Is having “things” important to you?

I have had such a changing life-style that possessions have never been very important to me.  When my children reached the age of attending high school our family finally settled down into the “American Dream”.  For seven years my husband and I both had good jobs.  We had a tri-level 4-bdrm house, double-car garage, fireplace, deck, patio, garden area, and fruit trees.  Anyone who was searching for the ‘good life’ would have thought we had finally made it there.  My parents were so proud.

However, in achieving this thing that my parents thought was the ultimate goal, I was about as unhappy as I had ever been in my life.  Everything started to go wrong, and I continually heard the whisperings telling me to listen to my heart which was saying… something’s not right with this picture.  Over the following years, I learned that this was certainly not what I considered to be the pursuit of my happiness.

I finally ASKED for understanding.  I asked to be shown my path because I was obviously lost in the pursuit of something someone else thought was happiness.

Soon thereafter I had a vision that I was to pack up the household, put it in storage, and move into an RV.  But “where would we be going?” I asked.  I was told that when the time came we would know.

Sure enough, right on schedule we were contacted by former students who came to visit us and begged us to come to California to teach their groups more of Father Eli’s lessons from the Druidic Craft of the Wise.  

My parents were devastated.  They wanted to know how could we possibly give up such a good life style?  They’re both gone now, but I don’t think they ever understood my reasoning.

The American Indians had a very wise tradition of moving their location every seven years.  They packed up only what they could carry and moved to new hunting grounds.  This kept their possessions down to the bare essentials.  But more important was the fact that they started life over every seven years in a new location.

In observing the changes in my life I’ve discovered that about every seven years things have changed drastically.  New goals take precedence, or a new life-style emerges, and I’m off and running again, excited with the new adventure as it unfolds before me.

During this month of the Taurus discovery that “I HAVE”, how important are your possessions?  If you received a calling to do something completely different, how flexible would YOU be in your acceptance of these changes?

Do your possessions stop you from following your dreams?  How important are these possessions?

We’re just now entering the hurricane season.  If you received the call to evacuate your household, what are the things you would take with you?  Tools, clothes, cook-ware… what else would you consider important enough to bring along?

How important are the things you HAVE?  

Are they MORE important than the mission You came here to do?

It's worth thinking about...

“The New Moon marks the beginning of a new emotional cycle based on the simplicity of common sense. We need to respond to what's happening so others know how we feel, but the New Moon's square to elusive Neptune can muddy the emotional waters. The Moon then slips into airy Gemini at 10:34 pm EDT, presenting us with the daunting challenge of incorporating new information into the decisions we have already made.”
~ Tarot.com

Just when I think everything is going well – beautifully perfect, in fact – a monkey wrench gets thrown into the works.  Something I thought was a wonderful gift has been taken away.

If I focus upon my loss, however, I will continue to experience the sadness of this separation.  However, since I know that everything happens for a good reason, this new event has also happened for a good reason.

When we lose someone we must focus on what has been learned as a result of knowing this person.  Everyone in our lives is there to teach us something either directly or in-directly that will help us learn something we needed to progress in this life.  These are the memories that we need to focus upon to begin to change the feeling of loss into a feeling of appreciation for the time we’ve had together.

One of the best funerals I’ve ever been to was a luncheon where everyone was invited to speak about their experiences with the departed one.  Yes, it was an emotional experience, but there were some really great stories told that I never would have heard otherwise.  The feeling I was left with was one of great appreciation for having known such a wonderful person.

When the luncheon was over everyone was given one of the white helium-filled balloons that were center pieces on each table and told to write our final words to the deceased.  Then we all went outside and released the balloons at the same time.  It was indeed one of the most uplifting funerals I’ve ever been to.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could apply these same principles to every person and event in our lives?!!  We could focus on what was learned from the experience and how it benefited us – even if it didn’t work out as we would have liked.

If we learned to appreciate every experience as a matter of habit, then we would no longer waste time focusing on what we don’t like and would turn immediately toward what was of benefit, and how that has helped us in our quest.  We would see that everything really does work out for the best, even if we can’t see it at the time.

There are those who say that our task is to bring Heaven on Earth.  And then there are those who say that Heaven is already here, for those who have eyes to see.

Are you someone who looks for the reason’s behind every event?  Can you see the Truth in every experience?  Are you one who finds a way to appreciate everything life gives you?

