The Wisdom of Flowing with Change

by
The Vizier on Change and the I-Ching

The Vizier

Do you ever feel buffeted about by the winds of change?  As though life is out of your control?  Would you like to know how to successfully navigate change?

Today, I am delighted to share with you my interview with the “Vizier”, an avid student of change.   The Vizier offers exceptional insight into and guidance for working successfully with the constantly shifting forces of change.

Instead of feeling like a victim of change, you can learn to master,  influence, and transform the changes that take place in your life.

Here are the Vizier’s secrets for working with change.

Sandra:  You’ve been studying change for 10 years.  What fascinates you about change?  What have you learned?

The Vizier:  The thing that fascinates me most about change is how your actions and choices can influence it.  Change is not something that is beyond your control.  It is possible to prevent disasters and to have good fortune instead of misfortune.  Grave misfortune need not happen to you if you are watchful and alert.  But here, you have to take responsibility to manage the changes in your life well.

Think about it.  Every single change that happens has a reason or reasons behind it.  Change is not random or without logic.  It is just that your awareness is finite.  As such, you may not see or grasp the many contributing factors, choices and actions that happen over time to bring about change.  Take the recent nuclear disaster in Japan for example.  Experts are saying that it need not have happened.  Proper foresight and action could have prevented the disaster.  But this insight is the result of hindsight.  True foresight and timely action ensures that your life is more smooth sailing.

The key to managing change well is awareness.  You cannot manage change if you are unaware of it beforehand.  When it comes to change, it is not necessary to grasp all the factors that cause it.  A general idea in most cases about what you can or cannot do will suffice.  In another words, if you knew a disaster would happen to you next week, you would have time to narrow down the cause and to take action to avoid or prevent it.  If it is not possible to avoid it, then you will at least be prepared to manage it well.

Continue reading →

WordPress Comment Chaos

by

WordPress CommentsHave you experienced difficulty commenting on my blog lately?  If so, I apologize.  I’m concerned because several people have checked in telling me that WordPress.com won’t accept their comments.

I’ve set up my blog to receive comments with a name and an email address.  There is no requirement, on my part, to register or log in with WordPress.com.

But now WordPress.com won’t accept some people’s comments.  It insists they must log in to WordPress.com, and sometimes refuses their current password.  And I’m not the only blogger having this problem.

This disturbs me because I value your comments greatly.  In fact, the best part of my posts is often the amazing insights and remarks you share.  I don’t want it to be a hassle for you to share your thoughts, ideas, and inspirations on my blog.

New WordPress.com Blog Commenting Policy

Upon investigation, I discovered that WordPress.com has established a new blog commenting policy:

Continue reading →

Lessons from a Miracle

by
Jiro Murai, founder of Jin Shyin Jyutsu

Jiro Murai

I’m always intrigued by stories of miraculous healing.  This is the story of Jiro Murai, a consummate over-eater, when he was on the verge of death:

“…he had a reckless nature and overindulged in food and drink – even to the point of entering eating contests, in which he was awarded cash prizes for consuming huge quantities.  By the time he was 26, he was seriously ill.  A succession of doctors treated him, but his condition only worsened until he was pronounced incurable and given up for terminally ill.  As a last request, he asked his family to carry him on a stretcher to their mountain cabin and to leave him there alone for seven days.  He asked that they return for him on the eight day.”

“There in the cabin Murai fasted, meditated, and practiced various finger postures.  During this time he passed in and out of consciousness.  His physical body grew colder. But on the seventh day he felt as if he had been lifted out of a deep freeze and thrown into a blazing furnace.  When the intense heart subsided, he experienced a tremendous calm and inner peace.  To his great surprise, he was healed.  He dropped to his knees, gave thanks, and pledged his life to the study of healing.” – from The Touch of Healing, Energizing Body, Mind and Spirit with the Art of Jin Shyin Jyutsu

Continue reading →

Bee Wise

by

My neighbor’s honey bees have died.  All of them.

She said, in a friendly, but sarcastic tone, “Don’t worry, we won’t have bees but we’ll all have cell phones.”

There is a fantastic die off of bees all around the world, which could have a dramatic impact on the production of fruits and vegetables that require pollination.

In her article, A World Without Bees, timethief reports:

“Can you imagine a world without bees? Entomologists are studying the reasons behind an enormous bee die off.  They call it Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), and if they cannot find a solution the 80% of fruits and vegetables that require pollination may not make it to market.   Places bees can forage for pollen without being poisoned by pesticides have dramatically declined, and the cause of CCD appears to be related to diseases from pesticides, but no one is certain.”

Continue reading →

The Essence of True Power

by

Why do we admire great leaders and thinkers like the Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa, Aung Sang Sui Kyi, and Albert Einstein?

Yes, they radiate the heart of love, compassion, courage, and conviction.  They stand for “truth”.  But what is this truth?  Isn’t it a larger view of reality that goes beyond the limits of material imagination?  Isn’t it an irreversible understanding of the way we are all inextricably linked to one another for better or for worse?

Continue reading →

Introverts: Quietly…Take Back Your Life!

by
Susan Cain: The Power of Introverts

Susan Cain: The Power of Introverts

Are you secretly – or even unknowingly – an introvert trying to adapt in an extrovert-favored world?

Studies show that one-third to one-half of Americans are introverted.

But given the overriding “culture of personality” – which does not value  introversion and all its positive qualities – you may be constantly trying to live up to the “extrovert ideal”.  In fact, you may not even fully realize or accept that you are an introvert at heart.

In the second grade, I receive an honorary certificate – gold stars and all – for having read 32 books.  That’s likely a sign of my true disposition.  But as an adult, I took on high stress, high profile jobs that were not necessarily a good fit for an introvert, who typically needs to retreat periodically from over-stimulation.

I just started reading Quiet:  The Power of Introverts in a World that Cannot Stop Talking by Susan Cain.  Just a few pages in, it became a life changing read for me.  Cain shares this aspiration as a core purpose of her book:

If there is only one insight you take away from this book, though, I hope it’s a new found sense of entitlement to be yourself.

In Quiet, Cain shares the cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology that underpins our current understanding of introversion, turning on one light bulb after the other as she proceeds.

Continue reading →

Inspiration for Cultivating Your Voice

by

I am honored to be among 15 extraordinary women sharing their insights and wisdom in Joy Holland’s beautiful new complimentary e-book Cultivating Your Voice.

Conceived as an offering in celebration of International Women’s Day, there’s quite an inspirational story behind the birthing of these pages.  The process illustrates how love and clarity have the power to carry us through the inevitable obstacles that arise when we attempt to do something new, different, and significant.

Please enjoy this “symphony” of wise voices that will uplift, encourage, and inspire you to free your own voice.  Equally relevant for women and men.  Just click on this link to read about the e-book and download it as a gift, no subscription or sign up form required:  Cultivating Your Voice.

Please share the link with your friends!  With love, Sandra