A Gift from Standing in the Light®

Standing in the Light® is offering a gift for everyone who signs up for its newsletter! It is a channeling on the Illusion. Check out the details at http://bit.ly/1Q8CFpu

New e-book Series from Standing in the Light®

Standing in the Light® is excited to announce its new e-book series called Standing in the Light® Master Series.

Lori Rock, Ginger Withee and Marsha Hankins will take turns writing a book on a topic designed to help you move forward on your path.

The first book is available now on Amazon Kindle. It is called The Strength and Peace of Divine Humility. Check it out! http://amzn.to/1R70nCV

Welcome Ruby Sunshine: Healing Separation Anxiety

My husband and I are excited to welcome an 8 week old yellow Labrador into our home in two weeks. We have decided to call her Ruby Sunshine in deference to her yellow lab mom and her red lab dad.

As a woman without biological children and no pets in her adult life besides some Koi fish, which are pretty low maintenance, this is going to be a big transition for me. I know it is going to be a happy transition, but big changes are coming, nonetheless. I can already see some of the issues / mirrors that the situation is presenting to me that I haven’t felt the need to address prior to this welcomed addition.  I have a feeling this will not be the last blog post where Miss Ruby is front and center. 

The biggest mirror for me thus far in preparing for Ruby is the mirror of separation anxiety. I realize that there are more immediate physical / 3D concerns with a puppy than separation anxiety, which I have been lead to believe is more pronounced with older rescue dogs. However, this is the mirror I see, so it is the mirror I will investigate!

How will I manifest the intention that Ruby feels loved, safe and secure no matter whether she is with us, being boarded or being safely left at home? The first step I am being guided to take is to clear my own anxiety, nervousness and attachment. I need to be able to not judge myself that my actions are going to make a mess of Ruby’s life even when my actions are not quite as “Cesar Milan-ish” as I would like them to be. Fortunately, I have energetic tools at my deposal to send energy to Ruby to let her know of her safety and security, regardless. Sending Ruby energy is a recommended step to making the transition to a new home easier.

However, the ultimate mirror for me is how loved, safe and secure I feel in my own life, in my own skin. That is the true mirror for separation anxiety, the separation that I feel from Source, the ultimate divine energy. If I have the false belief that I am separate from Source, I will attract a dog who has the energy of fear of separation in her, as well. She will be my mirror. This is how the Spiritual Law of Like Attracts Like works. Thus, the best way for me to help Ruby to not feel separation is for me to not have the energy of separation in me. With everything in metaphysics, we must help ourselves before we can help others. As we have said before, the flight attendants tell you to put on your own mask first before helping others with their masks.

In the third dimensional illusion, I could look at a frightened dog as that the problem is hers alone. However, the illusion and the experiences we are having in the illusion are simply reflections of how we feel about ourselves. The more I feel oneness and security with Source, the more all my experiences and relationships will reflect that back to me. 

Clearing my own separation anxiety will raise my frequency and because we are one with all and each other, that will raise the frequency of those around me, as well. This will bring more joy and peace to us all. As Gene Hill said, “Whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot little puppies.” Welcome, Ruby Sunshine.

Good Vibrations, Everything is Still Awesome!

Last month, Ginger Withee wrote a great blog entry about singing the LEGO® Movie song, Everything is Awesome. http://iamstandinginthelight.com/everything-is-awesome/ Similarly, over the last week, I have found myself singing the Beach Boys’ song, Good Vibrations. Like Ginger, I started to query why I was singing the song. What message did my soul have for me that was being presented through the song Good Vibrations?

The classical metaphysical answer to this question might be that my soul is reminding me to bring in good vibrations and raise my frequency. I know that higher frequencies transmute lower frequencies, thus bringing in good vibrations is always a great recommendation. Also, I know that the spiritual law of Like Attracts Like might be why I am being reminded to bring in good vibrations. If I want to attract situations, people and circumstances to me that are in my highest good, vibrating at a higher frequency will allow for this. These are both important reminders for why bringing in “good vibrations” is such a great idea.

However, when I asked the question to my soul as to why I keep signing Good Vibrations, the response was, “because the song brings you joy.” Face it. That song is just so much fun. The energies I feel when I hear or sing the song are spontaneity, freedom, elation, excitation, and, well, good vibrations. I loved this response because it reminds me that sometimes we are guided to do something simply for the joy of doing it. Not because it is good for us, which it is, but because we enjoy doing it. Therefore, sing it loud and proud, “Got to keep those loving good vibrations happening with her…”

The Crowd Goes Wild: Understanding Unity and Oneness

I had the wonderful opportunity to live in England for three years. As an American, one of the first things you learn is the old saying that the United States and England are two countries divided by a common language. Idioms are different, spelling and pronunciation of words are different. Even the influence of the proximity to France means that some of the words the English use are different than what the Americans use to describe the same thing. For instance, the English use the word aubergine for the purple vegetable that most Americans call an eggplant. I found all of these differences to be charming.

The only one that I found harder to grapple with was the collective or group nouns. In America, we say, “The crowd goes wild.” However, in England, they say, “The crowd go wild.” The American interpretation is that the crowd is a singular entity, a singular force, maybe even a singular mindset. In the English version, the interpretation would be stating that the individual aspects within the crowd are individually going wild. A bunch of individuals with individual mindsets all going wild at the same time.

