Spirit at Work!

Feb. 27, 2000

 

<Susanrose>
While others are joining the channel,
can those of us assembled now
say where we are from?
<Reiki2u> hi gina ;)
<^gina^> I'm gina from New Zealand
<Joe34> Pittsburgh PA
<mirabai> washington state :)
Sunshine- from Pittsburgh
<Reiki2u> St. Louis
<Susanrose> I am in Pittsburgh too
<BlueMage> Kevin from Atlanta, Georgia, USA
<Helen> Sante Fe New Mexico

<Susanrose>
Starting now...
Breathing together ....
Breathe in light Breathe out fear
A Coming Together
A Group mind
All seeking the unity of Spiritual Growth.
As we prepare to listen to others.
Breathe in.......
Deep Feeling our connection to the air, the wind the water,
the oceans the fire and molten lava the earth,
and the pulse and hummmm of all
life in the web of GAIA, our mother.

I'd like to welcome
Helen Stewart who is a psychic, specializing in psychic
readings for companies as well as individuals.
She is the founder of University for Metaphysical Studies
in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
See a photo and read more about Helen at
http://www.city-net.com/~arianna/UMS.html

Helen and I are here to lead a presentation and discussion of
"Using your spiritual/intuitive skills for your business or place of
employment."

<mirabai> what do you do when you find yourself tiring of people easily?
It seems to be a chore to be nice at times :)

<helen_UMS> Tee hee, I know what you mean. The first thing to do is to
figure out what gift those tiring people...
are bringing to you? What is is about your situation that is
tiring?
Perhaps it is a signal to change your job...
or redefine it.
Being "nice" is only a chore when you don't see the soul of the
other, especially in the workplace...
or out of it...
<mirabai> well, in the retail field, of course, the customer is always
right regardless...and it is a drain on my energy at times
<Susanrose> mirabai- even if the person you are helping is wrong,
always try to say to them something that can help them know you are
trying to feel what they are going through... for example a comment like...
Wow, that sounds frustrating!
<helen_UMS> to look the other in the eyes and acknowledge the gift
of the other person, including the one who is making you most angry.
That person is an ally... either to prompt you to re-evaluate your own
situation...or to show you how tiring you might be acting as you feel
others are tiring you.
<mirabai> ah....that does make sense, thank you :))

<helen_UMS> I want to mention a specific situation in the workplace....
several years ago...
the first time I really *lost* it with a co-worker1
She worked in the computer center and I was responsible...
for designing a system from the user perspective....
we were at loggerheads...
stumbling over each other...
neither speaking the other's language...
the situation got so bad we ended up in the President's office
for "consultation."...

At that moment something switched...
I stopped trying to be "right"....and said simply...
"Sharon, I still want to work with you."...
That was the beginning of the shift...
First of all, I took some courses and learned a bit more of her
language...programming languages....
to understand the impact of what my requests meant....
then, and this is the most important...
I stopped being so defensive, thinking that all of this was
related to me....

and then, using some intuition, realized that she was not being...
acknowledged in her own department...
which contributed to *her* defensiveness with me...
the intuitive hit transformed our relationship...

I "read" her informally, then began to acknowledge...
the tough time she was having....
the only woman in her department, ignored, often invisible...
in the early days of computers...
Suddenly, she began to learn "user" language...
and we together designed a system that was used on 21 campuses.
It was the combination of the end of defensiveness and the use
of appropriate intuition in the workplace that transformed the situation.

<Susanrose>
Thank you Helen, for sharing your story of
how you made a breakthrough with a difficult
work relationship.

<Sean> (Sent in via internet from UK - England)
While I am working I try to block out everything else but the job I am doing.
This can be pretty difficult when you're bending 180 bars into an arc,
as your mind tends to want to  wander about. If I concentrate hard enough,
I get a rhythm going and it just flows. Time seems to slow
down yet work seems to go very quickly and is over before you know it.
It's a very relaxing way to work!

<Susanrose>
Thank you all for sharing your experiences.
Here is my story...smile.
I am 45 years old, and since the age of 16 have had some type of job.
Some were decent and some were duds. One work day takes up 8 +
hours, and that is more than our waking personal time, so it ought to
be rewarding.   Right now I am working as a registered nurse,
and feel happy with the service I am providing, but of the times
it has been frustrating.

What helps in keeping centered in my place of peace and joy
has been the dropping of expectation in the outcome of my efforts.
Over a  year ago I received an average rating for my annual review.
That really hurt.

