SPIRITUAL SOLUTIONS TO TODAY'S NEGATIVITY

by Mary Elizabeth (Leach) Raines

A powerful eyes-open meditation for broadcasting Light is included at the end of this post.

As this particular chapter is being written—shortly after the USA's 2016 presidential election—the air is thick and almost palpable with darkness, hopelessness, hatred, fear, helplessness, viciousness, and other not-so-nice energies. It is imperative that all of us walk through this life with our eyes wide open, that we perceive the truth of what is happening, and that we fully feel what we feel. Burying our heads in the sand, creating diversions, rationalizing, or masking these feelings with a Pollyanna smile is neither healthy nor helpful.

Does this mean we are to endure the stress? What, on a spiritual level, can we do about today’s turmoil?

First, whether the emotions that well up are grief, anger, self-righteousness, or fear, they must be clearly acknowledged and expressed, and then allowed to pass through us. The analogy? Eating. All of us in human form take in food. All of us, to survive, must chew our food and then allow it to pass through our systems and be released out the other end. Note that it is not released in a beautiful form! It is what it is. Similarly, we must acknowledge our negative feelings, chew on them a bit (express them), and then allow them passageway through us, even though aspects of this passage may be unpleasant.

There’s a catch to that. It is very easy and tempting for emotions, particularly those that are negative and nasty, to become lodged inside us. They get gummed up when our thoughts go round and round in circles. (Few people have tape loops running through their heads of positive, loving events!) Take heart. This happens to all of us, and, like it or not, it is human nature to fixate on the negative. But when our emotions get stuck instead of moving through us, they lower our vibrations and can even cause physical, emotional, or mental disease. Our feelings must be acknowledged and allowed passage.

Next, recognize that the emotions running through us are primarily reactions to negative broadcasts. We are currently being bombarded with such broadcasts. Some of these are direct communications of which we are aware, such as news articles, TV shows, blogs, and Facebook posts. Other broadcasts are more subtle, but just as, if not more, powerful. The combined emotions and thoughts of many people are churning around and through us, much like Wifi, cell-phone, or other satellite transmissions. The more negative the broadcast, the lower the frequency. Lower frequencies are easier for us to pick up and absorb, like the way, at a distance, the thudding bass of loud music overpowers the melody.

Most of these broadcasts send our physical and emotional beings into turmoil. The more sensitive we are, the more we unconsciously pick up such negative transmissions, but it isn't necessary to possess great sensitivity to feel their effects; nearly everyone is absorbing and reacting to these broadcasts. The result of such massive amounts of negativity is stress. Many people these days are finding themselves irritable, anxious, sad, defensive, or angry for no discernible reason.

On a spiritual plane, the most vital task before us today is to switch roles. Instead of being the receivers of what others are broadcasting, our highest calling is to become broadcasters ourselves. This is not with the intent of arguing, defeating, fighting, “praying for,” or overpowering any other ideology or energy. It is simply our job to broadcast Light...and it can be done by any of us, regardless of our beliefs. We do not have to fit someone's definition of a Lightworker to do this sacred work!

The Light that you choose to broadcast can be any positive, uplifting energy, from profound love to gentle laughter, that is easy for you to express. Are you good at getting people to smile by telling a joke? Are you a person who radiates peace? Do you do well at problem-solving, or sharing inspirational stories? Or do you shine best when you are loving and respecting nature? All of us have something positive at our core that we can choose to expand and radiate outward.

It is probable that in the beginning, our individual broadcasts will be like teensy little radio stations that get overpowered with static from the big, noisier, more negative broadcast stations. That doesn’t matter. Just as the broadcast frequencies of every TV show that has ever been aired are still somewhere in space, once our energy has been transmitted, it remains in the ethers. We have no knowledge of where or when our broadcasts may be received by someone in need.

How do we broadcast? It’s easy. We still our hearts (after having cleared them!), center ourselves, and go into meditation or prayer. We then focus on sending out whatever energies we prefer. A brief meditation will follow for doing this.

Here are the simple steps:
1. Truthfully acknowledge and accept any emotions that well up within you, whatever they may be.
2. Allow those feelings to have brief expression, and then to pass through, rather than finding a home within your being.
3. Recognize that the feelings you are having are reactions to someone else’s broadcast.
4. When you feel clear, begin to broadcast whatever positive energies feel right and comfortable for you. 

