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Today, I’d like to introduce a special guest, Avocado!
I first met Avocado this past December when my fiancé Richard, my mom and my sister Marie traveled to Singapore for a cruise. While we were there, we stopped at a mall. In the middle of the hustle and bustle of the Christmas-shopping crowds, I spotted Avocado! Immediately, I fell in love. Why is Avocado here as a guest today? Well, last week, my dear friend and colleague, Shawn Shepheard, and I were leading a Zoom conversation for an organization on the topic of Building Resilience. One of the questions we asked was: What are some things that you do to help alleviate any stress or anxiety, or help to bring you into the present moment? One of the participants shared that he would touch something, like a door frame, and that feeling of touch allowed him to get out of his head and out of his thoughts. The physical sensation of touch brought him to the present moment. As I listened to him, I wondered if I had something in my own life that I touch and brings me to the present moment. But not only that, I also wanted to invite and feel a sense of joy or connection. Immediately, I thought of my dear friend, Avocado! Whenever I’m feeling stressed out (or even when I’m not), I feel great whenever I touch Avocado and give Avocado a big squeeze and a hug. And so, my question to you today is, what is your Avocado? What is one thing that you can do that helps to bring you in the present moment, to feel connected, and to feel joyful? It could be a stuffed animal or fruit like Avocado here. (Yes, I had to google and confirm that Avocado is actually a fruit and not a vegetable.) Or it could be prayer beads or a rosary that you use for spiritual practices. It could be listening to a song that you just love that brings you up and touches your soul. Or it could be having a picture or a memento close by, reminding you either of a loved one or of a place that you’ve traveled that brings back wonderful memories. Another one of the virtual workshop participants shared that every day, he changes out his Zoom virtual background with photos that he took from his travels all over the world. Those photos bring back for him the joy of his adventures. And his colleagues feel uplifted when he shares what those pictures mean to him. So, for you, what is that one thing that could help bring you into the present moment, and also allow you to feel connected to the truth and joy of who you are? Whatever that is, I encourage you to have that around you. Let that be in your environment, so that at any moment of the day, you can turn to it and feel that connection that is always available to you, whenever you need it. Let’s thank Avocado for making a special guest appearance in today’s article. Thank you, Avocado! And if Avocado gets enough love and encouragement, maybe he’ll make another appearance soon! Until then, Abundant Blessings and Namaste. ** I'd love to hear your thoughts about today's article. Please feel free to leave a comment below.
I first wrote this blog in 2014. I have decided to update it to reflect the context of our current challenging times. You can also click on the picture to watch the video of this post.
Your job is not your Source. As a spiritual life coach, I've worked with many people over the years, many of whom felt stuck in the jobs that they hated but stayed in those jobs because of a belief that their job was their Source, meaning that they felt that their job was the only Source and lifeline to their receiving any income. But today, I’m here to remind you of this truth: Your job is not your Source. Your Source is your Source. Source is that greater power and presence that we are a part of, that we're connected to and that is the truth of who we are. Some people call it God, the Great Spirit, Universe, Divine Presence, or Infinite Intelligence, among many other names. All of these words point to and describe that ultimately indescribable and unnamable thing, that creative energy that runs in and through all things. This Source nourishes you, strengthens you, supports you, provides for you, loves you and uplifts you. That is what Source is. Your job, then, is not your Source. Your job is but a vehicle by which Source can provide for you. I want to decouple these ideas and separate them because many people confuse our jobs as being our Source. We are in a situation right now in this pandemic where millions of people are losing their jobs. It's truly heartbreaking. And there are people that I’ve talked with who still have jobs or are working from home, but they fear that their work and their jobs will disappear and go away. When I talk about your job not being your Source, it's not to express any lack of compassion for what any one person might be experiencing in these times, but to be able to remember that your job and your Source are two separate things. Your work has been one vehicle by which Source has been able to provide for you. If that job or work is gone, Source is still there to provide for you! What a blessing it is that there are many forms of relief and assistance that are now being made available to people, whether that is through governments or everyday people offering a helping hand with food or a service to make sure people’s basic needs are being met. This is a way that Source provides for you. And please know, it's okay, completely okay, to ask for help