Inspiring Stories of Love, Healing, & Empowerment

Inspirations

August 2004

Issue Number 23

Welcome to Inspirations! Global Community For All sends out this e-zine filled with short, inspiring stories of love, healing, and empowerment once every three months. We share these wonderfully inspiring stories to encourage and inspire each other to be the best we can be each day of our lives. If you would like to receive each issue of Inspirations as it is published, click here. Thanks for joining us, and may these words inspire us to ever deepen our commitment to love, heal, and empower; to open to divine guidance; and to choose what's best for all. 

The Cab Ride I'll Never Forget - Author Unknown

       Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living. One time I arrived in the middle of the night for a pick up at a building that was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window. Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, then drive away. But I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself.
       So I walked to the door and knocked. "Just a minute", answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 80's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.  There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.
       "Would you carry my bag out to the car?" she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness.
       "It's nothing", I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated".
       "Oh, you're such a good boy", she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, then asked, "Could you drive through downtown?"
       "It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.
       "Oh, I don't mind," she said. "I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice".
       I looked in the rear view mirror. Her eyes were glistening.
       "I don't have any family left," she continued. "The doctor says I don't have very long."
       I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. "What route would you like me to take?" I asked.
       For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.  Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
       As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, "I'm tired. Let's go now."
       We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her. I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.
       "How much do I owe you?" she asked, reaching into her purse.
       "Nothing," I said.
       "You have to make a living," she answered.
       "There are other passengers".
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.
       "You gave an old woman a little moment of joy," she said. "Thank you."
       I squeezed her hand, then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.
       I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?
       On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life. We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware--beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

Be the Star in Your Own Movie—Nancy Smeltzer
imaginen@yahoo.com

     Camera, ready, action! What would a movie about you look like? What character would you play and what dashing deeds would you accomplish? Would you be the perfect mediator of peace, or a champion for justice? Perhaps you'd be more the brilliant scientist alleviating the ills of mankind. Yet, when you think about it, each of us is already living a tale of our own making.

     The trouble for me is that I know some of my roles too well. One of my personal best is playing the victim. If I'm not thinking, I'll fall into that comfortable pattern where I play out the old scenes. Even though I know that I've outgrown them, that they no longer serve me, I often still use these disempowering actions. I am realizing now that when I do catch myself playing pitiful me, I want to move on. This is an important start. So, my next question is…"Where do I go, and what do I say, and how do I act when I get there?"

     One avenue that I'm exploring is to find my own way of being the character that I want to be. Someone believing in her own personal power is my latest documentary endeavor. I philosophically believe that we all have inside of us the answers we need, so somewhere in me is what I need. Unfortunately, I find it's often easier to recognize someone else's virtues than to see any glimmers of my own abilities.

       For example, I remember a fellow teacher, who was, to say the least, imposing and powerful. She got things accomplished, she didn't take any crap, and people listened to her. Her classroom had a disciplined, although restrictive atmosphere. As classroom discipline was not my strong suit, for a long time I wanted to be just like her. I'd try the moves that I had seen her do. But even when they worked, I was always left with a hollow feeling. So, why the uncomfortable sensations? At the time I just assumed that I wasn't doing something right, which I interpreted to mean that I wasn't meant to wield any personal power. I now know that using her approach to power was not the way that I was meant to achieve it.

       What I've been learning over the past few years is how to develop my own path to having confidence in being able to stand up for my own interests. Step by step, I'm learning that the combative warrior stance that I once felt that a powerful person must have is not for me. In order to internalize an action, I need to know where in my body I'm feeling something. Then, I can use the physical sensation in harmony with the emotional and spiritual actions.

       I have been fortunate to find a massage therapist who is also an intuitive healer. During a recent session. I experienced what it "feels" like for me to be powerful. It's a sensation inside of "being", not externally "doing". It's almost like there's an immovable rock or tree of great age and strength inside of me. My shoulders drop to what I know as the "Mountain" pose in yoga. There's even a place that I've found where I place my tongue behind my upper teeth to achieve the sense of "knowing".

        So let's go back to your own show. Maybe you're not sensory oriented like I am. There are other ways to be the hero in your movie. What ideas do you have? One suggestion is to listen to the positive things others say about you, for others often can see your stellar qualities, even when you can't yourself. Remembering past moments of triumph might be a way to access your path. Acknowledging that your own contributions to the Universe are as important as any other might also set your mind to thinking. It may take an effort to encourage your self into trying out new roles. So silence your inner naysayers and go for what you want.  The tale of you is waiting to be told.

