Stuff

The past month has been full of processing, coming to terms with loss, letting go of the losses and moving forward in the now that Hurricane Michael pushed us to. My family and I didn’t experience the personal loss that some of our friends and colleagues endured. I imagined that our home would be protected and it was just as we left it when we returned 3 days later, except the door. I must admit there was a bit of guilt with this revelation because of the massive destruction all around us. I appreciate and thank Source all day every day for protecting us along with our stuff. Some of the stuff in our storage unit belonged to my best friend who passed away 3 years ago. Last week I moved the stuff that was important to his husband, loaded in the Kia Soul from PCB to Clearwater. While dropping off the stuff I realized how much meaning or importance we place on things and carry them around because the pain of releasing them is greater than we may be willing to bear. This not only pertains to material items but old tired stories we keep telling ourselves, below are three items that crossed my mind.

First I thought about how hard it is coming to terms with loss, especially when it is the loss of a loved one. I listened to a documentary recently about loss of loved ones. It was previously thought that the pain of loss diminishes over time, that is not true. The researcher said that life grows around the pain where it waxes and wanes in time. That seems about right. The memory of the person remains with us and they become larger in our minds than the life they left behind. We talk about them and celebrate them to keep their memory alive for ourselves. The researcher mentioned it is okay to live life again, move onward and upward, to celebrate yourself and your accomplishments, to lean on others when you need, things will change, life progresses, it has to, it is the cycle of life. The important thing is to keep moving, forward, or sideways, movement is movement which proves to ourselves we are still alive. I know friends and family that have made their transition live inside my vivid imagination, walk beside me, I feel them, sense their presence and it comforts me. The essence of their existence will never die and that is the eternal stuff.

Second, I thought about old tired ass story stuff. There are tired ass stories we continue to tell ourselves like “you’re unworthy,” “you’re not enough,” “you are not lovable,” “you don’t have what it takes,” “I can’t do that because it’s embarrassing,” just a bunch of BS! In order to be embarrassed, or think these things, there must be an opinion that what someone else thinks of us has to matter. Someone else’s perception of me is really none of my business. What someone told me when I was younger had nothing to do with me or my lack, it had everything to do with that person and their opinion of themselves. I held on to those stories because they were comfortable to me but those stories kept me from genuinely sharing myself and stopped me from stepping outside my box into the abundance of life for far too long. Taking action or inspired action was hampered due to those tired ass stories full of negative stuff, and second guessing the inspiration. I released all of that stuff and shifted the opinion of myself. I came in to this life to live and I refuse to hide away in a box, that is not living. I refuse to hold myself back from the bold, amazingly abundant nowness of life. I know I am here to be an inspirational author, speaker, realtor and life coach. It is my purpose to genuinely care, share and uplift others with unconditional love. That is the transformational stuff.

Last is the holding on to all this stuff. I read in the book Unteahered Soul by Michael Singer an analogy that I love, “Imagine you have a thorn in your arm that directly touched a nerve. So much so that anything that touched it caused pain inside of you. Even a leaf brushing against the thorn caused pain. You have two choices, you can either try to avoid everything in your life that touches that thorn. Or, you can do this amazing alternative, which is to take it out.” We all have thorns we hold on to and if anyone touches our thorn we get irritated. Because we avoid the thorn, refuse to remove it, we avoid and refuse to live life. It is because we fear what removing the thorn entails, it will be painful in the process of removal but Oh the feeling of relief when it is finally out! This holding on to material items, tired ass stories, past hurts, grief, painful thoughts begets more of the same and it will continually go on until the fear is released. It is time to tap in to the God Source Energy inside, run our own race, look for and see the face of Source in every being we encounter, and mostly to be all that is love. 1 Chorinthians 13:4-8 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” Thoughts or action taken from anything other than a place of love is fear. You can’t trust in the pure love of God and fear at the same time. I came to the realization that the chains have been loose the whole time, I’ve been holding on to them for years so I let go and walked out of that fearful place. You can too. I am continually evolving, growing in the knowing of Source, taking the next steps to living and being the light of love in faith. That is the stuff of Source energy that gives life. That’s the spiritual stuff

It is time to wake up and see the stuff we hold on to whether it be material, emotional or fear of tired ass stories for what they are: limited living. Release the thorns that hold you back and live limitless!

Living in Appreciation and Love,

Kris