The Global Conversation

Tag: The CWG Helping Outreach

  • I Got Lazy.

     

    CWG says that everything…everything…is an opportunity to decide, declare and to demonstrate who we really are.  Even, and especially, the things that seem most devastating and tragic.  Such as the loss of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

    Over on another of the CWG sites, The CWG Helping Outreach, we had a discussion about what messages, to us as individuals, and the world, might be gleaned in the wake of this still only “apparent” crash.

    We discussed several things.  Transparency, or the lack thereof, of governments and their agencies immediately after the disappearance. (CWG says we should live in a world of transparency.)  The need for updated tracking capabilities in aircraft.  (It would seem you and I can be more readily tracked via our cellphones than can an airplane!)  How the media handles such things.  (Can we say speculation and sensationalism?) The Spiritual knowing that no one does anything that isn’t, at a soul level, of their own choosing, including dying.  That we all, those of us observing, and those of us who participated in the event, may now decide who we are in connection to it.

    It would appear that one reason they haven’t been able to find the flight, and the reason it is still an “apparent” crash, is because the searchers were sidetracked by all of the trash we, as a human race, have thrown into the ocean.

    An article in CBCnews Technology & Science  describes the extent of our ocean trash.

    “‘Basically, the world’s oceans are plasticized,” says Marcus Eriksen, executive director of the 5 Gyres Institute, a conservation group that researches the amount of plastic pollution in the planet’s seas.’”

    “Oceanographer Charles Moore, who works with the Algalita Marine Research Institute in Long Beach, Calif., estimates there could be 200 million tonnes of plastic debris floating in the seas. This calculation is based on the belief that 2.5 per cent of the world’s plastic lands in the ocean.”

    “These estimates don’t include the detritus that’s sitting at the bottom of the oceans, which, as he says, is “virtually unknown.”

    Also from cbcnews/ World,  this graphic is disturbing to me:

    Ocean gyres map

     

    There is overwhelming evidence of the destruction to marine life caused by our trash.  Yet we continue to thoughtlessly consume and dispose.

    I must now make a confession.  I got lazy.  I lived in Taiwan and Denmark, and each of those countries charged for plastic bags, so I got into the habit of either reusing those bags, or bringing my own, reusable, bag.  I carried them with me in my purse at all times.  Then, after moving back to my home country, the U.S.A., I gradually got out of that habit.

    So I have decided, and am declaring, that I will now recommit myself to always having at least one reusable bag in my purse, and always have a bag of reusable bags in my vehicle…my demonstration of who I am.  This is one of the remembrances I have been caused to notice because of flight MH370.

    I will, further, encourage all others to do so, both with my words and with my actions.  I will also agree publicly with those who wish to charge for plastic bags.  I will continue to support organizations and people who wish to create a change in how we use and dispose of our resources.

    It is my feeling that one of the reasons the Malaysian flight was created and agreed to, on a soul level, by these wonderful souls, was to cause us to look at what we are doing to our world.  The end of their lives is, realistically, just a blip on the radar of human experience, but…drawing attention to what is contributing to the possible end of the entire human race would give immense glory and meaning to these deaths.  Perhaps, if we let it, this flight might just be looked at in history books as the beginning of true environmental change.

    That is what I have come up with, so far, regarding the “meaning” or “purpose” of the disappearance of flight MH370.  What have you decided?  Remember, nothing has any meaning, save that which you give it!

    (Therese Wilson is a published poet, and is the administrator of, and Spiritual Helper at, the global website at www.cwghelpingoutreach.com  She may be contacted at: Therese@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

  • What does a friend say?

    A good friend of mine is going through some major changes in her life – angry separation from family, decrease in career/income, and her gentleman friend called and told her he’d found someone new.

    She’s in a panic and turning to me and another good friend for support.  I offered her the WECCE book, which she started to read and then put down.  At this time she’s in no mood to hear that these changes may be for her own good and/or that she created them.

    I want to support her, but am unsure what to say to her or do for her.   I cannot in honesty say “poor dear”, because I DO believe WECCE (it’s worked in my life many times).  I can agree with her that it’s a frightening and sad time for her, but she’s not ready to hear that the choice not to be frightened and sad has to come from within herself.

    I’ve told her that I know (from experience) that there’s really nothing I can say to make her feel better, that’s a decision she must make for herself.  But that I will support her totally in her choices to create the life she really wants, and that I love her.

