Emptying The Vessel

A friend of mine received a beautiful bouquet of roses the other night from a gentleman she was going out to dinner with. I had a nice glass vase for her to put the flowers in but it had been sitting for a while so there was residue of dirt, mud and dust on the bottom of it. As I began to run water into the vase to clean it, the dirt inside created mud. It took a few minutes before the glass container cleared up enough to complete the wash and then add fresh water for the roses. Have you ever attempted to put something into a full or even dirty cup, vessel or pot of some kind without cleaning it first? I’d like you to consider that many of us do this with our emotional energy all the time.

When you are seeking to add goodness to your life but you haven’t taken the time to completely heal from some damaged version of yourself, then the most that you can get is the mess mingled in with the fresh. When this happens we experience what many of us refer to as drama. This is particularly true in our relationships whether it’s with co-workers, family members and even our love mates. Let me give you an example of what I am talking about.

I had a client that really wanted to find his life partner. His biggest complaint was that women he dated were insecure, needy and possessive. So after a couple of coaching sessions I asked him if he had any of these qualities within himself. He resounded with a loud, “Not at all.” He then began to give me evidence of how successful his life had been in the creation of money, business, material possessions and his exotic lifestyle. When I asked him if he openly shared his business success with any of the women he had dated in the past, he said, “I don’t think they would be able to handle it.” And there in lies the “red flag”.

Many times the relationships we experience in our childhood with the adult members of our family tend to color the way we view the opposite sex. If our mothers were bossy, overbearing, needy or possessive with the father, then men tend to make up in their minds that women can’t be true partners. The same is true with women who grow up without fathers; they tend to make up that men will always leave. Both of these cases are held as truth in the hearts of the individuals so all they ever experience is the outcome of their beliefs.

Now just suppose we are able to create a paradigm shift which allows our parents to be in the perfect relationship they were in with their spouse regardless if they stayed together or not. Imagine that they subconsciously chose the partners they were with based on what they needed to experience for their spiritual growth? When we are able to observe where people are without drawing conclusions about “why” they are, this will give us more room to integrate the lessons of love that we are to learn from our childhood relationships.

For each of us to experience life in the present moment we must attempt to release old beliefs, patterns and thoughts that keep us from having what we desire. We have to empty the vessel so that the good stuff can get in. Otherwise, we tend to only attract the same people and situations over and over until we learn to integrate the love lessons that are strongly leading us to love unconditionally whether or not our parents have learned to do so or not.

Your first thought is probably, “that is easier said than done,” and I would definitely agree with you. However, when you begin the practice of examining yourself in light of outdated beliefs, thoughts and patterns you will get in touch with your true authentic self who is completely unlike anyone you have ever known. You will experience the joy of being someone exciting, different and creative without always insisting that what you are doing is “right”. Many people do the same thing over and over again to prove that what they are doing is the way it should be done, whether it is working for them or not. They are always looking to say, “See, I told you this would work.” And in the meantime, they have missed many amazing opportunities to grow, expand and contribute to a vibrant world that can only be experienced and not captured.

Breathe into your stomach then slowly exhale, now look to see what beliefs or patterns you are holding on to that are no longer serving you. Are you willing to let them go? Are you willing to experience the best version of yourself? Are you open to being in the flow of your highest good? When you make it a regular practice to “empty your vessel”, your life will become more meaningful and far more adventurous than you could have ever imagined. And when someone gives you roses you can put them in a clear glass vessel where their true beauty will be transparent to all.

Take a moment to view this presentation it will assist you in your efforts to empty.

http://prezi.com/w7u8ngdlga2c/

~~ Love and Light

www.mushemsut.com

Golden Light of Protection

Recently I was reminded of how useful it has been to teach my children that they are always protected through my prayers and meditation. As parents we may not realize how important it is to affirm our children with this information, however this brief story may assist you in adopting a practice that I have used for over 25 years with my children.

Last month I chaperoned a group of students to North Carolina for a college tour. I was gone for about 7 days and my 14 year old son was in the care of his father. On Friday night of that week I was awakened from my sleep by the alarming ring of my cell phone. I didn't recognize the number but thought I needed to answer because it was 1:30am and possibly someone's emergency.

When I answered my son said to me, "Ma do you have Matt's mother's phone number?"

I was slightly taken aback, yet I responded calmly, "No, I don't have her number. Where are you calling me from?"

I could hear street cars in the background as he responded, "I'm on Bryn Mawr. They are suppose to pick me up but my phone died."

"When is the last time you spoke with them." I was working really hard to not be upset, as I focused on my breathing while looking diligently in my mind for a rescue option.

"I spoke to them before I left, but it takes an hour to get here from the south side."

"Who's phone are you calling me from." I asked finally realizing the unfamiliar number.

"This man standing with me on the train platform."

Okay, I am 800 miles away, my son is alone using a stranger's phone, and it's 1:3o in the morning. There was nothing I could do. I had one answer.

"Son, I can't help you."

He was quiet for a few seconds yet he remained calm realizing the dilemma we were both in. He softly said, "okay."

Before we ended the call I assured him that they were probably on the way to get him, having realized by now that his phone was dead.

After I hung up I took several more deep breaths and knew that all I could do was evoke God's protection. I went back to bed and quickly ignited the "golden light of protection meditation." I then went peacefully to sleep.

An hour later I was awakened again out of my sleep and this time the call was from my son's cell phone. When I answered he said, "Ma, I made it. I am safe."

I thanked him for the call and told him he did good. I then went peacefully back to sleep.

