Happy Thursday to You!
I hope the sun was shining on you yesterday. It was beautiful here in Vista yesterday.
Being a California native, I feel as though my whole nervous and hormonal systems are sun-powered; whenever it’s gray for very long, I feel as though my whole being begins to hibernate.
I find that when my inner being is sluggish due to lack of sunlight that short, high intensity workouts turn my lights on and restore a feeling of vitality.
I was flat out with writing yesterday, but felt very good about what I was able to create.
Between writing and the other daily tasks, I got into the gym with Vidya and did a nice pushing circuit.
I created a mini-circuit that started with clubbell touch-backs for 10 reps with a 20 pound clubbell in each hand (don’t be fooled by the small weight; clubbells have long levers and can be very challenging!
You can go to www.circularstrength.com to learn more about clubbells.
I followed the clubbells with Swiss ball dumbbell bench presses with 90 pounders for 4-8 reps, followed by Bruce Lee Swiss ball push-ups to exhaustion.
I did this circuit four times because I needed to be in and out in 30 minutes. I got a great workout, a nice sweat, and capped it off with a welcomed cold shower.
In the evening, I came home to a big, beautiful late-afternoon sun.
After getting organized, I went out into the garden and did an hour of tai-chi. There was a lot of bird and animal life all around me, making it much more fun.
I love it when the wildlife comes to visit, which happens most days I’m doing tai-chi.
We have a lot of coyotes around my home and they are very sly dogs. I’ve watched them move right through our streets very quietly and they can escape detection from the neighborhood dogs.
I’m very aware of how alert the local dogs are because any time someone in the area walks their dog, the other dogs start making lots of noise, as you can imagine, but those sly coyotes are like stealth fighter jets.
Somehow, the local dogs don’t even smell them.
If I’m out in the garden working and I see a coyote or a pack of them, they always see me and don’t come too close.
That said, when I’m dong tai-chi or meditating in the garden, they don’t see me or even smell me.
Yesterday, I was deep in bliss during my tai-chi session and I could feel something moving toward me.
I opened my eyes and 20 feet away, standing right in front of me on the edge of my yard was a beautiful coyote. It was standing there looking into the field across the street, probably hoping to catch a squirrel off guard.
I watched it for a few minutes and then said, “Hello” very softly and that beautiful animal almost jumped out of it’s skin!
I’ve had many such experiences with them coming very close to me while in deep meditation and would watch them interacting with each other and would be giggling inside knowing that these most amazing of hunters didn’t realize that if I wanted to, I could have taken them all out easily.
I’m glad for them that they are meeting me as a mature man because the 20 year old Paul Chek would have shot them, skinned them, and mounted them on the wall!
My underlying point here is that as we calm down inside and develop a reverence and love for nature, our energy field changes to match our thoughts and beliefs.
In a state of love and appreciation for nature, nature looses Her fear toward you. If you love wildlife and don’t express fear or act defensive, your field is open and receptive.
The same squirrels that must be exquisitely aware of the intentions of hawks and coyotes and their intentions must also be aware of the intentions of human beings who have a long history of killing them too!
Certainly you wouldn’t go give someone a hug that looks like they may harm you, would you?
I’ve been blessed to have days out in my garden where I was literally surrounded with squirrels, rabbits, lizards, and a variety of birds, including beautiful hawks sitting atop a rock stack just a few feet away.
When I’m deep in meditation and am feeling and expressing love for life, all the creatures seem to be acutely aware that I’m safe to be around.
When I see how many beautiful lives share the space I call “my home”, I realize that the truth is that I am sharing “their home” with them.
I may pay a mortgage payment for that land, but they are doing better than I am because they live there rent-free!
As I’ve matured within myself and healed my own inner-pains and anger, it has been interesting to see how differently people react to me; like the animals, they naturally get closer and open more easily and authentically.
My dream is that we all grow through our fears and learn the power of love in, and as community and family so that we can once again embrace nature and use science intelligently.
Today I’d like to share another of Arnold Patent’s Universal Principles to close my blog.
TRUTH – Arnold Patent’s Universal Principle #12
I trust in the Universe’s total support of me at all times.
The most important and effective belief we can acquire to help us master Principle is the trust in the Universe’s total support of us at all times.
COMMENTARY
When I think of the magnitude of intelligence required to create a universe that functions harmoniously, and create the myriad of incredibly complex living creatures within it, it is hard for me to believe there’s something wrong here.
In my life, I’ve found over and over again that as my knowledge and understanding improves, I’m less fearful of things that I once was.
I have found that fear is usually the byproduct of ignorance or misunderstanding.
People that are afraid of snakes commonly wound or kill them, even when they are not in danger of being hurt by the snake. People kill the snake because they are afraid of the idea of a snake.
When you consider the very low level of understanding people in general have of the universe, nature, or life in general, it’s easy to see how fear can dominate their thoughts and behaviors.
I have learned that fear is a beautiful tool for cultivating awareness. When I’m afraid, I know it’s time to start asking better questions.
If I can’t answer the question myself, I need to find someone that knows more than me.
Instead of killing the snake, I can get out my cell phone and call someone that understands snakes, describe the snake and get reliable feedback:
“No Paul, that’s not a poisonous snake. That’s a common garden snake and it helps keep the population of mice and other little creatures down and you don’t want to kill that one.”
“Ah, good, I was just about to kill a friend!”
Sometimes, it is better to do nothing and hold still for a bit while processing the situation than it is to take a “Ready – Fire! – aim” approach.
Often, our level of fear indicates how authentic we are in our own relation to Spirit.
One may be fearful that just because their spouse has shown up late from work three times in a week that they are having an affair.
They may actually start believing that judgment before even taking time to gather the necessary information to make an informed decision as to what course of action to take and damage their relationship.
When we trust the Universe (Spirit), we trust that we are an integral part of the universe and that we are being led.
With that view, we may think, “my spouse may be having an extramarital affair and I trust that Spirit is giving us both what we need to become more loving, wise people.”
That may seem scary to you, but I assure you, it’s not as scary as repeatedly acting our of a fear based consciousness and in the long run, with practice, we find that the universe is loving, intelligent, wise, and always does a better job of creating harmony that we could acting from fear.
If you fall in love with your ego and let that be the highest form of wisdom you honor, you still haven’t learned anything that you need to feel safe when death knocks on your door!
When we learn the language of Spirit, we come to KNOW we are safe and death isn’t the closing of a door, it’s the beginning of a new, exciting adventure in the arms of the Loving Mother Universe.
Love and chi,
Paul Chek
