Sometimes I wonder what people mean when they say, "It's just a thought." I know that sometimes it is in relation to a suggestion that may be helpful. But other times, it is used as though it is a disqualification of what the thought was. When this happens I think that people are not realizing the power or energy ripple that happens with every thought that goes through our heads. Thoughts in and of themselves are an energy form that creates a reality on some level.
The Ancients would acknowledge that everything we think, say and do will ripple forth for the next seven generations. The importance of attitude became tantamount. If someone had a lousy attitude this could affect the rest of the people for a very long time to come. So the attitudes got adjusted very quickly in order to create peace and harmony for the people and the children and the grandchildren. So when we had a bad attitude we could certainly expect grandmother or grandfather to slap us upside the back of the head (just to get our attention) and then share with us the details of why we need to adjust our attitude. The attitude would indeed get adjusted quickly....or else! And we would not want to know what exactly the "or else" would mean.
So when we are having a bad day and have a morbid fantasy about offing our least favorite person, we need to remember the ripple effect.
Blessed Be
Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com
Showing posts with label ripple effects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ripple effects. Show all posts
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Obligation vs Responsibility
I so often hear people say things like, "If I didn't have to do this, then I would have time to do that, which is what I really love to do." I have always challenged this idea. People don't often realize that there is a difference between obligations and responsibilities. Obligations tend to be burdensome. Responsibilities tend to be liberating.
Let's say, for example, that I have offered to feed and walk someone's dog for the two weeks that they are away on vacation. I will certainly do that because I have obliged myself to do so. No matter what else may come up in my life, the dog will get fed and walked. This is an obligation. It is short term and at the end of the term I am free and clear to do whatever I want with the rest of the time I have on this earth. But for the two week period, I am burdened with the dog and its needs.
Now I am also a responsible person. If, for example, while this dog is in my care it should happen to get ill, I will certainly take care of it. I am able to respond to this dog's particular and specific situation. That is what responsibility is. It is the ability to respond.
When we are able to respond we become liberated. We are no longer trapped in the haze and fog of common consciousness. We are able to clearly see what is going on around us and take appropriate action in response to what we are perceiving. As we take action our world unfolds around us in the way it will, according to universal laws that state that all actions have a ripple effect. In the case of the dog, the ripple effect is the gratitude that its owners will feel knowing that, whatever was happening, their dog was cared for and not alone. Should I not respond to the sick dog, then when they come back home the ripple effect is much more negative.
When we apply these principles to every day life and relationships we find that we become more conscious of others' needs as well as of what our own needs might be. Clear communication is then possible and we are able to liberate ourselves from mundane misery and experience full joy and abundance. We then don't have to wait to do what we love to do. We do that and, while we do that, we also respond to the world around us. The thing is that we always have a choice in any situation. Even not choosing is a choice that leads somewhere. As we make our decisions, we allow ourselves to flow with the ripple effect.
Blessed Be
Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com
Let's say, for example, that I have offered to feed and walk someone's dog for the two weeks that they are away on vacation. I will certainly do that because I have obliged myself to do so. No matter what else may come up in my life, the dog will get fed and walked. This is an obligation. It is short term and at the end of the term I am free and clear to do whatever I want with the rest of the time I have on this earth. But for the two week period, I am burdened with the dog and its needs.
Now I am also a responsible person. If, for example, while this dog is in my care it should happen to get ill, I will certainly take care of it. I am able to respond to this dog's particular and specific situation. That is what responsibility is. It is the ability to respond.
When we are able to respond we become liberated. We are no longer trapped in the haze and fog of common consciousness. We are able to clearly see what is going on around us and take appropriate action in response to what we are perceiving. As we take action our world unfolds around us in the way it will, according to universal laws that state that all actions have a ripple effect. In the case of the dog, the ripple effect is the gratitude that its owners will feel knowing that, whatever was happening, their dog was cared for and not alone. Should I not respond to the sick dog, then when they come back home the ripple effect is much more negative.
When we apply these principles to every day life and relationships we find that we become more conscious of others' needs as well as of what our own needs might be. Clear communication is then possible and we are able to liberate ourselves from mundane misery and experience full joy and abundance. We then don't have to wait to do what we love to do. We do that and, while we do that, we also respond to the world around us. The thing is that we always have a choice in any situation. Even not choosing is a choice that leads somewhere. As we make our decisions, we allow ourselves to flow with the ripple effect.
