Coming Back & Finding Strength

Hi folks,

It has been a while. The life of parenting a newborn is as all-encompassing as they say, and as tiring. That it is also happening while the overall economy is in turmoil, and the country's consciousness about what could happen is so shaky, well, that's an added stressor. Because a lack of sleep definitely impacts my psyche, and the lack of time has definitely impacted my spiritual practices.

But I can happily reporting that things are slowly returning to a new normal as my son gets over the 3-month-old mark and starts to sleep more at night - a new homeostasis.

And I had a month or two where I let all the worries and fears, especially about scarcity and separation (that there isn't enough, and that you and I and Spirit and I are disconnected) get to me a bit. Not good times. And when it got bad enough, I reached out to friends to help. And they reminded me of all the good, and they reminded me to turn into what I already knew. And holy moly, has that made the difference.

So, I guess the moral of the story for this post is that when you get scared, get worried, lose faith, or lose your way - turn to a friend. Turn to someone who can remind you of the good. Who will dust you off, and turn you around. I know you have them, I just do. And I bet you've done it for friends and colleagues in your life.

Finally, I have two posts I am working on - one about lowering fees during this time, and the other about scarcity and separation and fear (versus Abundance, Unity, and Faith). But those are for another night.

Until then, I wish you the best. Keep doing all the good you do - it is needed now more than ever.

Best, Your Grateful Guy

PS - and sleep is always the best thing to check when anyone's head is messed up. I was gifted with a full night's sleep on Sunday and I was a new man the next day.

Where Do Your Clients Really Come From?

So I just got back from the kick-off of our church's annual giving campaign. I pledged a tithe for 2009. This is my third year of tithing, and it was quite easy and unremarkable this time - no hand-wringing or second thoughts at all. Since I've begun tithing, my monthly income has roughly doubled. But I'll stop - this post wasn't meant to be about tithing.

I'm going to go right at this one. Direct and uncensored. So hold onto your hats.

I believe Consciousness is cause. That Spirit is the source of all Good. That the results we see in the world (we'd also call them "effects") start from Intention, and from the field of Possibility. They start in, and are made from the field we call..........God.

God is everywhere, and in everything.

So, guess where your clients come from? They come from God.

Where does your good come from? God.

And your abundance? Your personal economy? Also from God.

I've proven this to myself over and over again - changing nothing in my marketing, changing only my attention and intention and watching the phone ring and ring, or stop ringing.

I know that right now there is a lot of fear in the air. Great anxiety, and belief in scarcity. I know it will be bad for a lot of people. I know it doesn't have to be bad for you. I have faith in this. What should you do?

Turn your attention to Spirit. To Truth. To the Goodness of God. To your connection with Source. Turn inward and focus attention on the ultimate Goodness and Abundance of God. It's infinite. It's all around you. There is no scarcity here. That's just an illusion. Scarcity only comes in the believed separation from God. Instead, envision your thriving practice helping people. Open up to & accept your Good. Open up to this experience - it may be quite different from those around you. Have more faith in Spirit than in the economy.

You see, you might think your clients come from referrers, or from the web, or from your Yellow Pages ad. But I know your clients come from God.

I give great thanks for all the blessings of life. Namaste, Your Grateful Guy

Building Capacity Through Spiritual Practice

It's been my experience that one of the gating factors for how many clients I have is how many I am capable of seeing: time-wise, energetically, emotionally, physically. My capacity is reflected in my results. If I am energetically drained, I get cancellations, and my phone doesn't ring. When I am filled and replenished, my people all show, and the phone rings.

I have been taught, and experienced more and more, that a way to increase my capacity to see clients is through spiritual practice. While there are many, let me focus on just two for the moment.

Opening to Wisdom - remember that Wisdom comes from Spirit. Open to a greater wisdom than your mind. That you don't need to know everything, and in fact cannot know everything. But in being open to Spirit, things will come out of your mouth that you could not have planned or known. This will usually only come out if you trust it, though. I find more and more that I follow the intuitive flow, and Wisdom comes with greater and greater ease. I remember the opposite - planning sessions, planning interventions & homeworks, self-censoring, thinking a lot in session.

Releasing Clients to Spirit - while we all have to do our due diligence when a client is in crisis, I know sometimes I hold on to responsibility once a client has left the session. I think about them, worry about them, wish I could do more. That can drain me. When I notice this (and I would say this would be good to do every day) I say a prayer recognizing the infinite Love of Spirit, and then releasing my clients into that Love. Knowing that they are held by something bigger than me allows me to let go, and replenish myself. I have my own life to live after all :-)

That's it for this Sunday. Namaste! Your Grateful Guy