A couple of weeks later I was at his school for Report Card pickup and saw the parent that transported him that night from the train station. I gave her a big hug and thanked her for being on call.

She said, "He was a bit shaken up when we got there and I asked him where his mother was and he told me you were traveling."

Mrs. Saxx moved slightly closer as she made her next statement, "Then he told me that he was safe because you prayed for him and put a light of protection around him so that nothing bad could ever happen to him," lightly chuckling.

Although she was slightly amused by his remark, I could tell that she thought it was something truly profound for him to travel with that level of confidence in a city known to be fatally dangerous.

I stopped being defensive about my spiritual practices many, many years ago, so I didn't bother to elaborate on the effectiveness of this ritual. However, I did acknowledge her again as I smiled inside knowing that my son lived by a lesson I spoke to him when he was 8 years old:

"I may not be able to be with you most of the time, but remember that God is with you ALWAYS."

May we all place the "Golden Light of Protection" around our children and our communities.

~~Love and Light

Mu Shemsu-t

www.mushemsut.com

Golden Light of Protection

prezi.com/o96ry4pqxxcg/

Restoring My Soul

The first time I had the thought that I was “fucked up” came when I was 13 years old. You see, growing up it had become my Sunday ritual to attend church at the Hyde Park Bible Church on 51^st and Calumet on the south side of Chicago. My day would start with the 9am Sunday school and then we would have Bible Study and later Church Service. My favorite part was when I had the opportunity to sing in the choir. Understand, you and no one else could tell me I couldn’t sing, because my mother spent many years on the road accompanying Mahalia Jackson as her background artist; so singing was in my genes (at least in my mind this is how I figured it to be). Anyway, I loved church and reading the Bible and being committed to live my life to honor who Jesus was to me. Just a sweet little innocent girl thinking that the world still had some good parts, even though my mother had been institutionalized since I was five years old.

Let me give you a little more background . . . my sister, and my grandmother and my aunt would come to this same church that I attended on special holidays mainly Easter, Christmas and Mother’s Day. Otherwise you never saw them. And what was most peculiar to me was how easy they were able to experience the flow of the “Holy Spirit” into their being without much effort or surrender of any sort – at least that’s what I thought. I mean, every Sunday I would sit there in the church pew and pray as hard as I could that the Holy Spirit would come down on me. I wanted to be able to jump around and dance and holler with the same joy and gladness that everyone else seemed to demonstrate. I begged God over and over to let me receive the “Holy Ghost”. And, it never happened.

The last Easter Sunday that I attended church as a youngster my sister and grandmother came with me to see me sing. And it occurred to me, before I could even get my song started, they began to hoop and holler all over the place. I think my sister may have even passed out. And as I sit here sharing this story, I can’t tell you if I was mad because I couldn’t get my song out or because they "got" the “Holy Ghost” so easily; whatever the reason, I was done with God and Church from that day forward.

It didn’t take long for a 13 yr old street orphan to become a gang bangin', drug slingin’, weapon carrying, look out, sidekick. I traded my Sunday "go to church clothes" for jeans, t-shirts and bandanas for the remainder of that summer. If anyone noticed, they never mentioned it to me. I knew my life was fucked and I had no clue what do about it until four years later when I fell out of the bleachers at a football game and busted my femur bone, smashed my knee and hip. Thus, my initiation into the inner workings of my mind came to life. There are times that I may feel a sense of being out of whack, however I now use the following tools to reset my thoughts and remember the greatness that is me:

Silence

Sometimes this takes an hour or even a week, depending on what I am working through. This means the television is off, my cell phone is silent and only slightly monitored, and if at all possible no speaking. This process helps me to see what is driving my current actions and/or emotions so that I can ensure that I am moving consciously and not just reacting to what is happening in life. The drawback on this is that people in our lives don’t tend to value your quiet so they may feel a bit insecure and out of step with your pace. Where possible, let those around you know what you are doing and they can support you with your efforts and maybe even join you.

Surrender

The practice of letting go and allowing life to take on whatever is happening with you requires an invested amount of emotional intelligence to trust this endeavor. When we learn to surrender, flow and allow, we tend to become more relaxed and at ease with how our life is going. As a matter of fact, we stop attempting to manage so much of it and just enjoy living. Some people only get to this place when their bodies are run down and they become too sick to do anything else. Others just die.

Solitude

Learning to appreciate the stillness of the quiet and the peace of aloneness is a true gift to our spirit. In solitude I can clearly see how being driven and how attached I am to the material side of living which only stimulates my ego; yet never squelches my desire. This practice of solitude is something that I started about 20 years ago but I notice that it is far more difficult to put in play than it was back then. Turning off the cell phone, the television, music, FaceBook, etc., can really be a huge endeavor to do all at one time. And yet, this is what our soul longs for – just a short span of time to dispel the illusion and assist us in remembering who we are and why we truly matter to life.

Self-Care

Loving myself equates to healthy nutrition, meditation, prayer, clean healthy living, crisp clear nurturing water, exercise, fasting, detox, massage, intellectual stimulation, satisfying relationships and conscious breathing. It’s just that simple and I just run myself to the limit without including this in my day-to-day regime. No more! These are the important things for the sustenance of my existence and nothing is going to keep me from taking care of me.

It’s not often that I move into the space of feeling “fucked up” anymore, and sometimes I do get really close. Yet when I stop and look I can check to see if I have left out any of the above mentioned processes that I can stop right in the moment and put back in. I now am clear that restoring my soul is a matter of life and creativity. It’s the flow of our natural order and we may as well keep it in play, everyday.

Mu Shemsu-t

www.themasterforce.com