Universe - increasing my Awareness and my Yin intuitively being guided to opportunities where I CAN Help The Children Living In Poverty.  I know that my Family will say that I "should" just be focusing on getting married and having my own children - and this is also important to me - and I cannot ignore this Call - "I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do." (Helen Keller)

 

 

Eating Animals

I have been reading the book 'Eating Animals' by Jonathan Safran Foer for the last few weeks.  It is definitely a book that has opened my eyes and opened my heart. 

I read a few pages each day - there are so many stories, so many facts and figures - so much heartbreak.

I saw this book promoted on 'Ellen' and I loved hearing the author talk about his Mission to create Conversations after reading his book.  This book definitely has the ability to create Conversations.  It has the capacity to change lives - change the world - one by one.  I am Inspired to make changes in my life.

I could retype sections or paragraphs from the book - there is so much in this book - yet there are some parts in the book that really stand out for me.  The author talks about his dog, how much he loves his dog and offers the space for us to consider why it would never be okay (in most countries) for us to eat our dogs, yet that we find it easy to eat meat from cows, chickens, pigs.  Another similar story that stands out for me is the story of Knut, the first polar bear born to Berlin Zoo in 30 years, and how much Knut was loved by the City with people crowding into the zoo to watch Knut - yet just a few metres away from Knut's enclosure was a stand selling "Wurst de Knut", made from the flesh of factory-farmed pigs, "which are at least as intelligent and deserving of our regard as Knut.  This is the species barrier."

 

It is surprising to me, when I read about "Bycatch" - the amount of species that are regularly killed in pursuit of "seafood" - "What if there were labeling on our food letting us know how many animals were killed to bring our desired animal to our plate?... Imagine being served a plate of sushi.  But this plate also holds all of the animals that were killed for your serving of sushi.  The plate might have to be five feet across."

This statement stands out for me - "Factory farming's success depends on consumers' nostalgic images of food production - the fisherman reeling in fish, the pig farmer knowing each of his pigs as individuals, the turkey rancher watching beaks break through eggs - because these images correspond to something we respect and trust."  It is interesting - I believe it is all about Awareness and Consciousness - if the regular consumer was aware of the facts and images behind Eating Animals - I am sure that people would make different choices.  It is similar to the plight of Orang-utans - I am sure if people had a Consciousness that using regular soap means chopping down tress that threaten Orang-utans, than I am sure that people would look for alternatives.

Consciousness is a big thing for me - I am wanting to be Conscious of my choices in terms of the Environment and Eating Animals.  Recently we went to Yum Cha with friends - it was crazy (in my opinion) - we all sat around a round table and we just kept getting dishes and dishes and dishes and dishes and dishes served to us - I just kept hearing friends saying "yes" "yes" "yes" "yes" "yes" - and what appeared to be eating unconsciously between tangents of stories.  I love getting together with friends - and yet I was very happy that last week we met at a cafe, where I happily enjoyed a Vegetarian pizza with my Man and most of all enjoyed more space for great Conversations with friends - more opportunity to Connect, time of Spread The Yellow.

I am only halfway through the book - and I am distressed when I read descriptions of the suffering of cows, pigs and chickens.  The author has not included any photos - yet these are easy to find on the Internet.  Here is a site on what is happening in Australia - images and words are definitely upsetting - there is a lot of information on this site - http://www.all-creatures.org/articles/ar-mindless.html

I have previously been a Vegan - this was about 8 years ago.  At the same time I was very into my Running, and so I was very much into my carbs - eating a lot of pasta - rather than learning about healthy Vegan living.  I am now finding it more difficult to eat animal flesh - I don't eat chicken or red meat.  And I have been hesitant to take on the label of Vegetarian - even though this is definitely my preference - Eating Animals no longer works for me.

Last time I adopted a Vegan lifestyle, it was difficult - mentally, emotionally, socially.  I remember not wanting to use the same chopping board or knives as my ex-husband (yes, I was obsessive) - and I remember going out to dinner and asking the waiter 20 questions, such as, asking about the stock used in the risotto.  Looking back this was a stressful time - especially, since my relationship was not working.

I feel different now.  I do not want to get so stressed or restrictive - although I do want to make Conscious choices.  I also no longer want to get up on the soapbox and try and convince others to change or adopt a certain lifestyle.  I can only make choices for myself and be true to myself.  Most important for me is respecting the choices of others, where we meet in a peaceful space. 

In my heart, Eating Animals does not feel right for me.  Yet this is a journey - at this point I am still eating fish (Consciously) - although the facts in this book are definitely upsetting - and I am always conscious of blessing the fish before I eat them - although - it is still very hard for me.

And I live with my Man who enjoys eating meat.  I learnt a lot from living with my ex-husband and I want to always Learn from my experiences.  And so I accept our differences.  Tonight I eat a Vegetarian patty and salad, and although my Man would normally cook his own meat, he is working later, he has been working so hard, with so little sleep, and so I bless his meat and cook it for him.  In my Mission to Love and Serve through my Coaching and as I Spread The Yellow, it is important to me that I always make time and space for my Loved ones.  I am Grateful to be at home and we enjoy dinner together.

I don't like preparing and cooking Animals, I don't like Eating Animals - yet, I love my Man - and I am glad to prepare a meal for him - since he has been happily enjoying all my Vegetarian dishes. 

I will continue to read this book and continue to embrace a preference for a Vegetarian lifestyle, without the label (for now), and I will see where this Journey flows...