EYES-OPEN MEDITATION

Sit or lie down in a comfortable position, and take several deep, cleansing breaths. Breathe into the bottom of your rib cage, and exhale with the intent of releasing anything that is negative or limiting.

With your eyes focused gently on these written words, let your shoulders drop. Your arms can feel pleasantly, comfortably warmer and pleasantly, comfortably heavier. Let your chewing muscles go, and loosen all the muscles under the skin of your face and around your eyes.

Imagine a beam of light entering through the top of your head, spilling through your body, and filling you. You might visualize it happening, feel it like a glow, hear it like a note of music, or simply go along without seeing, feeling, or hearing anything. However you perceive it is fine.

Focus your intent now on the energy you choose to broadcast. It could be peace, respect for the earth and her creatures, love, or a feeling of honor. It could be joy, truth, or laughter. It could be strength, healing, serenity, or anything you wish. Whatever positive energy you choose, allow it to rise through your body, blending with your heart and your mind.

If you have a belief in or sense of the energy centers that some call chakras, (places near important glands or organs where we tend to store emotion, such as in our solar plexus), you might take a moment now and breathe the positive energy you desire to broadcast into each of your chakras, one at a time, starting at the base and moving upward.

Otherwise, you might see or sense this energy, like a light or the glow of a candle flame or a note of music, filling your feet and toes, and beginning to swell upward through your body until it reaches the top of your head.

When you are filled with this positive energy, imagine that with each inhalation, it grows stronger and brighter, and with each exhalation that it is expanding further outward. Perceive it now beginning to radiate out through your skin. Take all the time you want. Let it fill your aura—the inches surrounding your body—and then visualize, sense, hear, or simply know that you are extending and stretching this glorious energy even further, broadcasting it like starlight or sunlight. The further out your energy reaches, the more powerful and light-filled it becomes.

Other beings may be broadcasting an energy similar to the one you have chosen. As you continue to shine your light, you may discover that you find and connect to other similar lights, combining your broadcast with theirs.

Whether you have an actual, palpable sense of this occurring or whether you are simply following along makes no difference. Do your best to keep your focus, continue to radiate the energy you choose to broadcast, and do so for as short or as long of a time as you want.

Realize that you may return to the state of broadcasting whatever positive energy you choose at any time, in any situation…while you are driving, standing in a line somewhere, working, moving, or being still. You may broadcast almost continuously throughout the day, or in little droplets. Whatever you offer, big or small, is much greater than you could possibly realize.

Thank you.

© 2016, M. E. Raines

Mary Elizabeth (Leach) Raines has books and articles available on Amazon, including The Laughing Cherub Guide to Past-Life Regression and her newest collection of short stories, The Man in the GPS and other Stories.
She lives in Sedona, Arizona, where she trains people to become past-life regression counselors and is founder of the Academy for Professional Hypnosis Training.

Copying or reproducing this material in whole or in part in any form is not permitted. You are asked to uphold copyright law and contact the author for permission if you wish to do so. Please, however, feel free to link to this article.

I'M WORRIED ABOUT YOU

by Mary Elizabeth Raines

 

Many years ago I knew a woman who was recovering from breast cancer. She said something to me that I have never forgotten: Be careful who you ask to pray for you. 

I asked why she said that. She replied that most people feel that they are doing the right thing by worrying about someone who is sick or otherwise having problems. They believe that worry and hand-wringing shows how compassionate and caring they are.
 

Worry, however, is far from helpful. This wise woman shared with me that all of our thoughts about others enter the continuum and create energetic patterns. If a person prays for healing for a friend for a few minutes, and then spends the rest of the day imagining that their friend is going to suffer pain or die prematurely, think about the kind of energy they are projecting!

Experiments have shown that when a group of people think disparaging and critical thoughts about another, the object of their negativity literally loses physical strength, and winds up feeling depressed and sad. Similarly, when people bombard another with loving, healing, positive thoughts, that individual responds with surprisingly greater strength, health, and happiness. 

Quakers believe that every single thought that passes through our minds is a prayer...including our thoughts about others. And prayer (which some may prefer to define as strong intent) is always answered. 

When we stress and worry about or criticize someone, think of this as a form of prayer. If we become mentally agitated about bad things that may happen, we are literally projecting negative energy towards that individual and helping to manifest troubling circumstances.