This may seem like a distinction without a difference. However, when I was meditating on Unity and Oneness, this was the analogy that came to me to further explain the nuance of what it really means to be in Unity and Oneness.

To truly and completely feel and know yourself as One with Source, One with the All That Is, we must have the knowingness and experience of the singular entity, the singular force, and the singular mindset. Knowing and experiencing this singularity does not mean that we all must be the same. It just means that as unique expressions of Source, we are all part of the singularity of the essence of what it means to be Source. We all have the same opportunities to tap into the Divine Power that is Source, the Divine Love that is Source, the Divine Wisdom that is Source. We are the essence that is All That Is. When we master this understanding of Unity and Oneness the crowd really will go wild!

Competition: Another Form of Judgment

Many of us are working to overcome our judgment of ourselves and each other. We know that the Christ explains to us in the Standing in the Light® classes that Judgment is THE block to knowing ourselves as God. However, we may not have taken the time to look at our beliefs around “competition” to see that competition is another form of judgment.

Many people would look at the concept of competition as “good” but from the perspective of the Spiritual Hierarchy and the idea of Oneness, competition is divisive.

There is some truth in wanting to be the best version of yourself you can be, but we normally measure it at the expense of someone or something else. When we are in competition, rarely are we focused on being the best version of ourselves.

I am reminded of a scene from the movie Caddyshack, where Ted Knight’s character, Judge Smails, who is always trying to feel more superior to everyone, is asking Chevy Chase’s character, Ty Webb, who is a rich entrepreneur with a lot of time on his hands, what his golf score is. Ty, although an excellent golfer, doesn’t feel the need to keep (or at least not to discuss) his score. Judge Smails asks, “How do you measure yourself against other golfers?” Ty’s reply is “by height.” It is a funny scene and of course, Ty’s wit is notable because he is taller than the Judge. The point is that even when we aren’t directly playing someone else we are keeping score. And if we aren’t keeping score on a game, we are on height, or we are on weight or looks or money in the bank. We are always in competition.

Many people run marathons to see if they have the drive and stamina within them to run 26.2 miles. But, even when they say, I just want to break the 4-hour mark, if they are honest with themselves, they also don’t want to be the last one to cross the finish line. And the one who is the last one to cross the finish line will probably console themselves with the idea that there were others that didn’t qualify at all, or who had to drop out due to injury or who were not fit enough to try in the first place.

As someone who has never run a marathon nor had the running of a marathon as a goal, I do admire those who have the drive and stamina to run one. However, I think we can all admit that very few are running without the judgment of competition.

So what is “wrong” with competition? First of all, there is nothing “wrong” with anything. It is simply a matter of looking at the intention instead of the action, alone. Let’s look at the saying from Kris Duffy. “It’s not the what, it is the why?”  

If a business is trying to make a better car that is more efficient and safer to drive and so they are looking for bright new ideas to help with that goal; great. But we know the multitude of stories where the rush to market or the need to be better than the other car company overshadows the goals of simply using less fuel and being able to brake on slick roads faster. Sometimes this leads to cutting corners on the quality of the product or mistreatment of employees. The need to have higher revenues or get to market sooner than other companies to undercut their share of the market is too prevalent to be ignored.

Competition is an All-American ideal that allows us to be divided into different camps / teams / parties instead of being united to pursue “the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” as our forbearers wrote in the Declaration of Independence.

When we are holding Divine Non-Judgment, our goal is the altruist goal of being the best we can be without making another feel less and without lauding our success or “score” over anyone else. We can be in the perfect balance point between arrogance and the belief of ourselves as unworthy. In Divine Non-Judgment, if we were to run the marathon it would be to feel alive, to know we can set a goal and achieve it, to better our own fitness level without being discouraged if we are the last one to cross the line or even if we don’t cross the finish line at all. We would see the journey and the experience as the goal, not the finish line. 

Sticking to athletics as our example, some like to look at the Olympics as a wonderful way to unite all the world’s nations through competition where cultural exchanges will bring the nations closer together. If that were truly the intention (“The Why”) then the daily medal count would instead be the “friends made” count or “better understanding of another’s point of view” count.

We may look at some of the events and say, “Wow, I just want to see Usain Bolt run fast. I don’t care that he isn’t from the same country as me.” Or “I don’t mind that there are no American teams left in the Pairs Skating finals, I just want to see some beautiful and talented performances.” And of course, all of that is probably true…as long as the daily medal count doesn’t reflect too badly on my particular country!

These same ideas can be applied to high school sports, little league teams, college, and professional teams. The joy of playing well in order to help with our mental, emotional and physical wellbeing and to lessen our stress level is not usually the goal in organized sports. It is about winning and for college and professional teams, about the money and sponsorship potential.

Ultimately, the competition keeps us in separation from each other. It also keeps us looking at the illusion and believing what we see in the illusion is what is valuable and real. Instead of looking at the illusion to see what we still need to heal in order to continue to evolve.

We can set our intention for 2016 to eliminate the judgment of competition and come into the Oneness of knowing we are all worthy and we are all Source.