Dreams and Mysteries

"If you are not moving forward, then you are standing still." I like this wise saying, because I don’t like to stand still for too long.  As soon as I get comfortable, I seek out a new challenge, or a new adventure. Perhaps I am easily bored, but I think I have the restless spirit of an explorer. There is always another tree to climb! While out on a Sunday drive with my husband, I suddenly had the sensation that I was driving towards a new home.  The neighborhood we were driving through had a very familiar feel to it, like it was my neighborhood.  When I have had these kinds of sensations before, they were actual “pre-views” of events that happened in the next few weeks or months.  I am not going to over-analyze this one; it may be symbolic of a coming change in my life, entering new territory, or maybe we will be actually moving!

 

I had a dream recently in which some great truth was revealed to me, about how humanity can build bridges of understanding that will stop the wars.  About bridges to nature where we will suddenly see what we are doing to our environment and animals, and will be able to work out a co-existence that would be beneficial to all.  The solution was so simple, just a shift in our perceptions, but as I started to wake up, the solution vanished.  I have had many such dreams, in which some great “aha” moment was wiped from my memory as soon as I was awake.  It was like a curtain suddenly drawn.  I am convinced that those great understandings are still there in our consciousness,  and that humanity needs to mature and evolve spiritually in great leaps and bounds. Those of us who are so fortunate to be comfortable and not have to struggle daily to just keep alive, should use all the resources available to keep moving forward. Rest when you need to, but keep exploring yourself and the world around you.

 

Holiday Spending 

In this part of the world, the hours of darkness are increasing and it gets harder to get out of bed in the morning, and even harder to leave the house. It is no coincidence that we turn the coming Holiday Season into a lavish party of spending and eating. It is a great distraction form the onset of winter and those lights on the houses help dispel the gloom.

 

Becoming adult means taking care of ourselves, but some aspects of our lives stay stuck in immature mode, prey to the impulse.  None of us (I hope) start out the Christmas shopping spree saying:  “ I am going to completely blow my budget, spend far more than I can afford, and worry about it all later!”, but that is often what happens. As sophisticated as we are becoming, with our high tech toys and instant communication, we are still influenced by that primitive part of our brains that say: “hey that felt good, lets keep doing it!”.  In our primitive past, survival meant forming habits around what felt good, and avoidance of what felt bad.

 

It takes a bit of work to do a “budget”, and even more work to stick to it.  It does no good to whine about how much others have, or to feel entitled to just as much as those “others” have. That is like saying:  “he/she can eat 4000 calories a day and stay thin, so I should be able to as well!”  If your bank account (your body) can only handle 1500 calories a day, any extra will put you over a healthy limit.  With food, the excess  shows up in a most embarrassing public way. With money, it shows up on the credit card bills, and the constant stress of trying to play catch up while other opportunities pass you by, because you are till paying for last year’s feel-good spree.

 

We are highly susceptible to the feast spread out in front of us, especially at this time of year.  You know what they say “don’t go to the grocery store hungry”.  So have a little snack before you go to the party. And have a tiny piece of the best chocolate you can find when you brain won’t stop saying  “chocolate….chocolate”.  And take a little time to plan your shopping strategy:  look realistically at your money situation, set a reasonable limit, and enjoy buying those special little things for the ones you love.

 

And remember:  it really isn’t the gift, it is you that is loved every day of the year.