The very best you can do for your loved ones, when they are sick or in trouble, is to hold them in the most positive, loving light possible. If you choose to be extremely bold, you might even considering doing this for those with whom you are in strong opposition, such as those who have hurt you in some way, or even politicians with whom you disagree.

Thus, when someone is ill or troubled, worry is not only unnecessary; it is the equivalent of a curse. Instead, choose to imagine them healthy, healed, and happy! And if you find yourself in sickness or difficult circumstances, be selective about those you ask to pray for you.

© 2016, M. E. Raines

NO, BUT I'M RIGHT!

NO, BUT I'M RIGHT
by Mary Elizabeth Raines

Throughout time, clashes over spiritual beliefs have been responsible for more cruelty, suffering and murder than anything else. It is baffling that people are willing to hurt and butcher one another simply to prove that their concept of God is the right one!

I had always thought that I was different, and considered myself to be a tolerant and fair person who was above such nonsense...until a time some years ago when I found myself swept up into a disagreement with a friend about some differences in our spiritual beliefs and practices. We argued via email. It was a sad and stupid disagreement that probably destroyed a beautiful friendship.
Curiously, my friend and I actually hold spiritual beliefs that are nearly identical. It turns out that this isn't unusual.

The folks we love to hate in the name of God are often those who have beliefs that are close to our own. For the most part, we don't waste our time rampaging against people with religious views that are alien and weird compared to ours. No suicide bomber is going to try to prove his point by blowing himself up in the marketplace of an obscure New Guinea tribe who worships tree gods.
No, we turn to our neighbors when we want to wage religious wars. The most horrific acts of violence are inflicted upon people who almost believe the same things we do. That's when we really get upset. Look at the conflicts between the Shiites and Sunnis in the Middle East, or the bloodshed throughout European history between Protestants and Catholics.

Christians, Jews and Muslims, who have battled one another for centuries, share many core beliefs and even honor some of the same spiritual figures, like Abraham and Moses.
Back to my friend: I was furious that something as sacred as my connection to that which I choose to call God had been judged and found lacking. Even after our e-conversation ended, my mental chatter continued. Loudly. A tape-loop in my mind replayed the specifics of our differences over and over again. I defended myself mentally against what I perceived as his attack and, in my imagination, let him know, point by point, precisely how wrong he was. How dare he criticize my relationship to the divine??!!??
I was the one who was RIGHT, doggone it! My thoughts churned faster and faster with all the reasons I was right. My spinning mind kept me awake that night, and continued pestering me the following day, driving me to distraction.

And then I remembered a little saying I heard once:

The mental hospitals are full of people who were RIGHT!

Oh. Oops. Wait a minute.

There seems to be something inbred that demands that we win at all costs, especially when it concerns our spiritual beliefs; perhaps it's a survival technique dating back to our hominid days on the savannahs, or a way of determining who is the alpha of the pack. Hoping, however, to be vindicated and proven right is definitely not a path that leads to security or peace of mind in today's world.

One of my friends, who has since crossed over, had a motto. She used to be a long-distance truck driver, and she learned this on the highway. She was an amazing, loving person who lives by her motto. It is a great motto. Think of the suffering, both on an international and a personal level, that could be escaped by adopting it:

"I would rather be kind than be right."

     (c) 2011, Mary Elizabeth Raines

See Mary Elizabeth Raines' newest novel, UNA, available in paperback or Kindle.

TRUSTING THE HEART

TRUSTING THE HEART

by Mary Elizabeth Leach (Raines)

The heart is always trustworthy.

It is when we fill ourselves with expectations of some return, or demand that our love be demonstrated in some physical or emotional way, or when the hormones get mixed in, that we can feel deceived by the heart.

Longing, neediness, sexual frustration: these are all indicators of something other than love.

Pure love does not require reciprocity. If you are called upon to love, let love flow. Ask nothing in return. Trust the heart.
© 2017, M. E. Leach 

ABOUT THAT ENERGY RAY CALLED FAITH?

Human beings have certain universal core values, like truth and peace and wisdom and courage. These values are very pure strands of energy. Some liken them to rays of beautiful, clear light.

People have instinctively honored these core values since the beginning of recorded history. The early gods and goddesses in ancient cultures were often representations of these energy strands; putting them into form as humans or animals made them easier to understand and to access.

