A Brief Word with God

I sat with God. Together we watched the moon rise over the ocean, splashing butter-coloured light over opalescent waves.

I asked him for nothing and he gave me no direction. Eventually, I told him that I’m happy. I love my life, but if I want to change anything, I trust him to help me.

The moon ducked behind some cloud and the sky was suddenly dappled, deep blue and pale gold. God said nothing, but I felt him beside me, close and comforting in a way that made me feel safe and loved and not alone.

“I know you’re there,” I said, my gaze yet on the water. “I’m glad you’re there and always will be.”

Though he said not a word, I felt him smile.

Extraordinary World

You are extraordinary.

Honest.

We all are.

Sadly, most of us don’t realize it. Being unaware, however, does not change the fact that we are born from the divine and must therefore be divine at our core. It’s in our spiritual DNA.

The question du jour: How does an extraordinary being live in an ordinary world?

Well, truly, the world is as extraordinary as we are, being born of the same source energy, but we’ve lost sight of that as surely as we’ve lost sight of ourselves. But that’s another post. Today, it’s about us. You and me, the extraordinary ones living an ordinary life.

How do we do it, you ask?

Extraordinarily, of course! It’s the only way we can live, the only way we know how. Look at it this way: no one else in existence brings to the table what you bring. No one else can be you, therefore no one else can say or think or do anything the way you say or think or do it. We might share similar traits or habits or opinions, but even what’s similar must be expressed in a manner unique to the individual because the individual is unique.

That’s the divine part. How each of us is singularly capable of following the path laid before us, even if the path is identical (which I doubt it is. That no two paths are alike is as extraordinary as the people who walk them).

The late Dr. Wayne Dyer was fond of saying that we are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. We are foiled by the coil—mortal, that is—thrust first into a compostable container with limited faculties, then into a world of contrast designed to teach us what we must learn in order to reclaim our divinity. I wonder sometimes why I signed up for this gig, and if only I’d read the fine print on the contract, but most of  the time, I’m okay with the arrangement. I understand some of what I’m meant to be doing here, and I trust that the rest will come clear as I move along. Trust is part of being extraordinary, as are acceptance, honesty, kindness, respect, and love. As each of these qualities comes with us from before, then applying them in our daily life must by default make living that life extraordinary.

So there you go. Be extraordinary by being yourself. Recognize the divinity within you. Recognize the divinity on others, and in the world around you. Make today an extraordinary day because that’s what is it and what you are.

Honest.

With love,

Better All The Time

Except for John Taylor, the Jaguar E-type, and Chocolat’s champagne truffle, nothing is completely perfect. It may seem so at the beginning, but in due course, flaws will become evident. Your shiny exotic sports car will start to misfire. Your dream home will develop a leaky roof. The new colleague you clicked with turns out to be bipolar. Mr. Right comes with two kids and a clingy ex-wife.

You get the picture.

The opposite is also inevitable. What sucks right now will improve. It doesn’t matter where you are in life, that big wheel keeps on turnin’ and everything associated with it is in its own present moment.

What am I trying to say here? Basically, that good stuff co-exists with bad stuff and vice versa. It’s a matter of—there’s that word again—perspective. You can find something positive in chaos and you can find something to kill your joy. It’s your call whether to seek gratitude or not, but it’s also a given that positive and negative happen at the same time. Life is never solely one or the other. It’s always both. What takes precedence is whatever gets your attention. Admittedly, some downers demand attention as part of our learning, but while we’re dealing with the human condition, we can take heart in knowing that everything around us is moving like a Ferris Wheel, some things rising to a pinnacle and others on the descent. Sure, the latter may be construed as depressing, but really, it’s not. It’s life—evolving and revolving.

Many years ago, my father quoted me a Chinese proverb (and I’m paraphrasing here): “Bad luck, like good, cannot last forever.”

And it doesn’t. Change is always happening. The trick is to enjoy the ride—and when it’s scary as hell and you want it to stop, gird your loins and trust that it will, because it will.

With love,