Blessed Be
Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com
Saturday, May 10, 2008
The Next 7 Generations
Shamanic teachings tell us that thoughts and feelings are energy. Emotions are energy in motions (E-motion). They are meant to be fluid and constantly moving, not dammed up and stagnant. Thoughts are energy in creation. Everything we think, say and do creates something within us and around us. Also, on the other side of the coin, those things we don't think, say or do create a reality all their own as well. The absence is just as important as the presence when it comes to thoughts.
As energy, thoughts, words and actions have a ripple effect for the next 7 generations. We can see that pretty clearly when we look even at just 3 or 4 generations. Think about toxic behavior, for example. An alcoholic grandparent can have a ripple effect of negativity down through the generations to their great grandchildren. We don't need to study rocket science to see that very clearly.
But it is the more subtle things that go through our minds in the forms of thought energies that trip us up even worse sometimes. A simple thought like "I couldn't possibly do that." is something that disables us for years. And it is something that we unconsciously pass down to our children and they pass down to their children. We need to rework our own thoughts so that the energy they produce can be helpful instead of harmful.
I remember doing a healing body work exercise and hearing my father's voice very clearly say,"You'll never stand on your own two feet." To my knowledge, he never said this to me. But I do know that he had that belief about himself. And I do know that he projected that belief onto others around me. I just didn't realize that I had integrated it into my own personal belief system. Days after this happened, I was in a rock store and the owner showed me a photo of his daughters, all in their late teens and early twenties. Then he said that he had always raised them with a "Yes, you can" statement so that they would grow up to be confident and capable women. I have applied this philosophy to my own daughters, born years after this encounter. I am quite amazed at how easy the negative belief of my father has been erased within two generations. I don't think this would have been possible if I were still unconscious of the fact that the belief was within me.
We need to allow ourselves to become conscious. How do we do this? We pay attention to the voices inside our minds. The tapes that keep running over and over about how wrong, or stupid, or unworthy or weak we are can be erased and replaced with tapes of self-confidence, strength, intelligence and capability. We just need to take a little bit of time and pay attention to ourselves. Also we need to look at what comes out of our mouths. When we really look at some things we say that seem to make sense at the time we can find that they are actually negative programs that can be disabling. I have found a few of those recently in my own words during my life changes. I am so happy that I have friends and family to point them out to me. Shaman...heal thyself! We are all human and we all have stuff. It is how we work with that stuff that counts.
Blessed Be
Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com
As energy, thoughts, words and actions have a ripple effect for the next 7 generations. We can see that pretty clearly when we look even at just 3 or 4 generations. Think about toxic behavior, for example. An alcoholic grandparent can have a ripple effect of negativity down through the generations to their great grandchildren. We don't need to study rocket science to see that very clearly.
But it is the more subtle things that go through our minds in the forms of thought energies that trip us up even worse sometimes. A simple thought like "I couldn't possibly do that." is something that disables us for years. And it is something that we unconsciously pass down to our children and they pass down to their children. We need to rework our own thoughts so that the energy they produce can be helpful instead of harmful.
I remember doing a healing body work exercise and hearing my father's voice very clearly say,"You'll never stand on your own two feet." To my knowledge, he never said this to me. But I do know that he had that belief about himself. And I do know that he projected that belief onto others around me. I just didn't realize that I had integrated it into my own personal belief system. Days after this happened, I was in a rock store and the owner showed me a photo of his daughters, all in their late teens and early twenties. Then he said that he had always raised them with a "Yes, you can" statement so that they would grow up to be confident and capable women. I have applied this philosophy to my own daughters, born years after this encounter. I am quite amazed at how easy the negative belief of my father has been erased within two generations. I don't think this would have been possible if I were still unconscious of the fact that the belief was within me.
We need to allow ourselves to become conscious. How do we do this? We pay attention to the voices inside our minds. The tapes that keep running over and over about how wrong, or stupid, or unworthy or weak we are can be erased and replaced with tapes of self-confidence, strength, intelligence and capability. We just need to take a little bit of time and pay attention to ourselves. Also we need to look at what comes out of our mouths. When we really look at some things we say that seem to make sense at the time we can find that they are actually negative programs that can be disabling. I have found a few of those recently in my own words during my life changes. I am so happy that I have friends and family to point them out to me. Shaman...heal thyself! We are all human and we all have stuff. It is how we work with that stuff that counts.
