Carol Creel Speaks on “What it’s Like to Surrender”
July 21st, 2008
Surrendering to what Is– Not as easy as it sounds! Try surrendering to a situation when YOU’RE angry! One of the things I have to remind myself of is—”I am not angry for the reason I think I am.” Have you ever noticed this? Beneath anger is a deeper emotion that I am feeling like hurt or that what happened or was said to me evoked in me a feeling of unlovable, guilt or shame. One cannot be in peace when one is in anger, because two contrasting emotions can not live in you at the same time.
What is meant by surrendering? To me it means letting go of thoughts/feelings that do not serve me or another, refraining from reacting to a person, place or thing, in other words, yielding to the situation, listening in non-judgment. In one of our Law Of Attraction (LOA) groups, someone said they do not like the word ’surrendering’ because for them it felt like ‘weakness.’ They preferred the words, ‘letting go’ as in ‘Let go and Let God’. Surrender to a higher power, don’t react, become the observer. Most people live in a very reactionary state of mind. I am beginning to catch myself when I react. Just as soon as I do, I stop, get quiet, take three breaths and become the observer. Try it, when someone is angry at you and yelling, calling you names etc., do not hook into that energy, stay calm, take those breaths and become the witness of the situation; then watch what happens. The peace within you shifts the energy for the other person as well. This does not mean that you deny the person their upset or emotions. By all means, acknowledge their emotions, but do not engage with them in it. You can say, “I see you are upset or I am sorry that happened to you ,” or, “I can see how this upsets you.” We all want to be validated in our upsets and pain
And then there is, learning to surrender to the Allness that IS…being authentic and remembering who I truly am. Actually it is a journey to self love…we are all on this path together.
Once, when I caught myself getting very angry because I was not getting the response I wanted from someone close to me, all of a sudden, I became aware that I was not in control; then, reminded myself that no one is doing anything TO me! So, I took what I call, “three Tolle breaths,” and relaxed myself into the acceptance of what was showing up for me. I was willing to let go of my concepts and perceptions of what I might have mistakenly misinterpreted and of my own need to be ‘right.’ Our pain, most of the time, comes from our expectations. Just think, if you have no pre-conceived expectations, you are free to be open to infinite possibilities! Eckhart Tolle says in his book, A New Earth, “…acceptance means, For now, this is what this situation, this moment, requires me to do, and so I do it willingly.” Even if it is doing nothing, in just observing the situation, I relaxed, which shifted the energy; then, the situation changed for the better. We must remember, this too shall pass, this is just one moment in time, and nothing ever stays the same. The one thing we can count on is change.
Will you be willing to share a story of either how you reframed a situation or accepted it, and what that experience was like for you? Write to me, carolcreel@lifeworks-marketing.com.
Carol Creel Speaks on “Falling in Love With Life”
July 21st, 2008
When was the last time you had the feeling of falling in love with life…or have you ever experienced that feeling? The majority of us know what it feels like to fall in love with a person, but to have the experience of ‘feeling in love with life’ is rare to a lot of us!
I had that experience last night driving home from spending time with some friends that I had met for dinner and then we all went to a movie, called the ‘Ultimate Gift’, which is based on Jim Stovall’s best selling novel by the same name. It is available at Blockbusters and I highly recommend it. It is inspiring, heartwarming and laced with many of life’s gifts in work, money, friends, family dreams and love.
As I was driving home in the comfort of the car of my dreams, I began to feel the gratitude of the great sounding music that was playing and next thing I knew I was singing from my heart with Ray Charles. As my heart opened, I began to really ‘feel’ that my life as it had been, has transformed into what my new life is now. I had a deep sense of an emerging part of me that I had hidden away or put on the shelf. I felt the gratitude of meeting new interesting friends, as well as those treasured long time friends. I felt a sense of freedom in my new way of being in the world, a confidence of the powerful woman that I have become and the love for the life that is now being created for me. You see, I am very clear that I am in control of no-thing, now, did I say nothing? Yes, I did and I mean just that NOTHING!
For the past six months I have been surrendering to who I thought I was and to the life I thought ‘I’ [the small me]wanted . Life basically forced me to walk my talk. If I had not, I would have been out of integrity with myself and I knew I could not live with myself if I did that. Yes, I could have chosen not to step up, instead sinking into depression or despair; however, that was not an option for me as my intention and passionate commitment to my personal higher growth remains my guiding rudder to all that I have come here to be, have and do. In 1998, I made a 100% commitment to the transformation of our planet through forgiveness and abundance. I was very clear that this was part of my journey and knew that with every cell of my being. My life had to reflect what I teach in my forgiveness work, “nothing bad happens to us, but that life is purposeful, and things happen for us….for our spiritual growth.”
So it went without saying that I choose to walk through my pain, sit with my pain, ask for help from my dearest of friends, in doing the work, to staying conscious of who I truly am, surrendering and releasing patterns of doing and thinking, not to be fooled by outer appearances and to TRUST. My intent was to walk through this situation with love and grace. Oh yes, sometimes screaming and yelling and being a Ego-manic, I allowed my human side to surface and learned to love all aspects of my shadow side and by doing so, healed and transformed those parts of me that no longer served me. In time, I saw the beautiful and wonderful gifts in this experience and now I am so very grateful for that opportunity to heal and love myself, in all my emotions and human-ness. I was able to heal not only the current relationship but all my many past relationships. Shifting old patterns and healing those parts of me have now freed me to experience what I call falling in love with the ALL-ness of life. I know there is, no-other and part of that feeling of love is all encompassing. I continue to practice letting go and letting God, fully realizing ‘Life is not ‘doing me’ and that I am ‘doing Life.’
In order to change your world, you must come to believe that life doesn’t happen to you, you happen to life. If you can become the witness to life, it is so freeing. It is so simple that most people cannot grasp it; as a society we tend to make life complicated. Try it for a day…or a week, become the witness to life, get out of your way, do not take things personal, just watch life in your world. There is an old saying, “fake it til you make it”. We can only change the world when we change. I challenge you to be willing to give it a try and I look forward to having you share your success story, by writing to me, Carol Creel, at carolcreel@lifeworks-marketing.com.
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Lifeworks
June 30th, 2008
Sustaining others To Become Empowered, Inspired, Open to Infinite Possibilities, and Living in Authenticity
The Vision
A great awakening is taking place in the people of our planet, a falling away from the materialistic, and ego driven world into a heart centered way of being. This is a time of heightened remembrance of our true nature –that we are ONE with all things. The veil of forgetfulness is thinning and we are beginning to wake up to who we truly are…the expression or vibration of our thoughts, words and actions.
The Mission
To offer practical self-help tools and programs by means of compassionate, appreciative communication and truth teachings that liberate the Divine within each individual. To awaken and recognize that which we have come to this planet to have, be or do. To teach, by example of living in the flow of life…the highest goal is to live in love, the present moment and in a consciousness of our Oneness with all things.
itsawonderfulife