Didn't the accomplishment of
a huge quantity of work in a personable and friendly way mean
anything more than that?  Couldn't my supervisor see I
was walking on water and leaping tall buildings with single bounds?
(giggle)

Well evidently, they were just as busy as me to notice, but for a
while I had to sit with the idea.  I started to have somatic back pain
and woke in the morning with headaches.  The huge quantity of
work that was a fun challenge began to feel like an anchor,
and I was definitely on the road to jumping ship!

Of course, the choice is alwyas there to change jobs, but I
know that no where is perfect.
Some of the best magic you can use at work is
the art of changing your mind at will.

There are 3 ways ways to react to a
difficult work environment:

1. Decide you like it, or at least enough parts of it
to make the day go by.  For example, my girlfriend
works for an eye glass company, she states she helps
people see more clearly.  When I worked as a dialysis nurse,
it helped to visualize the inner work to clear out their toxins,
making them clean free and healthy.  Finding a spiritual metaphore
in what you do is a real help.

Today I received this letter from Sean White who would like us to
add his thoughts:
"I'm in England and have to get up early
for work.
The way I try to bring my spirituality into
the workplace is two fold. The first
is through visualization. I bend, cut and drill
steel to be used for playground
equipment; slides, swings, see-saws, and such like.
I like the job because I am helping to create things
which children play on, and I actually visualize the
children playing on the things I'm making.

I try to use the visualization to put that
happy, playful energy into the steel,
which is after all from the earth."

2. Decide this is not your place, but you will stay until
you can save money or requalify for a different position.
Because you are working with a light at the end of your
tunnel, it makes the time go by.  For example, Patch Adams MD,
almost got kicked out of medical school.
He had to tone down a bit, but
mostly stayed true to himself.  He developed a life
outside of this negative oppession by starting a free clinic.
But - he stayed in medical school, and did his time there
until he was done with the program.

3. When fishing for something edibile with a fishing pole,
and you pull up a sea monster on the end of your line,
you may need to cut the line - loose the bait, hook
and bopper, and run for you life.  Some jobs are like that.
The sooner you get out the better.  One of the worst
jobs I had was processing checks for Mellon
Bank in Pittsburgh.  There was a woman there who
did not allow people to even make brief polite converation
with a coworker, so intent she was all all the people
processing as many checks as possible.  When I saw
her reduce one woman who had worked there to tears,
I wanted to walk out at lunch and never come back.

Luckily
I was only there with a temp agency. The next day
I called the agecy and gave them notice that I was out
of there!  Maybe we all should try to picture each job
as one from a temp agency, even if it isn't.
There is always another job down the road somewhere.
This is not a failure, this is just a time to say
"Next".

Helen will talk next about trying to determine
what shape "Next" will take in your life.

<helen_UMS> It is possible that a "regular" job is
simply not your special gift or place.
Find out if you feel better working for yourself....

<mirabai> dont like working...:)
I want to do more spiritually oriented things

<helen_UMS> Of *course* we each have special gifts...
but it is easy to forget...
no matter what we tell ourselves intellectually.
<mirabai>I honestly dont know what mine are at this point :)
<BlueMage> and when we forget .. or lose track of who
and what we are it is difficult to see as much value in others as well

<helen_UMS> I have a suggestion, Mirabai and others, if you permit...
<mirabai> sure :)

<helen_UMS> Imagine that you wake up tomorrow...
and for this 24 hour period....you do only what you love....
only what makes you shimmer...
find within yourself...
assuming nobody is looking, nobody is judging....
it could be reading comic books or basketweaving....
it could be simply walking along the ocean....
 

<BlueMage> here is where Fear factors itself in ....
confusion of dealing with so many possibilities ..

<helen_UMS> Bluemage, when you say *YES!* to your deepest
fulfillment...
then the possibilities that fulfill you the most surface...
and come into material reality....
the process is so much simpler than we like to think....

 don't get attached to the form or outcome....
get intensely engaged in TRUSTING that shimmer...
in going for something that feels good, even if there is no job...
description for it....
the emotion forms the opportunity, not the other way around.

<Susanrose> Go for what makes your heart sing, it is your purpose,
but how can it profitable enought to support us?

<helen_UMS> That's exactly what I mean about detaching from the
form and the outcome.... the financial reward/opportunity
pops up out of apparently Nowhere!...
when you feel and surrender to your own integrity...
and right to right livelihood...
<BlueMage> if you don't like what is, it is better to
change it then live a life 'dealing' with it because
you feel you have no choice
<helen_UMS> If anybody had told me ten years ago I'd be doing what I'm
doing now I'd have thought them nuts! :-)..
There are other ways to live....infinite ways to live....
for example, with the gift of perspective...
I could be an architect, a photographer, a strategic planner
for a corporation....
a judge or mediator.... or a military leadaer.

