Being still and doing nothing is the lesson that I am learning.  Even my meditations for the last few years have been moving meditations. I recently put something out to the Universe and got some support from a friend to do nothing, just let the Universe do its thing.  I found myself at peace with the situation and a few days later had a prophetic dream that reassured me that I was on the right track and the seeds I had already planted were coming to fruition.  What drives me is fear and impatience which is fear. As I sit still more often, I am less afraid and more at peace with how everything is moving in divine order each day.  Its amazing when you have a new experience how many new choices open up to handling situations.  Peace and Love, Monika

I have been learning about time and timing for many years now.  There is a time and a timing to everything.  I have worked to be in the timing and to do the work so when it is time for me to have what I have asked for, I am ready.  Recently, I had a recognition that what I wanted was standing before me.  I went for it.  Now I am waiting.

My challenge.  How do I wait with a positive energy, without making up lots of stories or scenarios about what will happen, positively or negatively.  How do I hold sacred space and be open to what the Universe has in store for me.  My grandmother would ask me, 'child, where is your faith?'.  It is faith or a belief that everything will be reconciled and I will have exactly what I need in each moment when it is time.  So how do you wait.

I have done all kinds of things in the past to keep myself occupied while waiting for it to be time.  I have started new projects, cleaned my house, talked incessantly to my girlfriends, danced around the living room, fell into deep doubt, looked for signs, forgotten about what I wanted.

This time I am trying something new.  My intention is to be silent with my thoughts or at least control them by staying focused on what I wanted and what I have experienced so far.  I am constantly thankful for knowing and recognizing that what I want is right in front of me.  I decided to journal instead of talk to my girlfriends because I dont want advice and there is nothing for me to do that can make it manifest any faster.  It almost feels like the culmination of a life time of lessons.  Have I learned enough of my life lessons and can I put them into practice to get this thing that I have been waiting for all of my life.  How much do I want it and what am I willing to do and not do to manifest it.  Even now, my heart is pounding harder.  It is the last piece to my ideal day that is coming to fruition.

So I want to share with all of you what I am learning.  When it is right, there are no questions and there are no doubts.  You feel vulnerable yet sure and clear.  There is no wishing or yearning.  There is only knowing.  There is hope that my thoughts will only add positive energy in support of manifesting what I want.

So, I am aware that I am writing in vague generalities.  To be specific would not be in the spirit of waiting on the timing.  And I wanted to share this insight about waiting for the timing with you now as many people are taking advantage of this time when everything manifests so quickly and change is all around us.  My dreams are so close to coming true in all their magnificence.  I don't dare be specific because it is not time.  And soon you will see how this mystery manifests and I will joyfully share what I have learned in hopes that you will be inspired and learn from my experience.

In Peace and Love, Monika

Surrender.  I don't know about you but I still have some control issues.  Intellectually, I know that I can't even control my own thoughts, much less anything else.  And my ego still convinces me that I can control myself and my circumstances.  Right now, for the past few weeks, my faith has been tested as everything I have been doing to solve a particular problem has failed and I am left with the real need to surrender to a higher power as there is nothing else I can do.

So today, I sat still for a change. I let my mind focus on this issue so I could get real with myself about why I won't let go and surrender.  Of course, I bumped into my old friend, 'need for a guarantee'.  And I sat some more in the company of myself and my issues.  I finally found silence, beauty and then peace.

It was after that I could see how the Universe was working on my behalf already.  I just hadn't stopped long enough to see it.  The solution didn't look like I expected.  It wasn't instant.  But I got enough insight as to how the Universe was working on my behalf to reconnect with what I know to be true.  The Universe provides for all of my needs and always has and always will.  Especially, when I don't get in the way.

You might want to try it right now.  Be still.  Turn everything off.  Stop thinking and listen to the silence around you.  If you can sit outside like I did, its even better because you can see the beauty around you even in the city.  Be Still.  Find your inner peace.  Enjoy sitting in that space.  Let go of the idea that you know anything or can control anything, even your own thoughts.  Be still and Surrender.