 

 

Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. - Rev. Howard Thurman (1900-1981)

 

 

This Perfect Moment—Rob Brezny

 

This is a perfect moment.
It's a perfect moment for many reasons,
but especially because you and I are waking up.

News of the soul's true home is pouring in,
infiltrating our increasingly lucid waking dreams.
Wild, ripe, juicy eternity is flooding in.
Our allies from the other side of the veil are swarming in.

We are waking up.
And as Heaven and Earth come together,
as the dreamtime and daytime merge,
as paradise and the underworld overlap,
we register the shockingly exhilarating fact
that we are in charge!

You and I are in charge
of making a brand new world.
Not in some distant time or faraway place,
but right here and right now.

As we stand on this brink,
as we dance on this verge,
we see that every new moment
is the next opportunity
to create the new world now.

So I'm radically curious, my fellow creators;
I'm seriously delirious:
Since we are in charge
of making a brand New World,
where do we begin?

What truths in their wild state
are we planning to plant
at the heart of our creation?
What stories will be our reminders?
What questions will be our fuel?

Here's some for you to try on:

In the New World
you will know through and through
that life is crazily in love with you.
Life is wildly and innocently in love with you.

In the New World,
you will know beyond a doubt
that thousands of secret helpers are
angling to turn your life into
the gorgeous curiosity you were born to be.

In the New World
you will know from the depth of your soul
that all things are abundantly yours
pouring forth unrestrained
into deep azure pools of wealth.

But then here's the loaded question:
If life is wildly and innocently in love with you,
are you prepared to start loving life back
the way it loves you?

In the New World,
you will reject paranoia with all of your heart.
Instead, you will embrace Pronoia,
which is the opposite of paranoia.

Pronoia is the sneaking suspicion
that the whole living world
is conspiring to shower you with blessings.

Pronoia is the dawning perception
that life is a conspiracy
to liberate you from ignorance,
and fill you with love,
and make you brilliantly soulful.

My fellow creators,
I want you to know that I am allergic to dogma.
I don't trust any idea that requires me to believe in it absolutely.
There are very few things about which I am totally certain.

But I am absolutely certain
that Pronoia describes the way the world actually is.
Pronoia is wetter than water,
truer than the facts,
and stronger than death.

If you close your eyes right now,
you can feel it shimmering
in your soft warm animal body
like the aurora borealis.

The sweet stuff that quenches all of your longing
is not far away in some other time and place.
It's right here and right now.

Earth is crammed with Heaven

in this perfect moment.

 

 

Building a Brighter Future—Fred Burks and the WantToKnow.info Team

fredburks@earthlink.net

The Current Situation

In order to give meaningful suggestions for building a brighter future, we first need to speak candidly about what's happening in the world at present. Based on the abundance of reliable, verifiable information provided on WantToKnow.info, it appears that there are factions within the world's power elite which desire to gain as much control over the world as possible. Their primary means for establishing control are through promoting fear, secrecy, and polarization, and through distracting people from their deeper purpose in life. As these factions gain ever-greater power and control, our freedoms and liberties are increasingly taken away, often without our even realizing it.

Fear is used as a powerful tool of control by these factions of the global elite. "The terrorists want to kill us all. You are either for us or against us. Your job, savings, and retirement are no longer secure. You might be attacked at any time." All of these messages push us towards fear. And by encouraging us to focus blame on others such as terrorists and "evil" leaders, the global power brokers push us away from feeling in control of our lives and towards the role of powerless victims. The more we slip into fear and being victims, the easier it is for us to be manipulated.

Secrecy leads to control through preventing the exposure of hidden agendas, and through breeding distrust, suspicion, and paranoia in the world. In the name of "national security," we are told ever more frequently that we should not know what is happening behind closed doors in government. Yet we are encouraged to keep vigilant watch over our neighbors, over those who question the government, and over those who look or act different from us, as they could secretly be terrorists in sheep's clothing. Rampant secrecy and suspicion are causing us to lose touch with the common humanity we share with all around us.

Polarization leads to "us vs. them" ways of thinking. Divide and conquer is a tactic that has been successfully used by the power elite of the world for centuries. As long as we are focused on blaming and attacking "the enemy," we are not likely to look for the deeper causes of our polarization. Controlling factions of the power elite work to keep public and media attention away from their greatest concerns of power, wealth, and control, focusing attention instead on "moral" issues which divide the public into two opposing camps. They then control both sides of the divided public by assuring that corporate ownership of the media and key candidates from all political parties support their deeper power and polarization agendas.

