SHOW UP, PAY ATTENTION

The first job I had out of college was in a small software development group. It was a sort of apprentice position, which meant that I handled office boy duties, while also learning about the work the group was doing. While I covered the office boy part I will admit I didn't take it as seriously as my "studies". One day my boss called me into his office and gave a bit of a discourse on "professionalism". He wanted me to show up for all aspects of my job and to commit to the minimal effort required to do them well.

I have always remembered this talk, which I took to mean that it was worthwhile to do what I had to do well, to show up and pay attention, not just for the things that interested me at the moment, but for whatever I was doing, especially if someone was paying me to do it. This is a matter of having respect for people I  interact with, whether at work, home, or play. Perhaps even more importantly it is really a matter of self respect, being fully present as my Self in all situations.

Even when you are physically present, how present are you mentally, emotionally or spiritually? This is what my boss was speaking to. We often seem to show up only as much as seems "necessary" to get something done. We are really cheating ourselves, living parts of our lives half asleep, missing opportunities to explore, learn, grow. You may not always be able to choose (in the moment) what you are doing, but you can always choose how present you are. The more present you are the more interesting things become, the more human you are with yourself and with others; being engaged. This way life has a chance to give back to you. Can you complain that life doesn't give you what you want if you aren't present to receive it? and yet we all do this at times.

While my examples have been about work, this is equally true for all aspects of living. When you are fully present you can do anything with fuller satisfaction. It impacts all your relationships. If you are not present, other people are less likely to be. When you show up engaged with yourself and open to them, they are more likely to match you. When you show up and pay attention, people feel it and respond. Spirit feels it and responds.

Decades later I still remember that talk and when I forget I meet others who set an example that reminds me. I am still challenging myself to be more present, true to my Self, engaged with my life, not just half asleep going through the motions. It is an ongoing practice. We are amazing spiritual beings in human bodies. How do you make everything as alive, as rich, as deep as possible? How do you bring all of who you are to the table all the time? Practice this for yourself, any where, any time, why wait? If you need inspiration, ask. Listen to your heart, make room for your spirit to communicate. I.e. show up and pay attention. Life is much more fun that way.

(© 9/11)[read the full article @ http://www.wholebeingexplorations.com/archives/showup/ ]

THE INNER GATEKEEPER

There is a gateway in you, a gateway of consciousness that opens to your essential self. The part of you that is on the other side of that gateway is ready to invite you in, to welcome you home to yourself. You have been through this gateway before; in the mountains, in the forests, with your children, or a lover. The peak experiences are all on the other side of this gateway. You may have thought you needed someone or something to let you through, but if you seek your Self and match your inner gatekeeper's energy you can be there any time.

Call up this part of you. Remember in your feeling body, in your being, those times you have been there before, let the part of you that knows, remember for you. Open inside and the essential will arise into your awareness. Breath deep, relax and enjoy.

Earlier this month I was co-facilitating a ceremony in the role of gatekeeper to a series of sacred spaces that participants were invited to enter to assist in releasing limitations to connecting to their essential Selves. As the first person approached the first space I felt my awareness shift into a deeper level of presence with myself and with them: an awareness in my body and being, a feeling of fullness and aliveness which I think of as the experience of my essential self. My inner gatekeeper, an aspect of my essential Self had risen for me, supporting the ceremony and all of us there.

As I asked the simple questions that invited each person to be present and to step with intention into the physical space behind me I knew that there was a deeper level to the interaction in which my essential Self was inviting each person to step through their inner gateway into their essential Self.

We are all present as our essential Selves all the time, but we are mostly aware only of the worldly personality levels of our small self. When we do connect to essence it is like a gateway that opens, that our awareness can step through into "higher" aspects of consciousness. Each time we do this deepens our awareness of this gateway so that it is more and more accessible.

Any peak experience that you have had is a time when this door was brought into awareness. Communing with a mountain, a tree, an animal, a love opens it. Remembering these experiences allow that doorway to come into awareness now, feel it inside your Self. You may imagine it as a gateway, and your essential Self as the gate keeper that welcomes you in. Just let your self match the energy of your Self and "step through".

When this doorway opens in us it can help to open the same doorway in others. This is how many of the great masters are. They are like that open door that reminds us that we all have a similar door in our own hearts, in our own beings, and reminds us how to open it.

While we can hold this energy for others, and often it is easier with others, try exploring how to hold it for yourself, to meet your own gatekeeper to your own heart. Come to know your inner gatekeeper for yourself, learn to open the gate whenever you want and then pass it along. When we can all open the gate of our hearts and meet each other in this way what a beautiful world it is.

(© 9/2011)