A Letter from Gaia

You say you are listening, but it is not so. So used to being numbed by the noise in your world, you know not how to be with me. When you ride your bikes through my wilderness, you speak with others of your business. When you walk together, I hear you talking of dinner plans, friends who do not keep promises, the results of your latest mutual fund.

When you jog through my trees, by my lakes, you wear earphones that hide the real music that is me. So numbed by your world, you must even numb yourself when you are with me. When you travel through my country in your vehicles, you look at your maps instead of my glorious scenery.

Can you not see how I weep that my symphony is not heard?
How my beauty is invisible to you?

The beaver slapped his tail for you on the water, encouraging you to come view the results of his very hard work. The red breasted robin landed in the tree in front of you - she wanted to remind you that a nest is built one tiny branch at a time. The rabbit that ran across your path stopped and sent you a smile, reminding you to be soft and stay out of fear.

The stream's spray over the rocks wanted to remind you of the power of renewal and the cleansing results of staying in the flow. The rocks in the stream were showing you how being washed over can make you smooth and shiny. It is good to let life wash over you.

The duck upstream who was diving for food was showing you the life he lives each day - the life of trust. He does not try to catch his fish and store them for the future. He simply trusts in the bounty that each day will provide.

The golden butterfly that landed on your t-shirt was promising you a golden transition. If you are willing to go within and cocoon to your own inner spirit, you too may one day fly. She landed on your heart, because that where you must begin listening. She was telling you that somewhere, deep within you, there is a butterfly waiting to be born. If you want to fly, you need only listen.

The tree at the end of the path that waved his leaves at you was sending you a kiss. You thought it strange that the leaves were moving - there was no breeze that you remember. But you walked on by and a tear fell across his heart. Unseen. Again.

The flock of geese who flew above you were showing you the beauty of togetherness - you can fly farther when you fly with others.

Remember the tiny mountain flower peeking her head out of the tall grasses? She was showing you that every place is a good place for beauty - even surrounded by grasses that might seem to dwarf you. She was telling you to show your beauty regardless of where you are. Beauty has no boundaries.

Did you see the smile in the clouds? They were sending you a cosmic gift from the heavens to remind you that you are never alone. They see you. They want you to see their artistry as they create all those images for you. It is an ever changing art gallery they offer you - if you'd just look up and use your wonderful imagination.

The raindrops that began falling as you reached the end of your walk offended you. Yet, they cleanse the earth, offer nourishment to the soil, feed the many plants and animals that share this world with you. They feed YOU. As you hurried from them, some of them became tears - weeping that you did not see their part in continuing creation.

Today the robin spoke. Did you hear what she said? Today the sky spoke. Did you hear what she said? Today the ocean's waved roared. Did you hear what they said? Today the sun folded into the sunset, and the sunset folded into the night. Did you hear what she was telling you?

Listen to my rhythms. Feel my heart pulse within you - within all of Creation. Hear my messages by hearing my messengers.

Wake up. Feel me. Hear me. See me. Love me.

For I am you - and if you cannot see that - we will both disappear from lack of viewing.

I am Gaia - The Earth I am You. I am part of all creation. You are part of all creation.

Love yourself. Love me. Do not suspend your heart for that which is illusion Anything that is outside of love is illusion See love and you will see yourself. See love and you will see me. See love and we shall carry on this cosmic dance forever.

Open your eyes to love. Open your heart to love. Open your vision to love. Come, let me show you how to plant the colors of ecstasy. Come, be the butterfly. Come, please come.

(c)Montana Gray - 7/99

How Do You Believe

by Victor Daniel

Did you ever notice that the people who never get sick seem to always say “I never get sick”, while the ones who always get sick are always to be found saying "I always get sick"? How about those "lucky" people? They tend to be the ones always saying how lucky they are. Think about athletes who get injured and then make a huge comeback, often winning, despite other' disbelief and discouragement, or cancer patients who "beat the odds" because they so strongly believe that they can. How does this happen? These are real people, just like you and me, who become exceptional when they choose beliefs that serve their greater good, just like you and me.

Hmmmm...What do I believe?

It sounds like an easy-enough question to ask yourself, doesn't it? You might easily answer, "I believe that I always get colds; that dogs are mean; and that it's very easy for me to find parking spots."

But do you believe that you always get colds and find parking spots based on the experiences you've had? Or do you, actually, get colds all the time, find dogs to be frightening, and effortlessly find parking spots (to your friends' total disbelief and amazement) because you have these beliefs? In other words, ask yourself: Are my beliefs shaped by my experiences, or do I experience what I believe? Does it even matter?