    At one point in WECCE Neil says to stay with a feeling until it no longer serves you.  Maybe that’s what she’s doing – staying with the saddness, anger and fear until it no longer serves?  Then when she asks for help, what does a friend say?

    Thanks, K

    Dear K,

    You have given her the book, and when/if it is time for her to read it, she will.  How lucky she is to have a friend like you who cares enough to not just talk, but to give tools!

    There is nothing wrong, by the way, with saying, “poor dear” to her at this point in her changes, K.  This human experience is all too real and all too painful, more so for some than others.  Saying “poor dear” now, does not mean that you must continue to do so, which would, of course, be enabling her to not even consider changing her mind about what is going on.  So, yes, for now she must experience sadness, anger and fear until it no longer serves her…but, of course, everything does eventually serve.

    The mistake that your friend may be making, regarding the “she created them” statements in the book, is forgetting that we are co-creators…and even then we are co-creating on a Soul level, and for a Soul purpose!  We most often have no direct control over the total picture, because we are rarely alone in that picture!  However, and this is the big “however”, we do have control over our own reactions to the events of our lives.  The big lie, if you will, is that we can not consciously control who we are, in any given situation.  WECCE, as you know, gives us tools on how to do just that.  It gives us tools to overcome past data and become conscious co-creators and not victims.  The biggest example I give is Nelson Mandella.  He was in prison for many years, unjustly, and yet he knew that this was just his external circumstance, and that it had nothing to do with who he really is.  The same can be said of Jesus, or Ghandi, and many others.  There were surely people in that same prison with Mandella, imprisoned falsely, who thought of themselves as victims.  The two thieves on the cross with Jesus…one found gratitude and love, the other stayed in victimhood.  They each made a choice.

    You might consider, when you are around your friend, and she is negative and in victim mode, asking her gentle questions and gently pointing out different ways of looking at things.  For instance, when she points out how horrible her boyfriend is, you might ask her if it isn’t a good thing that he isn’t lying to her any more so she can move on with her life in truth…or if it isn’t a good thing that she isn’t taking any more risk of disease.  I am sure you get where I am going.  There is always a positive side, if one is willing to change their mind.

    Of course, if the negativity continues, it may come to the point you refer to above, and you simply have to say, “I can see that you are hurting, but I can also see that none of the things that I have said mean anything to you right now.  I would like you to find the help and support you require, but it is clearly not coming from me right now.  I love you, and will be here when you think I can really be of help to you, but I can’t just sit here and let you live in misery and enable you to do so.”

    I would encourage you to encourage her to look at what fear (panic) is doing to her, and see that it doesn’t really serve her in the way she might think it is serving her.  Those are emotions that only cause us to stay in place, whilst looking backward with longing…but she can change her mind about her future!

    Thank you for coming here, and thank you for being a good friend, K!

    Therese

     

    (Therese Wilson is a published poet, and is the administrator of the global website at www.cwghelpingoutreach.com  She may be contacted at:                                                              Therese@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

    (If you would like a question considered for publication, please submit your request to Advice@TheGlobalConversation.com, where our team is waiting to hear from you.)

    An additional resource:  The CWG Helping Outreach offers spiritual assistance from a team of non-professional/volunteer Spiritual Helpers responding to every post from readers within 24 hours or less. Nothing on the CCN site should be construed or is intended to take the place of or be in any way similar to professional therapeutic or counseling services.  The site functions with the gracious willing assistance of lay persons without credentials or experience in the helping professions.  What these volunteers possess is an awareness of the theology of Conversations with God.  It is from this context that they offer insight, suggestions, and spiritual support during moments of unbidden, unexpected, or unwelcome change on the journey of life.

  • Are you in a “trade” relationship?

     

    I am so angry.  I have been in a marriage for 32 years.  I have been faithful.  I have given him children.  AND I have had a full time job.  Now I find he wants a divorce, and wants to be free to be with other women.  Now I am all alone, he wants to leave me with the kids, the stress is making my job performance suffer and I am at risk for losing my job, and he is off having his fun.  I need him!  Is this God being fair??  

    Rhea 

     

    Dear Rhea,

    I am so sorry you are going through this right now.  I get that it doesn’t seem fair.

    Since I don’t have the luxury of an ongoing dialog, like I do over at The CWG Helping Outreach, I am going to be quite direct.

    You talk about your relationship in terms of him getting what he wants, and you not being treated fairly…you do not speak of losing your soulmate, or the love of your life or any other endearing term.  Which leads me to ask what you expected of marriage…why were you in the marriage?  I often ask, and I will ask you:  What is your definition of Love?

