Falling in a Hole, chapter from the self-help book, "The Art of Falling" by Brien Egan (another book chapter I need comments on...)

***Chapter from The Art of Falling, by Rev. Brien Egan

 

Falling in a Hole

“When we feel stuck, going nowhere--even starting to slip backward--we may actually be backing 

up to get a running start.”               

                                          -Dan Millman

Ever feel like nothing is going right for you, like you are stuck and can’t get out of your rut? This feeling of lost hope can create overwhelming sadness or depression about the situation you are in. When you feel this confused about your direction in life all can seem lost. It is as though you are out of sync with life and you have fallen off your original path. Everything doesn’t always go as planned as we talked about in chapter 2, so let’s look at how we can climb out of our hole and keep on our path we had started. We may feel suppressed in where we are or maybe we aren’t claiming our vision or personal power and are letting others control our destiny.

First let’s look at how to analyze the hole we are stuck in to understand how we got to this point. We need to identify what derailed our train. Take a second to mentally back track to where these feelings originated, who you were with, what was happening. Did you not do something you were supposed to or should have? Did you let someone else dictate your actions? Did you not stand up for what you believe in for your dreams? Try to identify that moment where things began this unraveling. Now walk yourself through what transpired next in sequence. What inaction created your hole? Or was it something you did?

Can your hole be filled with a simple conversation? Or does it require an entire life style change? Finding the courage to step out of the hole may be the issue as well. Some people find comfort in theirs, it becomes like their default position. Sometimes the hardest part to a limiting adversity is the willingness to change it or even identify it honestly. Has it become your “acomodador?” Did you settle to create your distress of being trapped? Can you bring yourself to be strong enough to do something now that you can unlimit your dreams? Maybe you need to share these concerns with a partner or a friend so you can take those key steps and muster up the strength to move on to where you truly wish to be.

Personal power can be what is creating these limits for us if we are afraid to step out of our comfort zone and really reach for those goals and aspirations. Others can help encourage us but ultimately it is up to each person to find strength deep within to make major changes and to alter our path. When hope feels lost it is even harder to pick up and move on.

Perhaps disillusionment with the outcomes is keeping you stuck. You might have too much faith in a broken system or a dream someone else has that may be different from your own. If this is the case it may require a revisit to the shared vision or a revisit to what you really desire. This is not to say we should settle, but a refocus on what is essential may be all that is required to get you back on track. When you get to this point the best point of view is to know your real desire and this may require a significant bit of introspection. Once you rediscover your intentions, you can push forward just as we talked about in chapter four in order to reaffirm your personal truth and your self worth. Soon you will have filled in your hole and be ready to rewrite your plan or to reconfigure the path you are on. Having a renewed vision on your journey will make it easily attainable to ignite your drive with new fervor.

The key here is to realize that we are never stuck in any situation. There is always a way to climb out and keep our march to victory under way. Stepping out of a hole and away from a situation that is against your dreams is a safe thing to do. We need to have trust in what we are doing and that it is moving us in a direction we feel is heading toward our goal. Everyone has moments where they feel like there is no way out of something and we need to find the personal strength to not be tied into something that goes against who we are or against the direction we are heading. This hole you are in may just be a divot in the road or it may seem like a bottomless pit but that lies in your perception of it and your abilities and strengths in doing something to climb out of it.

Autobiography in Five Short Chapters

“I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in the same place.
But, it isn't my fault.
It still takes me a long time to get out.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in. It's a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault. I get out immediately.

walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

I walk down another street.”

Portia Nelson

 

Summary and Reflection
 

How do you realize you are stuck in a hole?

·         Loss of freedom, feeling suppressed

·         Distrust in a situation

·         Fell off of your original path

·         Losing hope

·         Confused about direction to go

How can you find a way out?