Yes!!! You see, if you listen between the lines, you'll realize that asking what you believe leads to that other all-important question: "Does how I believe have anything to do with how I experience the world?" And since it does, how you answer that question has the power to change your life. With that one answer, you can choose to either give up control over your life or take control.

This is how it works:

If you believe that your experiences determine your beliefs - as most of us are taught to do so from the start - you keep yourself disempowered, living your life reactively and at the mercy of outside forces creating your experiences. You basically allow yourself to be a helpless victim of what life throws at you, because you believe that you are. This is great if you just like to have lots of places to point your blaming finger at when you don't like the way your life is going, but, frankly, it does nothing to help you achieve real happiness and fulfillment.

However, if you believe that your beliefs come before your experiences, all you need to do to change your experiences is to change your beliefs about them. That's very exciting! This way, you choose to live your life proactively, and you create the forces shaping your experiences. You'll notice that this also throws blame right out the window. To be realistic, that's not something we're used to in our culture of lawsuits and "It's His or Her Fault" talk shows. The good news, however, is that although you're now going to take credit for the lousy things in your life, you can also now take real credit for the fantastic things you create in your life. And since you can create whatever it is that you choose to create, there's nothing stopping you from choosing to make the lousy things better, or even extraordinary.

If the way that you're experiencing the world isn't serving you in some way, if you don't like how things are going, change your beliefs and watch the world change around you. It's that simple, and ANYONE can do it. With practice, it becomes second nature. The world is a reflection of you. Go ahead and write that down on a sticky-note and post it on
your bathroom mirror!

Case history: Ms. I-always-meet-the-wrong-guys

Here's a little story I bet most of us can relate to in more ways than one.

I recently went on a date with Catherine, a super-successful, intelligent, busy, very beautiful woman, who, at only 36, has two of her own businesses. And this woman-who-seems-to-have-it-all was dejectedly telling me that her experience was that she "always meets the wrong guys." (I guess she was hoping I was an exception? Anyway...)

So, being the metaphysical guy that I am, I asked her the magic question: "What belief might someone have in order to experience meeting the wrong guys all the time?" (I firmly believe, as you can tell by now, that beliefs precede experience.)

And she told me, "I don't trust anybody."

Trying to get to the bottom of her problem - the underlying core belief - continued, asking her, "What other belief might someone have in order to experience meeting the wrong guys?"

And she was almost at the point where she didn't want to answer. "I don't know, Vic. I'm tired..." she said under her breath, looking around the sushi bar and ready to change the subject. Suddenly she turned around and blurted, "I just want to be alone."

I said, "Ah, so you really wish to be alone... Let me get this straight, you get involved with a guy, but then you hit a point, and you just detach yourself, right?"

Catherine nodded "Yes."

"So," I said, "the reason why you meet these wrong guys is because you actually want to be alone. You subconsciously seek to attract the wrong guys, you proceed to dump them, and then, presto, you're alone. You get exactly what you wished for; you get exactly what you say you believe!" At first she didn't think it could be that easy, but ain't that the
truth for ya!

"You say you want to be alone," I continued, "but then you're also telling me that you want to be with somebody - somebody to whom you're attracted, who doesn't nag, has his own life and doesn't jump right into your life, and doesn't get all needy." I pushed her a little further: "But do you really want to be alone?"

She sighed like there was no avoiding this anymore and said, "Well, I do want to be alone. But then there's a part of me that doesn't want to be alone..." She shook her head at her own contradiction.

"What belief might someone have in order to experience ambivalence about being alone?" I said.

I could see the big "Aha!" spread across her face and then she stated flatly, "If I'm not with anybody then I am nothing." Remember, this was coming from a woman who has everything she has strived for, who is very much "somebody" in and of herself.

Then I asked her, "How is that belief obtained?"

She stared at me not knowing exactly what I meant, or maybe even glared a little - the way that people do when they know they're about to get to the bottom of something they've been sweeping under the rug for way too long.

So I explained, "You see, beliefs are adopted in one of three different ways:

1) Belief can be deliberately created, irrespective of any prior experiences, as in someone deciding, "I now choose to believe I have good luck," and the person starts to experience good luck.

2) Beliefs can be indoctrinated. For instance, Scott's mother said he'd never amount to anything, so that is what he believes and that is what he experiences. Most people are products of their parents" beliefs. They are carrying around their parents' outdated and inaccurate beliefs like a big sack of potatoes! In this way, the experiences of the father and mother become the beliefs of their sons and daughters. The cycle goes on and on.