    I think that what “Conversations With God” has to say about this subject is particularly pertinent right now.  In chapter 8 of book 1, it talks about how we define Love.  In this chapter God says:

     

    “For most people, love is a response to need fulfillment.

    Everyone has needs. You need this, another needs that. You both see in each other a chance for need fulfillment. So you agree—tacitly—to a trade. I’ll trade you what I’ve got if you’ll give me what you’ve got.

    It’s a transaction. But you don’t tell the truth about it. You don’t say, “I trade you very much.” You say, “I love you very much,” and then the disappointment begins.”

     

    A relationship that is healthy, even if it does not last forever, begins with knowing that we are complete with or without that other person in our lives, and having a desire to share that completeness with another, hoping to enhance their lives and yours in the process of sharing.  We all need help along the way, and none of us live in this perfect little love zone all of the time, but it is what healthy relationships are based on, and what they return to when the dramas in life end.  In fact, getting back to that space is what causes the drama to end.

    Further, Rhea, we most often think of “relationships” as having to do with romance.  In reality, we are having a relationship with everything in our world all the time.  We know who we are relative to all that is around us, and how we act on those relationships depends on our thoughts about those things, including our thoughts about who we are.  Our thoughts create our experience.  Hard to believe, I know, when we are in the middle of traumatic changes in our lives, like the ones you are going through right now.  Our thoughts do create our experiences, (not to be confused with events) and you can change your experience right now by changing your thoughts about why this is happening.  One very good tool, among many good tools out there, to help you change your thoughts, is the book, “When Everything Changes, Change Everything” that Neale wrote.  (Information about the website is below, and the book can be read for free on the website!)

    I am a person who always looks for the “silver lining” in things.  Even when things that appear awful are happening, my mind goes back to the times when things looked hopeless, yet they ultimately proved to be things that opened up doors for me.  (For instance, the hopeless co-worker relationship actually had to happen to me, so that I wouldn’t be attached to that job, and I was open to the next.)  When I do simply accept that there is more, my mind relaxes and gives me a break.  I calm down and am able to let my mind filter what my soul is saying.  Can you see even a tiny bit of silver?  Can you look back at anything in your life and see the silver lining now, that you couldn’t see then?

    Rhea, “justice”, by the way, presumes that something is “wrong”.  There is nothing wrong.  Each person simply has their own soul path.

    I am going to write a little story around what you say about your ex…I might look at him and think that he is a very insecure person.  Why? Because he is looking for love and acceptance outside of himself.  He seems to need validating by temporary things.  Who he is, doesn’t seem to be enough for him.  Which leads to many questions as to why…

    What I have done, by doing this, Rhea, is write a story that moves me from pure judging, to looking for understanding of his actions.  Not necessarily because I think that those actions are working for him in any way, but because I wish to understand that HE thinks that they are working…otherwise he wouldn’t be doing them.

    We don’t have to stay with those people, Rhea, we don’t even have to fall out of love with those people, but when we move to understanding, we stop doing one very important thing:

    We stop hurting ourselves.

    And when we do that, we stop hurting those around us, even if we were hurting them unconsciously.  (Maybe that’s what people are reacting to at work?)

    And when we stop the hurting, things seem to fall into place…because we believe that they will.

    Ask yourself, Rhea, what might be needing to be looked at within yourself that is causing you to feel that you need someone in your life who has said he doesn’t want to remain in yours.  Is it because you are being treated unfairly in your “trade” agreement, or is it because you are not defining love in a way that includes yourself.

    Therese

    (Therese Wilson is a published poet, and is the administrator of the global website at www.cwghelpingoutreach.com  She may be contacted at:                                                              Therese@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

    (If you would like a question considered for publication, please submit your request to Advice@TheGlobalConversation.com, where our team is waiting to hear from you.)

    An additional resource:  The CWG Helping Outreach offers spiritual assistance from a team of non-professional/volunteer Spiritual Helpers responding to every post from readers within 24 hours or less. Nothing on the CCN site should be construed or is intended to take the place of or be in any way similar to professional therapeutic or counseling services.  The site functions with the gracious willing assistance of lay persons without credentials or experience in the helping professions.  What these volunteers possess is an awareness of the theology of Conversations with God.  It is from this context that they offer insight, suggestions, and spiritual support during moments of unbidden, unexpected, or unwelcome change on the journey of life.