Unfortunately, these values became trapped in statues and temples. Myths and belief systems sprang up around them. Those myths were appealing, and grew to such an extent that they often overshadowed the value itself. The original meaning of the energy strand was corrupted. Because of this, some of the core universal values once available to us now seem distasteful, because they have been polluted for so long, and are in danger of being forgotten.

FAITH is one of those pure energy strands that has lost its original meaning. People now associate faith with various religions and spiritual figures, not all of them pleasant, and tend to shrug off the word, rather than seeing the pure essence of what it really means and how huge and rich it could be to embrace faith in our lives.

A NECESSARY ASIDE: People have an enormous need to know. We require reasons and answers. One of the greatest areas of mental discomfort for human beings is the state of not knowing.

Think about it like this: you find yourself driving on a road. You have to have a reason for driving, even if the reason is, “I’m driving for no particular reason.” If you can’t find any reason for why you are out on the road driving, you might easily go insane. We latch onto reasons, often with desperation. Our minds just have to know.

Here’s something curious. Whether we arrive at reasons that are true or not doesn’t matter! All that matters is to get out of the place of unknowingness as fast as possible. Brain scientists recognize that we are hard-wired to find reasons, regardless of how rational they are, and to latch onto them, believing them wholeheartedly. All of us do it. (To observe this hard-wiring in action, just think about people with political beliefs that are opposite your own!)

Parents of children who were abducted frequently say that the worst part of the ordeal for them was not knowing. Many have reported feeling a sense of relief when they finally found out what actually happened to their child, even though what they heard may have been very sad. It was not their choice to feel that way. It is part of being a human.

Faith can, for some, mean relying on that which we call God. That isn’t the pure meaning of faith, however.

Faith, in its purest definition, simply means permitting ourselves to be comfortable in unknowingness.

Article and illustrations (c) 2012, Mary Elizabeth Raines and Laughing Cherub Unlimited

All rights reserved.

Please do not copy or reproduce in whole or in part; links to this post, however, are welcome!

If you enjoyed this article, you might also enjoy reading Mary Elizabeth Raines' whimsical look at the New Age and the coming transformations, TRANSITIONS, TREES AND COTTAGE CHEESE, now available for Kindle or for download on Amazon.com.

WHEN YOU HAVE INSOMNIA

The next time you find yourself lying awake in bed unable to sleep, you might enjoy doing this:

Use that time to bring to mind every single person, from close friends to politicians, to whom you want to send love. It may be only one person, or it may be a long, long list! Anything goes.

Imagine that you are opening your heart. Some people say it is easy to see or feel a glow in the center of their chest in the area near the actual heart. Enhance that glow with every breath in and every breath out. Some people prefer to experience this region like a bell or note of music. Others just have the intention without seeing or feeling or hearing anything, and that is okay, too.

Now, one at a time bring to mind those to whom you wish to send love, and hold them in sacred tenderness or prayer. If you are visual, you might imagine your heart center projecting a glowing light that completely envelops them. Think positive thoughts about them and their best qualities. See them softening and smiling.

Their souls will recognize on some level that love is being sent to them, although they might not know what that pleasant feeling is. Remember, too, that this is nonjudgmental love. We do not send love to a person with the intent of changing them, but simply to make their journey a little bit easier and a little bit brighter.

WHAT IF OUR LOVE IS ALL THAT SURVIVES US?

Some believe that the only thing our souls carry after we leave the body is the love we have given while we were in human form.

They are not referring to romantic love, or to syrupy gushy sentiment, but instead to agape: the love that, according to some, is the very essence of the divine. The Quakers believe that there is Light (or some of God) within every person, and it is that Light that is honored when we extend love towards another.

Here is an interesting challenge:

Take a quiet moment to reflect on your lifetime only in terms of the love you have generated so far. 

Then, if you feel especially brave, take a look at the love you could have generated, but chose to resist.

Once I had the pleasure of knowing a woman with a very pure soul. Her work took her to foreign countries where she interfaced with people in high places.

She told me about attending a political event in an unnamed country where she was among the dignitaries who sat on a podium. They were forced to listen to the speech of a powerful, important leader. Everyone pretended to applaud him; to have done otherwise would have serious consequences in that particular country. The speechmaker, was a cruel man who was guilty of heinous, abominable tortures and terrible crimes of the worst sort.