Write me and tell me about your experience. 

In Peace,
Monika

www.lifemappingonline.com

This morning I am giving myself a pep talk, a reminder, a chastising and encouragement.  I am working on being open and willing to accept the sucess I have asked for and that has been coming in the fits and starts that I am able to experience and accept.  So, I know more about the lifestyle of the success I have asked for on two levels.  1) the relentless list of tasks that has me up at 2:45 am just getting to my blog and 2) the luxury of support that I do not yet to experience.

I have been working on the issue of looking for a guarantee for years and years.  I still work on it because that learning is so ingrained in me.  And I get to see on this week how far ahead I would be if I would only do the things I was told when I was told and not wait to see if the guarantee was forthcoming.  I have been working with a business development consultant who told me exactly what I needed to have ready so I would be poised for the stimulus money's arrival.  I procrastinated.  I argued.  I complained.  I started and never finished because I was working on more important and priority tasks.  I was waiting for the guarantee.  Well, last week I got the confirmation that my consultant knew exactly what was needed and now the opportunity is there but I am not ready.  I am half ready.  If I stay up nights, putting the training together; updating my website and creating a few email newsletters and selling some advertising, I might make the cut and establish myself before the deadline.  Only I am pretty busy.

I really really work at listening and obeying the Universe as she speaks to me through ordinary people.  I was fighting the resistance that I knew came every time I had a session with my consultant.  I really did and I lost my battle.  Six months went by and I did not fully implement any of her suggestions. 

My excuse or my realization, there were so many things ready to distract me from what I needed to do.  I must have chased 3-4 projects that yielded nothing.  I gave way to negativity and depression.  I dug myself in  and out of a hole before my mind was clear enough for me to be productive.

Now I have the critical decision to make:  Am I willing to accept the success that I have asked for and do what it takes to capitalize at the last minute on the opportunity that looms closely on the horizon or do I sit another one out then move my energy and that of others in my circle to ask and create another opportunity and hope that I am ready when it manifests.

Lesson:  Remember what you ask for so you recognize it when it shows up at your door step.

As I work with individuals and organizations, it becomes more and more clear to me that cultural competence is a journey, not a set of tools and techniques. Its a way of being, that says "I am comfortable claiming all of who I am with all my baggage and scars, beauty and power, and the vulnerability that it brings."  It's a kind of honoring and being curious about others, their culture, way of being and thinking and history. I am a contributing author in a new book due out in July, called "Embracing Cultural Competency" published by Fieldstone Alliance. In writing this book with my collegues, we really got to the nitty gritty of what is this thing we call cultural competence and how to we begin to reframe diversity in the nonprofit sector from a numbers game, a game of tools and techniques, to a way of honoring ourselves and others. We will be launching the book at the Alliance for Nonprofit Management's annual conference July 15-18 in Palm Springs CA. I will keep you posted as I get more information. (www.allianceonline.org)

To find out more about Monika and her other book, Life Mapping:  A Journey of Self Discovery and Path Finding check out her website, www.mkmmanagement.com.

This week I got a good and joyful reminder of the power of intention.  My colleague and friend had an intention with a client system we made at the beginning and now 8 months later we are seeing the change in such fabulous ways.  It is more than we could have ever asked for.

There was so much resistance, energy for staying the same when everything said it is time to change.  They wanted a guarantee that they would get what they wanted.  They really wanted to control the process and make all the decisions out of love and out of an idea that if others got in on the process, they might not make good decisions or some other projection they made up.  It took a powerful intervention to shake them up and impress on them what they had committed to doing but once they were on board, they were on board.  Things moved fast and in a good way and they produced a fabulous map to their community's future.  It was a joyful closing.

Their journey also reminds me about the stages of group development and the lesson that says by the time you get a guarantee, it's done.  In other words, you won't know for sure that it will work until it works.  If you wait for the guarantee, you will miss the boat.  This is especially true these days as the pace of change is moving at an ever increasing pace.  You really have to get your head straight, be honest with yourself, trust your instincts and have faith in every moment.  I am learning how to move without doubt or attachment.  It's not easy, but every time I manage to do it in a good way, the results are always more than I could have ever expected.