Blessed Be
Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Life is too short to not pay attention!
“To die without being forgotten is to be eternal.” Lao-tzu. This from a person who’s philosophy has lasted thousands of years! Talk about being eternal! I enjoy this statement because we often get caught up in some of the silliest things in our lives and forget what is really important. The other day a young woman got off a city bus and walked right out in front of me as I was driving down the street. She was on her cell phone, not paying attention at all to what she was doing. Brakes on a vehicle are a great thing, when you have enough notice to use them. She was very fortunate that day. But I gave her a little toot with the horn to wake her up so that she didn’t kill herself, and she simply gave a glare and continued talking as she walked across the street while continuing this “very important phone call”.
I don’t know if the call was personal or professional, but it was certainly not worth risking her life. And I began to wonder how she would be remembered? Being very young, she may not have had time yet to do something big that the world could remember her for. But on a personal level, I am sure that someone would remember her fondly for something. Did she not care about that?
Ever since I became a father I have become aware of the fragility of life. It is a precious gift and one that can get ended and altered way too quickly for our human souls to deal with. I would not want to be the father who just found out that his daughter was just killed as she jay walked across a street. I would not want to be the brother, the mother, the sister, the lover of anyone who had this happen. Yet this sort of thing does happen when we don’t pay attention to what is going on around us.
Once becoming a father I also noticed that my own self-worth grew exponentially. Where people would be able to walk all over me before, I found myself saying things like, “You have no right to treat the father of my children that way.” I know it stemmed from a protective aspect of fatherhood, more than a protective instinct for myself. But at least it was a start. It made me begin to pay attention to what is going on around me so that I can be safe and know that at the end of the day, I am still here for my children.
So when I die I would like to be remembered. I would like people to remember me as a man with a huge heart. I would like to be the guy who stayed true to himself, even if it was against what society thought to be acceptable. I would like to be the guy who loved more deeply than anyone thought possible. I would like people to remember me as the man who voiced and acted with compassion. I don’t want to be worshipped. I don’t want people to blather on about how wonderful I was if I really wasn’t. We’ve all been to a funeral or two like that and looked around, wondering if we were at the right event. I just want to not be forgotten by those close to me and by those whose lives I have had a positive effect upon.
Don’t worry. I am not planning on exiting stage left any time soon. I am just aware that we never know when that truck comes around the corner just as we step off the curb.
Blessed Be
Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com
I don’t know if the call was personal or professional, but it was certainly not worth risking her life. And I began to wonder how she would be remembered? Being very young, she may not have had time yet to do something big that the world could remember her for. But on a personal level, I am sure that someone would remember her fondly for something. Did she not care about that?
Ever since I became a father I have become aware of the fragility of life. It is a precious gift and one that can get ended and altered way too quickly for our human souls to deal with. I would not want to be the father who just found out that his daughter was just killed as she jay walked across a street. I would not want to be the brother, the mother, the sister, the lover of anyone who had this happen. Yet this sort of thing does happen when we don’t pay attention to what is going on around us.
Once becoming a father I also noticed that my own self-worth grew exponentially. Where people would be able to walk all over me before, I found myself saying things like, “You have no right to treat the father of my children that way.” I know it stemmed from a protective aspect of fatherhood, more than a protective instinct for myself. But at least it was a start. It made me begin to pay attention to what is going on around me so that I can be safe and know that at the end of the day, I am still here for my children.
So when I die I would like to be remembered. I would like people to remember me as a man with a huge heart. I would like to be the guy who stayed true to himself, even if it was against what society thought to be acceptable. I would like to be the guy who loved more deeply than anyone thought possible. I would like people to remember me as the man who voiced and acted with compassion. I don’t want to be worshipped. I don’t want people to blather on about how wonderful I was if I really wasn’t. We’ve all been to a funeral or two like that and looked around, wondering if we were at the right event. I just want to not be forgotten by those close to me and by those whose lives I have had a positive effect upon.
Don’t worry. I am not planning on exiting stage left any time soon. I am just aware that we never know when that truck comes around the corner just as we step off the curb.
Blessed Be
Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com
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