As she listened to him speak, rather than hold him in judgment, she decided to open her heart and extend agape love to this unlovable man. What she realized surprised her. When she softened her heart, she saw clearly that he was a man of immense gifts. The extent of his gifts amazed her. She also recognized that in his lifetime he had seriously misused these gifts.

Rather than hold him in judgment for his behavior, however, she felt a rush of God-love for this man, and sent him blessings.

While she will never know what effect, if any, her love may have had on the man, we do know that when we send thoughts of opposition to others, it makes them even more defensive. Attack and angry words create mean, stubborn resistance, while love opens doors to transformation.

Miraculous results can occur if even a few people send unconditional love to an individual rather than condemnation.

The catch is that the love we generate can't be about who is right and who is wrong. We don't send love to someone in the hopes that they will see things our way! Agape love puts us all on an equal playing field.

Think about the politicians you dislike. In today’s world, nearly all of us have politicians with whom we disagree. Sadly, our disagreements are becoming increasingly vehement, and are frequently accompanied by name-calling and character assassination.

What if we were to open our hearts and hold those politicians with whom we disagree in the energy of love rather than condemnation? What gifts would we see in them? (Please note that this does not mean becoming deluded or accepting unacceptable behavior, nor does it mean becoming a rabid fan. It means looking beyond someone’s acts to the light within that we all possess.)

If, after looking at your life and assessing the amount of love you have generated, you find that you have fallen a little short, don’t worry. Fresh chances abound!

Opportunities to enter into love are with us every moment, regardless of how poorly or smoothly our lives are going.

Every single person who comes into our conscious thoughts, and even every living organism we encounter, can offer us a new start: the chance to enter into the consciousness of love.  

(c) M. E. Raines, 2012
While copying this article is prohibited, please feel free to link to it.


If you enjoyed this article, you might also enjoy the whimsical short story Transitions, Trees, and Cottage Cheese by Mary Elizabeth Raines, now available on Amazon for Kindle or for downloading.

YOU'RE INVITING ME TO OPEN MY HEART WHERE?!?

Want to radiate love into the world? Want to broadcast peace? Want to heal others in need?

There’s a fantastic place to do this. The location is more ideal than a meditation room. Or a sacred garden. Or Sedona.

There is a catch about this place, though. It’s not as easy to radiate love there as it is in a meditation room. Or a sacred garden. Or Sedona. But it’s one of the places on the planet that needs our love more than anywhere else.

It’s on the highway.

Whether driving to the grocery store or making a cross-country trip, it’s almost impossible these days not to encounter some kind of incident caused by another driver that provokes a negative reaction in us--a reaction that can range from a little bit of irritation to utter fury.

Today’s highways have spun a new and unique set of emotions unknown to generations past:

• Everyone knows how ugly it feels to be tail-gated or cut off by someone who is putting out a hostile, angry vibe.
• Everyone knows how unfair it feels spending long minutes merging courteously in a traffic jam, only to have someone zoom past on the shoulder of the highway with a me-first sense of entitlement, and rudely cut in front of those who waited their fair turn.
• Everyone knows how aggravating it is to see someone talking on a cell phone or texting while whizzing past recklessly.
• Everyone knows how frustrating it feels to be late for something important and encountering a fellow traveler blithely traveling slower than the posted speed limit, without offering any opportunities to be passed.
• Everyone knows how shocking it is to be having a stressful day, and suddenly hear pounding from a vehicle next to us with agonizingly loud subwoofers that make our poor heads feel as though they've gotten stuck in a cement mixer. 

It’s normal, especially when engaged in one of the above scenarios, to carry mental images of the other drivers on the road as raging drug-crazed maniacs, idiots, selfish meanies, or stupid heartless low-lifes. Naturally, when we go into a turnpike rest stop, we see that those sharing the highway with us do not look like glaring devils with horns or drooling morons. Instead, what we see are normal, average-looking people who could be members of our own family or our neighbors down the street.

A friend who teaches classes that are mandated for bad drivers who have accumulated too many tickets claims that her students are actually delightful, normal people. She says they almost always have a reason for their recklessness, and it’s usually something sad or depressing. Perhaps they’ve just been fired, or lost a loved one. Maybe they’ve been bullied and this is their way of getting even. It could be that they simply feel unliked and unloved, and are desperate to gain a few inches on the highway as a substitute for approval.