The gift is the same,but the variety of
expression is infinitely varied...
it is important to identify the gift,first, and then to create
the opportunity around that.

<Susanrose> Helen what do you say to those people who come to you for
readings about whether their business will be any good, when you don't
think it suites thier gift?

<helen_UMS> I tell them directly...
 immediately... not without tact, of course....
 that the business is not the right one for them....
or that the business is floundering....
 It can be that the business is doing fine...
 but they are tired of doing it...
(the CEO).... and might consider selling...
I have learned to trust that if information comes to me during
a reading... it is to be communicated...
and the proper wording will come through spirit....
<Reiki2u> :)
<BlueMage> what do you think about fate and your place in it ..
being a guide of sorts
<helen_UMS> As for your question, BlueMage....
I believe that we all have a blueprint, and that our lives are
spent...completing and building an original design....
 to mix metaphors a bit...it is a kind of improv theater...
My role in this process is to give information....
to see the soul. to help identify the gifts and the
opportunities...
It's *fun* and I love what I do.
But it took a crowbar for me to leave the secure highly paid
administrative job at a university to take this risk. My heart...
began to shut down, though, and then my body shut down. I
simply and finally....
I had to follow my heart, even though most around me thought me nuts.

<Susanrose> how did you overcome your fears to leave mainstream
education?
<helen_UMS> It took me 3 years to make the shift....
to finally get up enough courage to leave the swimming pool and
the visibility.... to lose the income for a time.
The first step for me was getting beaten up by my body....
(not recommended)....
I kept telling myself that I couldn't leave...
It was that inner voice...that increasingly strong...
impulse that said....I *must* follow my heart and this is not
the place to be...Friends helped....
The simpler, better way to do this is to complete the exercise...
we began a few minutes ago...
think about what makes you happy, when no one is looking and no
one is expecting anything from you....
if you like basket weaving you might become an artist....
if you like reading trash novels you might write them....
if you like teaching you might begin to teach the topics you
love....
if you like sitting on the beach you might become a travel
writer and .. earn money hitting all the beaches of the world and writing
about them for United Airlines magazine

Whaat you *really* like to do....it is a clue to your true gift.
Follow the thoughts and emotions....end the judgment,...
assume that you have integrity.

<helen_UMS> So, somebody else talk now.
<Susanrose>
We could do an entire meeting on "Discovering your Purpose!"
I'll plan that in for a future gathering.
Patch Adams MD had a dream ... a free hospital
he said he and about 7 other doctors
worked for the first 8 years of his free clinic
with out any pay
they did it by contributions as well as
taking jobs outside the free clinic
to support what they believed in
Why did they give so much?
was it out of love,caring? to help others?
no.

They gave all because they were having fun
They were doing what made them shimmer, what made thier hearts sing.
This bliss sustained all these doctors as well as patients living in
tight quaarters.

<helen_UMS> !
I didn't have any savings when I finally left, but
would not recommending leaving that way if you have other options.
<Reiki2u> I left my career that way nd began a business
I woke up to my spirituality and tusted God to fill my needs
as God always does for me
I now have my own business and I work hard, but i am soooo happy!
the key for me was trusting what I knew inside
 I sell used metaphysical books online
I also work part time at my church and sell antiques
but, I am doing things that make me 'shimmer'
I like that term, by the way, helen :)
<helen_UMS> :-)

<helen_UMS> That is the most important step...
experience the shimmer....the rest is easy.
<Susanrose> well I hope we all have a shimmering day and week...
Most of the time, the job is not
so bad that you need to run, it can be dealt with
for a short period of time when you decided what to do next.
Like  Scarlett O Hara in "Gone with the Wind"
give yourself time to sleep on it.  When she was distraught
and overwhelmed she said:
"I know, I will just think about
it another day".  (Smile)

Allow yourself to sleep on it.
Don't try to solve a problem at the same level of thinking that
created it.  Often we think, think, think around in circles.

Richard Carlson Ph.D. states in his book
"Don't Worry, make Money":
"Understand that we are connected to and part of a deeper
intelligence.  This quiet source of wisdom is available to all
of us in unlimited doses because it is always present.
The only factor preventing us from hearing or being connected
to this wisdom is the noise or chatter of our own thinking.
When we turn the volume down, we can begin to sense this
intelligence."