"The oak stands tall amid the storm, yet its branches will not bend and they eventually break and fall.  The willow bends with the wind, thus surviving to become many willows - a wall against the wind."  
~ From the pages of “Dune” by Herbert & Anderson

Can you bend like the willow in the storm, and then return to your original happy self when the storm has passed?  Or will you fall like the mighty oak tree who has not learned the wisdom of flexibility?

How stable are YOU through change?

It's worth thinking about..

The Taurus “I HAVE” influence, during this month, urges us to take another look at what we HAVE.

•      I lived in a bus, camper or RV for many years and sometimes daily saw a new view outside my living quarters. I learned that “where” I am made no difference in who I am or what my routine was.    

•      I’ve made some life-changing decisions where everything I HAD in my life, disappeared and was replaced with other things.

I learned that the material possessions I HAVE in my life do not determine who I am.  
 
Material things may come and go, but I am not defined by the things I HAVE around me.  What do I HAVE that stays with me long after material things have come and gone?  
 
“No matter where you go… there you are.”  

The one thing that is always with me and can never be taken from me… is who I am. My character is the one thing I HAVE that is mine to keep, to improve, to polish and be proud of … even after I leave this life.

One of the most meaningful songs I've ever heard goes like this:

Is improving who you are important to you?

When all is said and done, will YOU be proud of the character traits You HAVE?

It’s worth thinking about…

When we use the word "stability" we often know it to mean inflexible and unmovable.  The language gives us "intractable" for this.  Stability does not really mean immovable.  The mighty oak is immovable but not necessarily stable for in too great a wind it may, for all its mightiness, blow down.  The reed standing in the marsh is, in a way, more stable than the oak, for when the gale blows it bends and when the evening calm falls again, it stands up once more, where it stood before.  

Stability, then, is the capacity to return to original position after being displaced.  

The wise person gives way under pressure, and then when it has passed, returns to his original position.  Our Taurus people may seem stubborn sometimes, and being a little inflexible can be a problem.  The ideal of stability does not imply inflexibility but an ability to be flexible enough to go with the tide and return with ease.

In the past, my life has taken dramatic turns on occasion that have left me wondering who I am, because I defined myself by my lifestyle.  However, I’ve lived in many unusual ways.  When my first child was born I was traveling around the country in a van teaching the Way.  When my second child was born we added a small trailer.  Later we expanded into a tipi, then traded in the trailer for a school bus.  We had a transient life-style planting trees for the paper companies in Texas and Louisiana in the winter, and Michigan in the spring; then we picked apples in Wisconsin in the fall and returned to Texas again in the winter.  When the kids reached High School age we decided to try an alternative life-style () and bought a tri-level house in town with central heat and air.  Through all these changes I was home-schooling my children.

During this time I learned that no matter whether we were “on the road” moving from one place to another, or camped out somewhere for a while - there were some daily routines that brought stability back into our life-style.  For example, when the breakfast dishes were done, school work came out.  Then, at bed-time the “going to bed” rituals of washing up, and brushing teeth were observed.  The lights were turned down low and stories were read.  These daily rituals kept our family life fairly stable amidst all the changes going on around us.

Being a Taurus, developing a sense of stability was important to me, for without it my life seemed chaotic.  However, I learned that stability doesn’t necessarily come with living in one place and having a job you can on.  Stability, for me, can be found in simple daily routines.

When my children were little and I had no private room to retreat into for my daily meditations, I would wake myself up at 3:00 a.m., sit up in bed (so as not to fall asleep) and go through my meditation routine – the Druidic Daily Discipline – as I fondly call it.  This, more than anything else, is where I found my own inner stability.

I’ve always liked “ruts” because once you’re in a rut: you always know where you’re going.  Perhaps my fascination with ‘sameness’ is because I’ve not had much of that in my life.

The Taurus – like the cow – enjoy familiar pastures and always take the same trails to and from the barn.  Routines that don’t change are important to those who raise cattle for a living, because cows do so well when they are doing familiar things.

The ideal of stability does not imply inflexibility but an ability to go with the tide and return with ease.  The practice of the Druidic daily discipline is what has been the point of stability through changes in my life.  It has allowed me the flexibility to go with the flow of the day, but return to familiar routines (such as daily meditation) for my stability.

How stable is YOUR life?  

If you had nothing familiar around you, would your life feel chaotic?  

Where do YOU find stability?

It's worth thinking about...