Even those who drive in a rude or aggressive way because they are addicts or selfish jerks have a reason for being that way.

Here’s the challenge:

The next time you’re on the highway in one of these unhappy situations, stop before allowing yourself to slip into a negative reaction, and instead, imagine broadcasting goodwill and love to all the cars you see. It doesn’t matter how you do it—whether you sent light, or say a prayer, or sing, or channel positive energy through your chakras. Pile on the blessings instead of the curses! Cast love as best you can onto every vehicle, every driver, every passenger, even every mile of pavement you see.

Doing this is a wonderful spiritual discipline, and the good news is that the opportunities to practice are nearly unlimited! Rather than being stressed at the end of a drive, you may discover that you feel restored and happier than you were before your trip began. You will be amazed at how this practice will open the your heart, and shift you from being a victim to being an empowered soul.

Even better, some of your blessings will absolutely spill over onto those who were behaving poorly, and their lives might begin feeling a little brighter, which eventually may manifest as more courteous driving habits. If only a handful of people choose to suspend judgment and instead begin broadcasting love whenever they are on the road, eventually we might discover that our highways have turned into places of peace, sharing and goodwill!

Why Are We Here?

When Your Ship Comes In

Copyright 2012, M. E. Raines

THE BEST THERAPY IN THE WORLD

by MARY ELIZABETH RAINES

Last night I awoke in the middle of the night and went to my window. A gentle late-summer rain was falling in the darkness.

I live on a lake where, to the chagrin of some of my neighbors, I have restored both the natural shoreline and a small patch of woods, and have allowed much of the property to be returned to the wild. My half-acre is thick and lush with life.

The sounds and smells of the rain outside my window were ancient, familiar and magical. I heard plops of water, some expansive, some subtle and skittering, as the raindrops fell on all sizes of leaves and foliage. The scent of the damp woods was startling in its intensity. I realized that I hadn’t smelled woods like that since camping in a tent decades ago as a child with my family.

It was profoundly healing.

Eventually, however, I chose to return to my bed. Despite an open window, the scents and sounds disappeared, swallowed by the civilized atmosphere of my bedroom.

As I lay in my bed, I was struck with the kind of clarity that only comes in the middle of the night. I realized how profoundly ridiculous our human lives have become and how miserable we have made ourselves in our attempts to better our lives. We have managed to become the only species of animal that cannot survive if we are turned out naked, on our own, in the wild. Even the lowliest insects and the smallest minnows retain the gift for figuring out basics like what to eat and where to go, a gift that we have lost.

There was an indescribable comfort in the sounds that I heard and the air that I breathed as I stood at my open window. This soothing balm was better than any pill, any drug, any escape. And I saw clearly that the natural world, which was originally intended as our home, cannot help but bring forth joy and comfort and magic of more depth and in more abundance than we can imagine. We’ve forsaken this joy and comfort and magic. We have replaced them with concrete and loudspeakers and computer screens.

In my moment of clarity, I saw that we had originally been created (or evolved, or what-have-you) to go to sleep to the hum of crickets and awaken to the songs of birds, not to the roars of vehicles rumbling on pavement and the inescapable merciless screams of digital alarm clocks. We were created to breathe in layer upon delicious layer of scents of earth and flower and rock and water and other creatures as they come and go, not the throttling chemicals of air “fresheners” and fuel exhaust and fabric softeners.

We rush to civilize the few remaining primitive tribes who live close to nature, plying them with polyester shirts and plastic bags, while ignoring the fact that, by and large, their lives are happier than ours. We smirk at their nakedness. Meanwhile, our most important men tie cloth nooses around their necks, and our most desirable women encase the flesh of their breasts and legs in unnatural fabrics while balancing on precariously awkward footgear, and not only do we take ourselves seriously costumed like this; in such absurd garb, we decide the very fate of our planet. Smug and patronizing, we grimly carve our way through the blasphemous stink and wretched shrieks of the inescapable trap we have built of our lives.

And we wonder why we are unhappy.

The best therapy on the planet does not involve blotting out one’s emotions by taking a pill or buying more stuff or droning on and on about one’s problems to someone who has been paid to pretend to care. No, the best therapy on the planet is to listen to a cricket.