A final subtle, yet powerful method of gaining control is to distract people from their purpose in life. Consider that television, radio, and movies are filled with ever more greed, violence, and empty sex. Our educational system increasingly prioritizes passing tests over developing intelligence and creativity. Excessive corporate control of the media limits what news we receive, and often shapes our decisions and the way we think. Our attention is being diverted from our deeper purpose in life to the superficial attractions of sex, consumerism, and money.

As people succumb to fear, secrecy, and polarization, and as they lose touch with their sense of purpose in life, elements of the global elite are able to exert ever more control over our world.

Towards a Brighter Future

What can we do about all this? Ultimately, it is the collective fear, secrecy, polarization, and loss of purpose within all of us that has allowed leaders to take power who would subvert democracy, and who would take away our freedoms and liberties. By each one of us making a commitment to work on these issues both inside of ourselves and out in the world—and to inspire others to do the same—we can change our collective direction and build a solid foundation for a brighter future. Several actions can help us to take firm steps in that direction.

Develop purpose and intentions for your life. To live full, rich lives in today's complex world, it's vitally important to give your life clear direction by exploring what is deepest and most meaningful to you, and by developing life purpose and intentions based on this. Then choose to live your intentions and follow your purpose to the best of your ability every day. By choosing to live with clear direction and focus, life becomes deeper and more meaningful. This then weakens the seduction of consumerism and media hype which distract us from our purpose, and allows us to more effectively focus on building a brighter future.

Choose to transform fear into acceptance and love. When we notice ourselves feeling fear, we can trace the roots of that fear, so that we are able to identify our core challenges and deal consciously with them. We can open to guidance from friends, teachers, and spiritual sources in moving from fear to acceptance and trust. We can transform our fears through welcoming the ever-present love of God, and the love that lies always deep within our own hearts, and in the hearts of those around us. In doing this, we begin to recognize fear as an invitation to growth.

Become aware of when you are playing the role of victim, and choose instead to take personal responsibility for building a brighter future. In blaming others for our problems, we often avoid taking responsibility for how much we are involved in creating these problems through the choices we make. Whenever we catch ourselves playing the role of victim by blaming others (including the power elite) for everything that's wrong in our lives, we can choose to take a look inside ourselves, and to explore and take responsibility for our role in what's happening. By focusing less on blaming others, and more on improving ourselves, every one of us can make a difference both in our lives and in our world.

Avoid secrecy and encourage openness and transparency. An important way we can do this is to work together to inform friends and colleagues about the major cover-ups being hidden from the public. Then in our personal lives, when we notice ourselves keeping information from others, we can examine our motives for this secrecy. Are we withholding information out of our own self-interest, or because this is really what's best for all involved? And on a deeper level, where are we avoiding being honest within ourselves?

Move beyond polarization and the focus on "good vs. evil" and "us vs. them." Consider the possibility that all of us are doing what we believe to be right based upon our beliefs, circumstances, and upbringing. Each of us has a place in our heart that wants only to love and be loved. As we focus less on blaming and judging "them" and more on supporting the highest motive in all people—including members of the power elite—we increasingly come to see that we are all one human family, and that we can choose to transform our world by working together for the good of all.

And finally, come together in groups and communities to support each other in making these positive changes. In these groups and communities, we support each other in transforming fear into acceptance and love. We exchange information about all that is being hidden from us and explore ways to move beyond polarization. We also share our life purpose and intentions and encourage each other to live these as fully as we can. And we inspire each other to take responsibility for our lives and to be the best that we can be. When we gather in community to support each other in these intentions, we join in building a growing network of inspiration and empowerment around the planet.

These suggestions emphasize changing the world by transforming both our own personal lives and the world around us. Let us do all that we can to stop destructive behaviors of the global power elite. Yet let us not overly focus on changing the outside world without first having a solid internal foundation, lest we fall into blaming others, and into the polarizing "us vs. them" ways which only further divide us. By reminding ourselves that the most powerful change starts inside of ourselves, we can develop more balance and strength to then work towards positive change out in the world.

As we change ourselves from the inside out, we send ripples of inspiration and healing out into the world. By joining together in groups and communities to support each other in this, those ripples become waves which powerfully help to build a brighter future for all of us.

 

(From the original at www.WantToKnow.info/brighterfuture, for more see www.WantToKnow.info)

 

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All the darkness of the world cannot put out the light of a single candle.

 

 

Thanks for sharing in these inspiring stories with us.  We wish you lots of love, inspiration, and all the very best in the coming months.

 

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