What lessons did you get this week?

Last week, I was challenged to move through fear and negativity.  The negative and needy people in my world were impacting me and I felt drained and exhausted. 

My mentor have me a good awareness raising talking to.  I sat still finally and was able to reconnect with my spirit.  I listened.  I did was I was called to do in each moment that evening and into the next day.

Staying positive in these days is critical to our survival.  I didn't realize how much diligence it takes.  I was sinking fast and didn't even know it.  Then I heard myself give someone else this advice.  "You don't have to be scared because you have faith and action on your side."  I realized during this period, that advice was for me.  I got still and quiet.  I listened to my spirit.  I got reconnected with my life map and started to act.

It made all the difference.  Within 36 hours the energy had shifted.  Everything got better.
It's important because your thoughts and words have power.  Being sure that they are positive allows you to attract what you need and want.  Then I remembered how to be grateful for every thing that was in my life.  That part is what sealed it.  Being thankful and grateful, has been helping me stay in ths good place.

Until next time.... Peace, Monika

Worthiness.  Oprah had a lot to say about what gets in the way of our feeling worthy.  I found myself a few years ago not even on my own priority list much less first.  It's tough.  Everything in our world has taught me to put others first.

So, how do I/we connect enough with what is impeding our ability to move forward confidently and not get sucked into the quicksand of our issues that make us feel unworthy? Or do we even bother. 

I would say awareness is the first step to change.  In fact it is a requirement.  Then I think the next step is to sit with the awareness without judging yourself or others.  Simple hold this as just what is.  Then you can begin to create the shifts you need.

This is how far I am with this work myself.  I would love to hear from others on this issue.

Peace,
Monika

Distractions are an interesting phenomenon.  I am often distracted by email and it allows me to procrastinate under the thin veil of being productive.

But this year, I have had a great lesson in distractions of another kind.  I have been letting other people's agendas distract me from pursuing my own vision and wants.  I got all distracted with other things that seemed to feel good and then I looked up and three months had passed and I had not accomplished some very important things that I needed to get done for my own life map.

I have spent the last few days, maybe weeks, reconnecting with my own vision and life map and all that I had envisioned doing that would prepare me for the future I want to create for myself.  Distraction was easy.  My dearest friends and colleagues supported my busy distraction as I joined their wants, desires and needs.  My clients were happy to be the center of my attention and so were my children and other family members. But as I have gotten reconnected and recommitted to my own vision, I have felt a renewed energy and excitement.  Things are moving again, because I got back on track.

Are you distracted in ways that are not serving you?  Take some time alone and if you don't have a life map that you are working from, simply make a list.  Across the top of the page make a list of three things you want to accomplish this year.  Then on the bottom half, make a list of what you are willing and able to do to make those three things a reality in the next 30-60 days.  Then look realistically at your life and see when you might do those things.  Put dates next to each item.  Post this piece of paper somewhere where you will look at it each morning and each evening.  Check off each item as it is completed and mark the completion date on the paper. 

The blessing of distractions is that they keep us from messing up what the Universe has set into motion on our behalf because we stop thinking about those things and pay attention to something totally different.

The danger of distractions is that we could find ourselves missing the timing and end up watching the train leave the station without us.  Think about it, how prepared are you.  I am definitely one of those people who start moving when the first crazy thing happens in the horror movie and that voice says "get out".  Timing is everything.

And I was recently reminded by my mentor that when it is time, it doesn't matter what you are doing or how much you are distracted or unprepared, the Universe will have you do nothing else except act.

So, think about how you are spending your time this week, think about what you are doing with your time and what you are not doing.  Recommit to what is truly important and valuable to you and your well being and your future.  Recommit to doing what will lay the ground work for the life you really want.  Spring is a great time to clean up, clean out and plant seeds.  Then when summer arrives in June, you will be ready to reap your harvest.

