I Don't Take Anything for Granted Anymore

I guess that's really only partially true.
  I do take for granted that water will flow
  from the faucet and that it will be potable.

I take for granted that I will eat on this day,
  and that the food will be nourishing and filling.
  I take for granted that the choices I make are mine.

The things that I do not take for granted are whether
  I will have food when my savings are depleted,
  or a bed in a warm house on which to sleep.

I no longer take those things for granted.
  There is no future guarantee of them.
  But, I am grateful for them now.

High Stakes and Soul Choices

The stakes are high.

I have committed to a plan of action.
  I made that plan with a dearth of information
  simply because limited information was available.

I have committed my remaining savings
  to execute this plan in the best possible way.
  All my actions are aligned to accomplish my plan.

I have no guarantee this plan will work.
  All I know is that when I complete the plan,
  I will have new skills and my resources will be gone.

That is why the stakes are high.

I could say that I have no other choice
  which would be one way to interpret life,
  but I favor the idea that there are still choices.

I choose to believe that this situation is an
  invitation for me to embark on the next stage
  of the soul journey I dreamed and created for this life.

It's not potential homelessness or hunger
  that are the challenges presented to my soul.
  The challenge is my fear of those potentialities.

How do I respond to that fear?
  Will I give it my every breath and future?
  Or will I love it, leave it, and walk my own path?

Each day, I am presented that question.
  Each day, I choose and live my response.
  Each day, I get to choose and create my life.

So, this is the stage and I am the author,
  producer, actress, audience and reviewer.
  My life, my choices...What shall I write today?

These Things-That-Happen

This is life.
  Things happen.

How?
  I called them in before I was born into this person...
  I call them in now through my thoughts and beliefs...
  Random occurrences...

I guess, in the end, 'how' doesn't matter,
  because here they sit,
  these things-that-happen.

Here they sit,
  waiting for my attention,
  my response.

And, whether or not I had some choice
  that these things happened,
  I do have a choice
  in my response.

Of that, I feel quite certain.

So, these things-that-happen
  are awaiting my response,
  and I,
  well I,

choose to live into them,
  to explore their essence,
  to find my own grace in and through them,
  to breathe from a deep center of peace,
  to allow that breath to flow over
  my tired bones, my frightened heart, my confused mind.

I ask these things-that-happen,
  'What have you brought to me,
  gifts, lessons, challenges..?'
  and,
  "What can I bring to you?'

These things-that-happen,
  openings into the next step
  on this journey called life.

Turning my attention from
  what I thought 'was supposed to be'
  to these things,
  I see now that they are my life.

What I thought 'was supposed to be'
  was only an image in my mind,
  a wandering of my fancy,
  a reflection of someone else's path.

So, these things-that-happen...
  I guess, this time, I shall welcome you,
  ask about your essence and your gifts.

And I shall allow myself to feel
  grateful
  for the mystery, the journey
  that is about to unfold.

This is Where I Am

I haven't been writing lately.
  It's not that words aren't asking for release.
  No, it's that I am focusing ALL my energy
  into transforming my vision into reality.

Sometimes in life,
  you have to focus your energy like a laser beam on your vision;
  align all your actions to be in service to that vision;
  block out ALL else.

Sometimes in life,
  you have to run like hell toward the finish line,
  even when your legs ache and your vision blurs,
  and especially when your heart doubts.

You go for it,
  with everything you have.
  You give it your all.

Then you await the universe's response,
  and
  allow for miracles.

My Practice

My practice is to stay focused on this moment and on what I can do right now.  

  It is also to not let fear seize or sidetrack me. 

I feel strong and up-to-the-challenge,

  but as each day passes, I feel the pressure grow.  

It is a good practice –

  to set your focus, live in the now and allow the future.

Imagine, Dare, Soar

Had a vision as I was working yesterday.
  I was suspended in midair, arms outstretched.
  The air rushed past my body and through my hair.

Startled to suddenly find myself in this dilemma,
  I looked back in time to find this story's beginning.
  I saw myself running up a big hill, straight to the cliff.

When I reached the hilltop, I did not hesitate.
  No, I opened my arms and ran to the cliff's edge.
  My last step on Gaia was the first step of my launch.

I dove off that cliff, arms outstretched.

And this is where I find myself,
  wind whirling all-round me,
  Gaia rushing to meet me.

----

I've been here before in this life.
  I have felt wings grow, the air lift me.
  I have seen myself fly through tempests.

But, never has my material well-being
  been so precarious, so without recourse.
  My 'rainy-day' savings dry in the spring sun.

As I hurtle past them, my friends smile to me,
  'Something will work out.  Everything will be fine.'
  I smile, 'Yes, something will happen and I will be fine.'

But, I know our words hold different meanings.
  They talk of jobs and security, food and shelter.
  I speak of my soul's purpose in this mortal frame.

Watching the earth rush toward me, I know
  that whatever happens, I will not hit the ground.
  Because you see, this is not the journey of a mortal.

It is the journey of a soul embodied in dirt-made-flesh.
  I don't control the wind or gravity or whatever may come.
  So, my body may smash into Gaia, but my soul will take flight.

So why, you ask, did I dive off the cliff in the first place?
  I dove because I had a vision and an opportunity to live it.
  I dove because it was mandatory to make this vision a reality.

So, I am midair now, wind blinding me, Gaia approaching.
  My arms are outstretched, my soul feels peace and gratitude.
  I am living this life with everything I have, with every last breath.

Imagine, dare, soar

Discovering Treasure-Within

Even as my financial insolvency shifts position
  from an inconceivable image on the distant horizon
  to a real potential in sharp relief just outside my door,

I am discovering a reservoir of resplendent abundance.
  This treasure comes not from any person or thing or event.
  No, this treasure is being revealed from a place deep within me.

Its riches include a profound and gentle peace,
  a feeling of exquisite and humble gratitude for it all,
  a certainty, a strength and a clarity that shine light on dark...

My heart swells.
  Tears wet my eyes.
  I fall to my knees in thanks.

When Things Get Dicey

The unimaginable is taking dramatic form.
  In my sleep, it splashes the canvas with fears
  that I will not allow to emerge in the light of day.

Startling, devastating and true are the images.
  Ancient heartaches, roused by the scent of fear,
  recast themselves as demons, claws set for the kill.

I awake in a fright, the unimaginable fused to
  my eyes so that wherever I look, there it looms.
  I am free-falling...headlong...into the unimaginable.

the Crash and the Flight

and, though my body may crash into the ground
  my spirit will soar

because nothing, nothing, can clip the wings of God,
  and we...
  we are God incarnate.

And Now for the Midair Pirouettes

The Treasure-Within

Dancing on the wind,
  practicing my pirouettes,
  I have a sudden epiphany...

The ground I saw approaching,
  the canvas painted with my demise,
  all of it was a creation of my own mind.

It could not be an image of my future because
  my future does not yet exist, and I am not psychic.
  No, I realized, it was a magnificent painting by
  that gifted and accomplished artist, my fear.

Awakened from its frenzied nightmare,
  my fear slumped, once again, into
  my arms, sobbing, tired, worn.

And the treasure-within that
  revealed the illusion
  smiled with love.

And, what if you meet someone along the way?