3) Beliefs can form out of resistance to another person's beliefs. Take my imaginary friend Danny, for example. "You'll never amount to anything," his dad constantly mutters, but Danny becomes the president of the U.S. Danny attempts this and succeeds not so much because he always wanted to president but rather because he chose to fervently
resist what his dad believed about him. I'm sure you can think of times when you did something, for better or worse, just to prove someone wrong."

Catherine looked away for a minute and stared at the sushi chef slicing up tuna at breakneck speed.

"That's my mother's belief," she finally answered.

I touched her hand sincerely and said, "Okay, you want to be alone but you don't want to be alone, so you wind up being upset when you're alone and upset when you're not."

She explained to me how she always winds up staying with someone even if from the get-go her gut tells her that it's not right or not worth it. So this is really messed up for her, she complained: she wants to be alone, she wants time to herself, but she's got this indoctrinated belief from her mother rumbling around in her head that she's nothing
unless she's with somebody. She's experiencing this real ambivalence.

(Can you think of cases such as this in your life? Your gut tells you
one thing, your mom's or dad's or teacher's voice screaming the opposite
in your head? Who do you listen to? Yourself or your mom? How old are
you, anyway?... Exactly!)

So I asked her, "Do you wish to arm yourself with someone else's beliefs, beliefs which are NOT serving you, and are causing you dis-ease? Or, do you now choose to create a belief that it's okay to be alone, and that you are something even if you are alone?"

And Catherine replied with an increasing smile, "Well, Vic, that sounds easy enough. I think I could do that."

I know that she still seemed somewhat skeptical - after all, all of this is not only new to most people, but it's so powerful despite its simplicity. Maybe she holds the belief that it's too good to be true - but I sure hope not, because if she does, that will be her experience.
So, if I can give you and her any advice at all, never ever believe that something is too good to be true. Believe that if something is good it must be true!

The moral of the story is that life is a product of your beliefs. After all, everything you think or say is a belief. That's right, everything! There's no such thing as a fact. So, your perspective on the relationship between your beliefs and your experiences has everything to do with how you experience your life, i.e. the combination of events and being that your reality consists of. The funny thing is, even if you did believe that your experiences precede your beliefs, even which would be just a belief! As Harry Palmer says, "You experience what you believe, unless you believe you won't, in which case you don't, which means you did."

If that made your head spin, don't worry. The bottom line is that everything is a belief, and that's great to know; because that means you have the power to change anything. Talk about unlimited potential! And every one of us has it. You can choose to believe anything, and so you can change anything/have anything/be anything/do anything you choose.

So if we do create our reality by our beliefs, why don't we always experience it that way? The answer is time. Like a boomerang returning to its origin place, it takes time for the energies we send out to the universe to come back to us. The interim of passing time gives the illusion that an experience we are having is somehow separate from the belief that created it. During the passing time, it seems like the world is happening to us, instead of us happening to the world. This is how a person sees him - or herself as a result of the world, perceiving him - or herself to be a victim. We forget that we threw the boomerang in the first place and we don't see that that created our experience.

Picture this: we are like satellites sending out signals every moment of our existence through our thoughts, words and actions. These signals get sent out into the ether and attract like signals. We call these like signals our "experiences." These experiences which return to us are nothing more than a reflection of our own beliefs. So what you are being, you are creating. Your beliefs manifest your reality in physical form.

Faith is the most important element involved in the recipe for creation. Take a look at everything you see in your surroundings. It was once a thought in someone's mind, invested with enough faith and time to create it in their reality. The formula for all creation is intention + attention = creation. Many people have incredible ideas but lack the faith to manifest them into their lives. You must supply enough attention to your dreams to make them real. Faith is the glue that connects all of your attention particles and makes them come alive!

Take a look at some of the world's greatest creators, such as Thomas Edison, Jesus Christ, Copernicus, The Buddha, Moses, Albert Einstein or Harriet Tubman. They all created without having had prior experience. Each had no previous evidence to prove their beliefs true. Faith is the common denominator in their beliefs becoming their reality. The level of one's conviction is the level of one's creation. Conviction means that all doubts have been overcome.

Life is a choice for each and every one of us. Ask yourself: "Do I wish to live my life as a fully creative being, or do I wish to live my life as a fully reactive being?" If you allow yourself to view yourself as someone whose experiences are creating his or her beliefs, you are living defensively spiraling your way backwards towards the past. You are powerless to change your reality. How, if you allow yourself to be someone whose beliefs are creating his or her experiences, then you’re living your life proactively. You are as powerful as you believe yourself to be. It's victim versus victor. How do you believe?