For some, the only way to quiet the thinking
is to go to sleep.  Usually, solutions will appear or the
situation looks less upsetting in the morning.
 

In the Dale Carnegie book, "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living"
one of the tricks he mentioned was to go ahead and imagine the worst,
and then try to improve on the worst.  Well, what was the worst?
I am single and the sole support of a daughter in college.

As unlikely at it may be, things could get so unpleasant I could quit.
Then what?  I would still be alive, still have my health (maybe better).
I could sell my house and move in with my elderly mom, who would
jump for joy at the idea.  I could use the equity to finish paying for
my daughters college and maybe even go back to school myself.

Hey, wait a minute!  The worst did not sound so terrible.  In fact
once I realized that the worst was not that scary, I could let go of
my fear and become more productive happy and fun loving while
doing my job.

When you let go of a strong need
for approval, instead of others wondering why you care less, they
end up just improving thier opinion of you by thinking you are just
more cheerful and easier to work around.
This helped improve my most recent evaluation from the average
rating to highly satisfactory!

For those of you who are not as fortunate to have
a last resort residence with mom, and are one paycheck away from
next month's rent - begin a rainy day fund.
Cut coupons, buy items second hand, have a garage sale,
bake choclate chip cookies and sell them at a flea market,
there are a million ways to make extra money if you think
about it. Set aside enough to get by until you can find other work.
Or figure out how to cut expenses - take in a roommate, pool rescources.

Having enough to tide you over will relieve the fear and tension
that can occur in your work life. This will free your thinking
past Maslow's lowest rung of self preservation, and lift you
higher to the pinnacle of self actualization.  Give the gift to
yourself of this peace of mind  so your thoughts can soar.
What you think about expands -  presto magic!

 Acting "AS IF" everything is terrific can
help manifest some pretty pleasant surroundings.
A great day at work - lots of joy and love and all the good stuff
you want out of your day anyway! And hey, if you do change
jobs, wouldn't you rather go out looking victorious?

When my daughter was little, 15 years ago, there was a nurse
in my family practice office that I will always remember.
Heavy set, middle aged, but always pleasant and smiling with my sick child.
It got so that when I had to  take my daughter to the doctor she would say -
"Is the happy nurse going to be there?"

Well, maybe she has a pleasant stress free life,
I thought.  She must have it better than me.

Well, to my surprise I found out she didn't.  The "happy nurse"
herself was undergoing cancer treatment.   The "happy nurse"
endured a buy off of her clinic from a small business to a large
for profit HMO and hospital group.  You know what? She must
have survived the cancer because she turned up a year ago in a branch
office, just as smiling, helpful and cheerful as ever.

Sometimes when I drive to work, I think about her.  She may not
get a 5 star evaluation.  She may not have perfect heath, or even a good figure.
She may not have a romance or stable employment.
But she does bring light, joy, humor and hope to all she touches.
And isn't that what healing is all about?

My favorite movie is "Patch Adams".
(Now available to rent on your VCR.)
It was about a person who chose to infuse humor in his work life...

Patch says it is not hard to offer others humor.
You did not need to be a comic or don a clown outfit.
His definition is:
"Humor is a smile on your face
a twinkle in your eye
and a willingness to greet."

Doing life in a state of grace communicates wordlessly and perfectly.
Truth is simple, and peace is fun, joy is contagious.

So don't hold back your unique wonder and  innocence.
Remember the advice of   Henry David Thoreau:
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions,
perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
 Let him step to the music which he hears,
 however measured or far away."

<Sunshine> - hears a different drummer

<Susanrose>
From the web site
Dale Carnegie, tips for successs:
http://www.dale-carnegie.com/tfs.html

"Don't criticize, condemn, or complain.
Give honest, sincere appreciation.
Become genuinely interested in other people.
Smile.
Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most
important sound in any language.
Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
Talk in terms of the other person's interests.
Make the other person feel important, and do it sincerely."

“You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this
world's happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere
appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged. Perhaps you
will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient
may cherish them over a lifetime.” - Dale Carnegie

Maybe you have found what makes your soul shimmer,
or maybe you are still struggling in mudane work
but what ever the situation,
while you chop wood and carry water,
step to the music you hear and sing -
"Hi ho Hi ho it's off to work I go."

Thank you for coming - may your working and business life
be prosperous and uplifting.
good night to all!

<BlueMage> nice ending Susan ;)

<helen_UMS> Thanks to you, SusanRose, for inviting me again.
This was fun!
<Sunshine-> blessings and love to all
 

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