In Peace and Love,
Monika

Everyday I get to practice controlling my thoughts.  I know without question that my/our thoughts and words have the power to create.  It is so easy to get caught up in other people's drama.  Gossip and other kinds of discussions that lead to negative thinking and talking often create energy and situations that we don't want or need.  It is especially challenging these days as our lives can so easily get off course because of job loss, financial challenges, other people's stuff.  So much is going on in our personal worlds and the world that we live in.  It is easy to get caught up and lost.

I am practicing every day.  I am controlling my thoughts, words and actions to create what I want.  I am constantly saying thank you to the Universe for everything I can see to be grateful for in my life.  From each breath that I take to the check that comes in the mail just in time to my mother arriving when I was drowning and overwhelmed by the volume of work and things I needed to attend to.  Even the challenges in my client systems that is teaching me about resistance to change and how to support people through this tranformational process in our lives and communities.  Thankfulness and appreciation is the first step.

Next, giving people the benefit of the doubt.  This is an acknowledgment that we really don't know what people are going through or have come through to get them to this moment. Giving a person the benefit of the doubt when their words or actions hurt or seem out of alignment is a great way to move away from judgment.  Moving away from judgment is a great way of controlling your thoughts about others and about yourself.  Moving away from judgment is the second step.

The third step is to fix your eyes, thoughts, words and actions on what you want.  It's often easy to say what you don't want, even why you can't get what you want.  But I would challenge you to practice saying what you want then being still in the silence after your words and not have any thoughts. Don't allow your mind to negate what you just asked for of the Universe.  Keep all of those, 'but's, 'if only's, 'I would settle for's and 'well, if I can't's out of your mind by being still and letting the statement sit there in the silence.  You may have a sensation or emotion.  Do Not Name It.  Simply be present with that feeling.  Then, say thank you and go do something totally different knowing that the Universe is organizing everything to give you just what you asked.  Then be patient for your next instruction.

I have been working at this process without naming it until now.  The blessing for me in this blog entry is that now I have the opportunity to do it very consciously.

Caution: Be careful what you ask for because you will certainly get it.  And in these trying times, ask for what you need/want in very clear and specific ways.

For example,  I have been really under a lot of stress.  I was overwhelmed and one night in bed I just gave in and said, "OK.  I cant do this by myself.  I need help"  I forgot about my request.  Another night after a hard day, I hugged my pillow and cried, "I want my mommy".  My mother called me out of the blue to tell me she was coming to visit.  When I asked her later, what she wanted to do when she got here, she simply said, "I am coming to help you.  Get my list together."  as I read the email, I burst into tears.  She has been here for almost 4 weeks and all the things that I couldn't get to, or that seemed stuck in some never ending process circle are done.  I have 4 more piles on my desk and my house will be decluttered except for one small room. 

Another thing happened recently.  I lost 10 pounds.  I had hurt my knee and couldn't work out for about 3-4 months.  And my schedule was packed.  I asked to lose weight in a healthy way without doing anything.  Well, I remain busy as usual, I began to feel much more satisfied where food was concerned and continued to do my usual watching my portions, eating as healthy as possible and eating what I wanted but saying no to indulgences whenever I could.  I decided I should sleep when I was tried instead of eat to stay awake.  I am taking more cat naps.  I have lost about 10 pounds since Christmas.  My knee is healed and  I am beginning to get back to some exercise.  So my thought control is to accept the weight loss and affrm that it will continue and if I exercise some/or more then I will loose it faster.  My intention is to keep the request going that is happening and move myself back to regular exercise in a good way with no pressure and continued success regardless of my schedule, ability to eat in a healthy way and regardless of how much or little I exercise.  Everyday I pinch my fat, pull up my sagging pants and say thank you. :)

Start small, ask for a parking space on your way to your destination and hold off thinking anything but that one will appear in the most convenient spot when you arrive at your destination and see how it goes. Whenever I go downtown, I try to remember to do this and I have had great success on this front.

Take good care, until next time.  Monika