10 Ways to Bring More Growth into Your Life

It's spring planting season--and time to transform your life as well. Here's how to start 'repotting' to achieve your dreams. By Diana Holman and Ginger Pape

Just as gardeners look for ways to promote growth in their garden, so, too, do people look for ways to bring more growth into their lives. Repotting is our term for how those who have outgrown the pot or container of their daily lives, are transplanting themselves into a larger growth environment. What happens to a beautiful, flowering plant that outgrows its container? If you don’t repot it, eventually it withers and dies. Our book, Repotting: 10 Steps for Redesigning Your Life shows you how to rejuvenate your life by following our step-by-step process. No matter what your age, stage of life, or circumstances, you can benefit from the repotting process and philosophy.

Here are 10 ways that to bring more growth into your life as spring approaches:

1. Rethink Your Landscape. Adopting a new perspective is the first step to successful repotting. Just as some plants need a different environment if they are to thrive, you need to start thinking in new ways, too. Ask yourself: What is really important to me? What trade-offs do I need to make to bring more light and meaning into my personal garden? What will bring color to my landscape? For example, if you are constantly traveling for work, but missing important family activities and milestones, you could revisit career/family priorities, and after consulting with colleagues and supervisors, make adjustments to your travel schedule.

2. Realize That Planting Is a Process. Slow down and create time in your schedule to research new avenues for personal growth. Don’t be afraid of empty spaces. A friend of ours who cut back on her schedule immediately filled the open time slots with new activities. Remember to let “fallow beds” lie—don’t fill up your free time until you know what you really want to do.

3. Weed Your Garden. Take a disciplined approach to finding more time in your day for activities that offer opportunities for growth. Make a list of the “must do activities,” then eliminate non-essentials from your day or week. A woman who ran a successful event-planning firm cut back on the number of clients she handled in order to make time in her life for painting classes and choral singing—two long-lost passions.

4. Let in More Light. Your true gifts may be languishing for lack of sun. In order to grow and change, you’ll need to open your mind to new possibilities, set goals that challenge you, and take some risks. A lawyer we talked to was offered a partnership in her firm. Instead of following the safe path she had pursued, she opened up to explore a completely different lifestyle--that of becoming a pastry chef. Ultimately she quit her job, giving up financial security in favor of a less constraining life.

5. Tend Your Garden Regularly. Whatever you choose to undertake—whether it’s building a new career, volunteering, or pursuing a new hobby—do something on a daily basis to make progress. Be fully committed, so that distractions won’t take your energy away from the tasks necessary to achieve your goal. A woman who wanted to use her spare time to do personal writing found herself distracted by TV programs--until she decided to unplug the set from Friday to Monday.

6. Cultivate Your Dreams. To repot successfully, you need to let your mind run free to entertain new concepts, ideas and avenues. Unleash your creative side by visualizing a new future for yourself. A mother of four, who had spent 20 years raising children, allowed herself to visualize a new identity. In the process of helping an exchange student living in her home, she discovered a talent for counseling troubled youth. She allowed her imagination to take her beyond her current role of stay-at-home mother to that of a therapist for adolescents.

7. Water Your Roots. Find the core values that motivate you. Make sure the life you are living is in sync with your deepest values and priorities. If not, see what you can do to realign it. Let’s say you feel the lack of spirituality in your life, but aren’t sure how to find it. For two of our repotters, the answer to spiritual fulfillment lay in serving non-profit community organizations. Two others, however, took a religious path: one started a Bible study group, and the other entered seminary and was later ordained.

8. Don’t Forget Fertilizer. When you expand your knowledge, you expand your options. For personal growth, ongoing learning is crucial. You can seek self-enrichment in a variety of ways and venues, whether to pursue a hobby or gain new credentials for a career. The stimulation of learning fosters new growth and change—and acquiring knowledge and skills can happen at any age. A middle-aged stock market analyst decided to go back to school for an M.B.A. so that she could start an entrepreneurial venture with her grown daughter.

9. Plant a Sample Bed. Until you try a plant in your own personal garden, you won’t know for sure if the conditions are right for growth. If they’re not, you can always rip it out and start again. Embrace trial and error. A woman running her own real estate appraisal company took training to see if she would like to become a massage therapist. While she enjoyed the nurturing aspect of this profession, she realized she couldn’t do it fulltime. She continues to run her company and sees massage clients on weekends.

10. Get Input from Other Gardeners. Tap into your network—family members, friends and colleagues—who may be able to give you feedback, advice, information and emotional support along your journey. As you benefit from the advice of others, you may also find that you’re helping someone else along the way. Among the many blessings of repotting are the social relationships you build along the way. An accountant we met wanted to change fields. She consulted her family, professional friends, and people who had known her throughout her life. This research reconnected her with long-lost friends, deepening current friendships and building new, rewarding relationships in her new field.