·         Regroup your vision

·         Rediscover your intentions

·         Back track through your life to find where the hole was to begin with

·         Feeling adequate worth for efforts

·         Rekindle your drive to succeed

·         Rewrite your path/plan for success

·         Reaffirm your personal truth and aspirations

 Visualization

Take a deep, full breath in, all the way down to the bottom of your lungs. Notice your breath, now take another deep full breath, feel your lungs stretch out with the quiet path of your breath. Each breath that you take now is releasing more of your tension and tightness, relaxation is flowing in with the in-breath, and tension is released with the out-breath. Picture a shimmering light come in to the top of your head and with each breath it will slowly go down your body relaxing you as it moves into your neck and chest, down your arms, going down further now with the out-breath into your hips and legs going into your calves and out your feet...

 

Now imagine that you are sitting on the edge of a very deep well. You lose your balance and fall backwards towards the water deep below. See the bricks as you fall farther and farther into the well. Splash! You are drenched. You notice handhold spots throughout the entire wall back up and out of the well. As you grab each one and move up further you notice that each handhold makes you realize a step to correct your slip, and the further you climb, the more confident you feel about your goal at the top of the well walls. As you get to the top you are overcome with joy at having overcome your fall and rekindled your efforts towards you goals and desires. You head off down a road emitting a yellow glow and you feel a renewed sense of direction. Picture yourself now in a violet bubble as you float down the yellow brick road towards your dreams...

When you are ready, be back here in the room, at peace, knowing that you are on your way to wholeness...

Light for your path.

 

Just be.

Visualize, mesmerize, materialize!!!

'Tis the season!

                 Don't wait!  

                             Do this now. 

                                           Let's begin...

Now follow along and visualize this to yourself, picture it in your mind, as you read along with me. First take a deep, full breath in, all the way down to your belly and let it out slowly now, and spend a few moments just focusing on your breath as it comes in and out slowly and calmly.  Now picture the sky up above you with the bright sun high up overhead.  Feel the warmth of the sun on your face as you continue to take deep full centering breaths calming and relaxing you now as you bask in the light of the sun.  Just be still in this moment.
  
Now as you are quiet and still notice as thoughts about your day, worries about deadlines or any of life's difficulties just spill out into your stillness, almost as though you are holding back a levee of thoughts and its slowly seeping out.  Now see in your mind these repetitive thoughts, some negative, some not, these thoughts you have about who you are and what you are, how you feel and what you think of your surroundings.  You know those thoughts that play like a tape recording throughout your day.
  
Watch now as the thoughts transform in your mind into clouds as they fill up the sky and block the warmth from the sun.  So now picture yourself safely rising up into the sky through those clouds of busy and negatively patterned thoughts.  Seeing them separate from oneself now you know in this moment, you are more than your thoughts...

Realize that as you are coming out of the cloud cover up back into the brilliance and warmth of the sun that you are moving beyond these limiting thoughts back to the you that is eternal.  You are transcending to the witness, that infinite part of you that is not attached to any emotions or preconceived notions of what the world is like.  It is being in that childlike innocence.  This is where you are now.  See the clouds below you now as they drift past and feel the powerful connection from the warmth of the sun revitalizing your true self.  Feel the textures of the clouds, realizing again that you are more than these senses.  You are the still small scribe to this infinite sea of experiences.  Know that you are beyond your emotions.  You are connected to your source, aware, alert.  Now slowly bring yourself back into this space, the room you are in, feeling comfortable and relaxed in your body, knowing in a deep place that you are better for this, and it is so...

Are you presently present now?  

If not, take a second to remember who you are, where you are and why you are... 

Do you have goals?  

What is it you truly want?  

What is keeping you from being there now?  

Will you save yourself in time?  

There is only one lifetime we are currently aware of  so we must capitalize on our experience of the present in order to harness the full potentiality in every instant of our perception...

Presence can be experienced in a great number of ways from some deep breaths to simply being in your body.  

Create a mantra consisting of a few things you are working to create for oneself...

Here's how you do it:

Simplify whatever your goal is into a few words and just keep the saying or phrase that you can run in the background noise of your mind, repeating on autopilot while you are mentally focused on the outside world, being aware of one's own body as such is a difficult undertaking...

Create now in this new year whatever it is you can envision with all of your senses.  See yourself presently in perfect awareness of your consciousness, being in the flow.

Happy 2016!!!!

<3

Light for your path...

Just be.