if you need it. Sometimes, when one vehicle of support is gone, you might be called to explore other ways you can allow for Source to provide for you. What are other pathways, in the infinite number of pathways that are available, that you could help to create to allow Source to provide, not only for you but for your family, your community and others? What is possible? For today’s exercise, I invite you to look at all the ways that this Infinite and Loving Source is already providing for you. Look around your life. Look at the people that you have connections with. Look at your home. Look at your refrigerator. Go ahead and look around. Simply notice the many ways that Source is already providing for you. When you consider all the ways that Source already provides for you, there's one common response that bubbles up to the top, and that response is: Gratitude. When you embrace all the blessings in your life, and all the ways that you are provided for, your heart expands in gratitude. In the midst of everything that is happening, let us remind ourselves that Source, this Divine Presence, is always present, that it is Infinite and Abundant in its nature. No matter what we may be experiencing in life, we can always turn to It and remind ourselves that Source is here. All we have to do is to simply recognize it. Abundant Blessings and Namaste. ** I'd love to hear your thoughts about today's article. Please feel free to leave a comment below.  Have you ever kept a diary, or written in a journal? In challenging times like these, writing can be a very powerful tool and practice for your own foundational support. Often, when I meet with clients or have students in a class I’m teaching, I’ll give an assignment where I’ll ask people to do some journaling. Sometimes, I’ll ask them to answer a particular question. For example: “What do you really want” Or here’s another question: “What is this experience trying to teach you?” Another assignment I’ll give is to ask you to do stream of consciousness writing. Julia Cameron, in her book The Artist’s Way, teaches about the morning pages, where you write down three pages non-stop of stream of consciousness writing. You allow all the thoughts and feelings experience to come up without lifting up your pen, non-stop until you reach three pages. You just let out whatever wants to be let out. And it can be surprising what emerges. I had a student in one of my recent workshops who shared how he had been journaling for a few days. He decided to look back on what he had written. He was shocked because he saw that what he had written was largely negative, a lot of doom and gloom. He didn’t realize that he was deeply focused on what was going wrong in his life and the world. In that moment, he had the awareness to choose another way of how he could look at life. And so he chose to write about what good he was experiencing in his life. When we allow ourselves to write and to journal, two things can happen. One, we allow a process for inner reflection to happen, where we can give voice to those thoughts and those feelings that lay within us. We give our inner world a pathway to outer expression so that whatever we may be experiencing can have a chance to breathe and to have some light shined upon it. When we see our words concretely in front of us, we bring greater awareness to what it is that we are experiencing. With greater awareness comes the ability to choose. Sometimes, we find great meaning when we reflect. We can uncover what matters to us, and we gain a greater perspective on life itself. Two, another thing that can come out of writing is the expression of your latent creativity. Writing allows your imagination to run wild. You can visit distant lands or meet new characters. You allow yourself to ask imaginative questions, like, “What if? What’s possible?” For your coaching assignment this week, if you choose to take it, I encourage you to do a little bit of writing. Spend some time journaling. You could use your pen and write in a spiral notebook from the dollar store, or you can use a specially dedicated one with a beautiful design on the cover. There’s something powerful about writing with your hand. Or, if you prefer, you could use your computer, tablet or smartphone to type out your thoughts and feelings. Either way is okay. For this assignment, simply write out whatever comes to your mind. Give yourself the opportunity and the space to give voice to what is on your heart and in your mind. What is wanting to express itself this day? You are a creative being, and writing is a creative process. Creativity allows you to embrace and express your own powerful life force, a reminder of your own agency and potency, especially helpful in the midst of challenging times. Let this be your act of creation in this moment. Abundant Blessings and Namaste. ** I'd love to hear your thoughts about today's article. Please feel free to leave a comment below. |
About JoselitoJoselito is a spiritual life coach helping people create a purposeful, spiritual path to career and financial freedom. Popular Blog Articles Beware (Be Aware of) these 5 Unhelpful Money Stories How my body told me to quit my job How I was offered an all-expenses paid cruise after making my Vision Board Today I choose to live my GREATNESS You are not your stories. You are the story-teller. Your job is not your Source. Archives
May 2020
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