The Global Conversation

Tag: divinity

  • What’s really important in life?

    “True love and a sense of security, which we all seek, only comes from within, from that heart-centered place where our god/dess essence resides. We are all part of the Divine.”

    What do you consider important in your life? Before you were slapped upside the head by your life-altering experience, did outer material things such as your job, your title, your clothes, your house, your car or similar markers of success dictate your life? Did being recognized and admired by others mean a lot to you? What about people that you encountered, including not only your family and friends but also those who came into your life at any given moment, for whatever reason? Where did they fit in your life? What about your own health and well-being? Did that have any bearing on how content you were with your life? Now that your life has probably taken a turn, are you content with the way your life is going? If not, why not?…

    As I see it, if you are being guided by an open heart… if you are imbued with love for yourself and for others, everything else takes care of itself. For example, if it is your destiny to be successful in your endeavors, then it will manifest because it is in perfect alignment with what the universe wants for you. Everything is as it should be at every moment of our lives.

    When you are operating from your true essence, your heart center, life takes on new meaning. No longer do outer forces run your life. You realize that your success in life isn’t about outer recognition and accoutrements you have in your life. It’s about the relationships you have, with yourself and with others. It’s about moving to that deep place within your heart from which the divine fiber of your being resonates.

    This transition to heart-based consciousness begins with you feeling unsatisfied with and uninspired by those things that used to draw your full attention. They have less meaning and purpose in your life, as they no longer provide you with the validation that you need to affirm your place in the world. When your outer reality is the basis of your being, you are in a constant state of fear, fear of being alone and rejected, that you don’t “have enough,” so you become defensive and always want more. You have separated yourself from the Divine; no wonder you feel alone and abandoned. True love and a sense of security, which we all seek, only comes from within, from that heart-centered place where our god/dess essence resides. We are all part of the Divine…

    If you are seeking love and security from outside yourself, feeding on outside energies, you are turning your attention away from yourself. Your self worth becomes rooted in the outer world’s judgments of your outside appearance, not your true inner being. Thus, you feel you have to “control” your actions, your behaviors, and your personality, so that you are accepted in the world.

    But what if you were to surrender that control and turn inward to accept yourself – the inner self – the center of your true personal power, with all its self love, self admiration and a soul level of security, true security? When you are working from this heart-centered place of self love and self awareness, you no longer need the approval from the outside. You free yourself from all outer attachments. By no longer spending all your energy on controlling your thoughts and behavior to accommodate the opinions of others, you can create an open space from which your divine power can radiate within, then beam its immense light outwardly into the world. You feel liberated. You begin to feel at peace with yourself as you are. And when you are content with who you are, you begin to feel compassion for others, for who they are just as themselves. There is no judgment about who they “should be.” And your actions and behavior instead of being directed by the “what’s in it for me” mindset, become “they” oriented. Ultimately, we are all put on this earth to help each other. We cannot accomplish anything in this world alone…

    I do hope that as you evaluate your life, you come to the conclusion that what’s really important in life is that beautiful relationship you have with yourself that will serve as a beacon of light that will brighten the path of others as they follow their own personal journey.

    (This is an excerpt from Erica Tucci’s book “Radiant Survivor: How to Shine and Thrive through Recovery from Stroke, Cancer, Abuse, Addiction and Other Life-Altering Experiences” that she is publishing around Thanksgiving 2013, the time she wishes to express gratitude for being alive! For more information, visit www.facebook.com/radiantsurvivor.)

  • Why are you here?

    If someone informed you today that the number of days, weeks, or months you have left to experience life on this planet and in this physical form are suddenly limited, reduced to a period of time which is significantly less than what you had previously contemplated, how would that change the way you live?

    I met a man today who is living in that stark reality, a kind, kind person whose physicians have given him a prognosis of one year until his physical body will slowly and finally shut down and become unable to sustain life in the way he knows it.  And until that final and ultimate transition, he will painfully struggle for each and every agonizing breath he takes in every moment of his days, battling against a disease that is methodically paralyzing his lungs and robbing him of even the smallest and simplest of his day-to-day joys, like walking and talking and laughing.

    Boy, if there was ever a time to become clear about what matters and what doesn’t matter, I imagine facing your own imminent transition out of physicality would be it.  I also imagine that all the things that may have once seemed meaningful — a bigger house or a fancy sports car or plenty of money in the bank — would suddenly fall into the shadows of “stuff that’s not important” when your thoughts and energies are consumed with your next breath, and your next breath, and your next breath, and your next breath.

    If I was not paying attention today, I could have easily missed the opportunity to answer some really big and very important questions.  I might have confused my reason for being in that room as having to do with my job, believing that I was simply there to do what I was being paid to do.  I might have preoccupied my mind with my unfinished “to do” list, thinking about my almost-empty refrigerator and the long overdue grocery trip or that load of clothes in the washer (for the second time) or whether or not I remembered to tape my favorite television program.

    But I was paying attention, the result of which led to the first fundamental question I posed to myself:  Why am I here?

    I knew the answer to this powerful four-word question was really big and really important as it would chart the course for not only our time in this perhaps fleeting relationship, but long after and in large and unseen ways.  It would lay the foundation for not only my own experience, but it would significantly impact the experience of all those in the room.  And as I stepped into the clarity of which aspect of Divinity my Soul yearned to experience, I could hear more vividly, I understood more deeply, and I felt more perceptibly.

    My question also caused me to understand that this terminally ill man, whether intentionally or not, was in the room to serve as a reminder to me, and all those who are now reading this, to live into our own highest visions and ideas about who we are all the time, in every moment, embracing every opportunity as a chance to live our best lives.  If, as the book The Only Thing That Matters says,  98% of the people on this planet are spending 98% of their time on things that don’t matter, we might want to consider amending our “bucket lists,” which are most likely filled with all the things we want to “do” in our lifetime, to include the things we desire to BE in our lifetime — compassionate, fully present, kind, supportive, loving, understanding, patient, etc. — because these are the things that ultimately really do matter.

    Why are YOU here?

    (Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation.  She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team at www.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.)