December WonderFull Living Newsletter…

Life’s all about balance, trust and staying open…

Hi Everyone,

After five years of living on the road and serving a large variety of communities throughout Australia, Colin and I have decided to set a base.  Allowing myself time and space to soak up the last part of our journey which (on reflection) was balanced with both excitement and challenge, letting go of the old and bringing in the new, from the externally hectic to the quiet space within – giving me a clear understanding and appreciation of the now. Interestingly, the first five years of our relationship we spent on the road – traveling and working our way around Australia. Then we bought a house and settled on the Sunshine coast (the great Australian dream that’s not always so great when challenged with mortgage payments and being new to self employment).  So after five years, in 2010 as most of you know, we sold our house and spent the last five years back on the road – this time to serve and share with others the importance of spiritual self investment. This has been rewarding beyond any material measure, but hasn’t come without it’s challenges.  I was grateful for the ability and understood the necessity, for our daily meditation practice. I see the benefits we receive from it every day – for without it we wouldn’t have managed our Gypsy lifestyle so well. Daily meditation – though not always easy to imbibe – has been fundamental for balance, for  trusting the accuracy of the ‘drama’ in life and for allowing us to stay open to ‘whatever will be’. I realised that there were cycles at play (which we were unaware of at the time of our decision) it simply felt ‘right’ to now set a base again. Meanwhile life in itself has become more fulfilling, even on a tight budget 🙂 

My recent book tour had been a success in parts of New South Wales and Queensland and there seemed to be a lot of interest along the route towards Townsville. Since this appeared to be another ‘sign’ that kept ’pulling’ us back to Townsville, we figured Townsville must be the place to set a base. However, I still had several presentations to do and Bundaberg was one of them. We only had two days there so time was limited, but I had a strong urge to check out some rental properties in Bargara – which Col found strange since Bargara was never mentioned and we had already decided on Townsville. Still, he agreed – after fifteen years together (though it still makes him a little uneasy) I think he’s learnt to trust my intuition 🙂 The closer we got to Townsville the stronger my feeling that our time there was finished – amusing though unsettling. Nevertheless, to stay balanced and not just go of on a whim we researched several rental properties and for whatever reason, it confirmed that this part of our journey had indeed come to an end. A new chapter was about to unfold, so we took a breath and kept going. We packed up again and headed back South – we ’knew’ where we had to go. Turns out ‘introducing’ ourselves to Bargara when we were in Bundaberg was a good thing. We found a lovely small place in Coral Cove, just 10 minutes South of Bargara – perfect! You see, rather than force the situation we let go and rather than resist, we flowed with it. That’s not to say everything went smooth – it didn’t and we certainly got tested several times – but we trusted, allowing us to stay balanced and open to whatever will be…

The reason I’m sharing this with you is because nurturing spiritual self investment – by way of meditation and self change – is empowering and keeps us balanced in our individual lives. Times of uncertainty can easily and rather quickly spiral out of control if we are unbalanced in our attitude towards life and change. Given the slightest doorway of opportunity, stress will surely enter.  FYI, our attitude is made up of our beliefs, thoughts, language and actions – and change is the only constant! To resist change is futile. Taking action while letting go of any outcome is not an easy practice but therefore well worth the effort… Have you ever noticed that when you get attached to something, life seems to have something else in mind, or at the very least, test you on it? So to not jump on that rollercoaster ride we had to trust there was benefit in our situation, in order to stay balanced and open. Manifesting our own individual stories successfully is all about keeping a balance between doing (physical) and being (spiritual). Trusting, visualising, creating and letting go, all the while learning, growing, changing and learning some more… So never be arrogant to think you know it all, because no doubt a circumstance will come along to test you – just to see how well you ‘get it’. Remaining balanced and grounded – knowing when to take action and when to be still – is essential because often the ‘not doing’ can be more excruciating than the actual doing. Spiritual self investment therefore starts on the ground, in our own attitude towards ourselves first and then automatically toward others. Whether we are careless in our practice or shift to fanatical obsession, we lose our balance and grounding, and spirituality becomes airy fairy or idealistic. It can even become dogmatic – a space where judgement, criticism and blame becomes an easy option. There are many so-called ’spiritual’ people in the world who understand spirituality on an intellectual level, but fail to understand how to apply it in their own life. So don’t be one to judge, criticise or blame, instead focus and strengthen (by applying) your own inner qualities (aka virtues) in your life – such as patience, tolerance, discernment, love, courage, determination and cooperation. This balances us in trusting that there’s accuracy in the drama of life – it not only empowers us but it empowers those around us. This is just one step towards allowing ourselves to see a mistake as a teacher rather than an attacker, because mistakes are lessons in life – never view them as a loss. When we learn it’s always a gain 🙂

Now with Christmas and New Year just around the corner (for some a celebration, for others a time of stress, anxiety or depression) remember to exercise your virtues and your ‘Traffic Control’ every single day. This will help you to stay balanced and trusting in your own story, trusting that you matter and trusting that you are of value – though it is up to each of us to practice staying balanced within our essence, within what we know and what we are still learning about. Only then is openness to life and to it’s ever-wonderful ‘secrets’  a possibility and an absolute joy.

Question: Is my life balanced – keeping me trusting and open to ‘whatever will be’?

Consideration: Why might my life be off-balance?

Action: ‘Traffic Control’ – Set an hourly alarm on your watch or phone, to give you an opportunity to stop and breathe (to control the traffic in your mind). Every time your alarm goes off (where it’s safe to do so) stop and check your breathing. If it’s fast, slow it down. If it’s shallow, consciously breathe deep into your belly. If it’s erratic, calm it down. Then ‘check’ and ‘change’ yourself. First ‘check’ how you are doing (it’s good to set an aim at the beginning of the day – picking a virtue to focus on is a great start). When you ‘check’ yourself and if you’ve fallen off track, don’t worry or beat yourself up. Instead,  just breathe, congratulate yourself for recognising it, dust yourself off and simply start again – this is what it means to ‘change’. Checking is great but without changing your behaviour, it will remain the same and you’ll just get frustrated and start ‘believing’ that you can’t do it. If you’re ‘checking’ and you are on track, give yourself a double pat on the back and simply keep going 🙂

Stay safe and well, see you in 2016 – love, Annemarie