(c) 2011, M. E. Raines

Please ask permission before copying or reproducing in whole or in part

Feel free to link to this post

Ms. Raines' novel, UNA, can be purchased at Amazon.com

CONTRACT OR EXPAND: AN EASY WAY TO STEP INTO YOUR POWER

by Mary Elizabeth Raines

In every situation life offers us, we have the choice of responding in one of two ways: we can CONTRACT or we can EXPAND.

Remember the last time you fell in love? Or achieved a goal? Or something really good happened? Chances are that you were in a state of expansion. Conversely, our knee-jerk response when things aren’t going so well is to contract. The contraction or expansion we choose happens on all levels: physical, spiritual, mental and emotional.

Here is what contracting feels like:

Imagine that you are entering the bathroom of an airplane near the end of a long, uncomfortable flight. The door closes. The loud sound of the airplane engines seems magnified in this tiny space, the ride is frighteningly turbulent, and this bathroom is smelly and nasty. You have to be careful where you step, and you try not to touch any surfaces, or even brush against them accidentally. You squeeze your arms in closely against your body, clench rigidly, and don't even dare breathe too deeply.

Here is what expansion feels like:

Imagine that you are standing on a wonderful plateau, with the temperature just the way you like it. There is no traffic, and there are no buildings nearby. You are completely in nature, totally safe, and you can see for miles in every direction. Perhaps there are mountains in the distance, or valleys. You breathe in the cleanest air on the planet, listen to the sounds of the breeze, and stand firmly with your arms spread wide, taking up all the space you want.

Many of our sufferings are due to resisting what is. We clench when we resist. We expand when we are in our power.

How about making the choice to step into your power, regardless of what is occurring in your life?! Here’s an experiment that will make it easy:

Bring to mind any life situation at all that is troubling to you. Now imagine clenching as a response, just as if you were in that bathroom on the airplane. Hold still, hunch your shoulders up to your ears, squeeze your back and hips and arms in tightly, take in only shallow breaths, and see how that makes you feel. Yuck.

Next, still thinking of your life situation, imagine expanding your energy as though you were back on that plateau. You are free to take up all the room you want, balanced and secure. Loosen and unlock your body, let your shoulders and back ease, hold your head a little higher, and experiment by stretching your aura. Fill the area around you with bright, luminous energy--YOUR energy, even expanding it beyond the boundaries of the room or space you occupy. Take in a good deep breath. Feels better, doesn’t it?!

(c) 2010, M. E. Raines

See UNA, the newly released novel written by Mary Elizabeth Raines

Please note: This is a reprint of a post by the author on another blog

Please note: This is a reprint of a post by the author on another blog

COME EARLY, STAY LATE: A CHRISTMAS STORY

BY MARY ELIZABETH RAINES

On Christmas Eve, 1998, my father spoke to me the best words that anyone could say.

Let's back up for a moment. Daddy had been a stern man. He was a minister. Even though he took his faith seriously, he did not really know how to express love and tenderness. I perceived him as a harsh, rigid, distant and critical parent. It took me many years to get over my resentments about that, but I did.

Rev. David A. Leach, 1921-1999

Back to Christmas Eve. Daddy and I were on the phone, making plans for the next day, Christmas, when I was going to make a trip to the senior community where he and my mother lived. They had been divorced for many years, but curiously, in their old age, they’d both moved across the country to live in the same retirement community. Each had a separate apartment. I doubt if they were romantic, but they did enjoy one another’s companionship.

“What time would you like me to come?” I asked my father.

And here is where he spoke the Best Words that anyone could say to another human being.

“I want you to come early and stay late,” he said.

I was blown away. Think about how incredible those words are! A person has to like you a lot to say that. With my father, I'd never been sure about being liked.

Christmas Day was wonderful. Mother, usually a very dominant and chatty person, faded into the background, and allowed it to be a time of sharing between my father and me. We talked and talked. 

"Unless you're the lead dog on the sled team, the view is pretty much the same," he remarked wryly at one point in our day. For all his sternness, you see, Daddy possessed a wonderful dry humor.

In his apartment was a fabulous and expensive crèche made of paper mache.

Among the elegant figures, however, he had planted a silly-looking, out-of-place plastic lamb. It was supremely ugly.

I picked it up. “What’s this?”

“That?" he grinned with a twinkle in his eye. "Oh, that’s the black sheep.”

Later that Christmas afternoon, we took a walk. My father had always been a cynic; for him, the glass was not just half empty, but would doubtless soon be dropped and broken. Thus, on our walk I asked, “Daddy, what’s it been like to be a pessimist all these years?”

“Wonderful,” he replied with a glowing smile. “Everything has always turned out to be much better than I ever expected!”

As night fell during our visit that Christmas, an ambulance pulled up to the health care center next door to his apartment. My father's energy faded visibly at the sound. I thought it might be because of a recent experience of his. He'd needed to go to the emergency room for a bowel obstruction, which turned out to be the after-effect of a minor surgery he’d had a number weeks ago.

Daddy described what that visit had been like, and it wasn't pleasant. 

“They shoved a tube down my throat to look at my stomach,” he said. I noticed that he began clenching his fist so hard that the knuckles lost their color.

He continued.“It was the single most painful thing I have ever felt in my life. I would rather die than have that done to me again,” he said. Vehemently.

These words came from a man who was so stoic that he once ate a whole chicken dinner when he had the stomach flu just to set an example for his children; his belief was that no matter what, you don’t cave in to illness. A nurse later confirmed that the particular procedure he described was possibly the most painful thing that could be done in an emergency room without anesthetic in those days. Certainly that was the case for my father.

I am a hypnotherapist, and know that not only can we alleviate pain easily; in some cases we can even create complete anesthesia.

“Daddy,” I said, “if that situation should ever happen to you again, call me right away before they stick the tube in you. Either I’ll drive out, or I’ll get the best hypnotist in the area to the hospital, and you won't have to undergo that kind of pain…”

But he did not listen to what I said. Even though I have an international reputation as a hypnosis teacher and writer, to him I was just a child who didn’t understand.

He repeated his words: “I would rather die than have that done to me again.” The statement turned out to be prophetic.

That night, when I said goodbye, I spontaneously hugged and kissed my father. While it might not sound like a big deal to most people, it was to me. My relationship with him had always had a cool distance to it, and our family simply did not touch. The hug and the kiss sprang from my heart, though, and not from my mind. 

And as I hugged him, tears began spilling from his eyes. It was a sweet, quiet, and yet monumental moment of love and healing. We both felt it. Daddy's tears melted away the remnants of any of the difficulties we’d ever had.

“I love you,” he said, his voice choking softly.

I left, and still remember how he stood at the top of the stairs and watched until I was out of the door.

And that is the last time I ever saw my father conscious. Less than a week later, I received a phone call. He had been taken by ambulance to a large city hospital where he had been put on machines to keep him alive.

It turned out that once again my father had experienced the symptoms of a bowel obstruction. Rather than go to the emergency room and have that tube shoved down his throat again, however, he told no one. For four days he stayed alone in his apartment, vomiting, as his bowels began to perforate and his organs started to shut down. The medical staff couldn’t understand why he didn't call for help, but I knew. When they finally got him to the emergency room, he was the sickest man in the entire hospital.

And what was the first thing they did? Shove a tube down his throat.

His words echoed in my mind: “I would rather die than have that done to me again.” 

And so he did. 


For four days I stayed at his side as he lay there in an induced coma. Finally, it was time to pull the plug on the machines keeping him alive, and it was up to me to make the decision.

I still remember the nightmarish sensation of walking down the hall of that hospital, knowing that I had been handed the power to choose the day and hour when my own father would die. It was the most anguishing experience of my life, no matter how necessary or right. I was pronouncing a death sentence on my own father.

After they turned the machines off, the monitor that beeped in conjunction with his heartbeat gradually began to slow down. Finally, there was silence. His heart had stopped. I fell across his chest and cried, “Oh, Daddy!” As I did that, to my astonishment his heart actually began to beat again: thump thump thump. What a testimony to the power of love! And what a wrenching moment! It couldn't keep on, however; his heart soon stopped beating for good.

Some of those who have had near-death experiences claim that after the body dies, we go through a life review where our soul sees and feels each reverberation and consequence of everything we have ever done to anyone in our life, good or bad. My prayer was that my father not see or know that anything he'd said or done had ever harmed me in the least way. Forgiveness is a grace, and that grace healed all the negativity that had ever occurred between us.

I still keep the ugly little plastic lamb from the Nativity scene at my desk. 

And I will always remember the Best Words in the World: 

“I want you to come early, and stay late.”

*****

(c) M. E. Raines, all rights reserved. Please do not reproduce in part or in whole in any form. Feel free to share links to this true story.
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