Thursday, July 21, 2016
Your President Donald Trump Survival Kit
By Scott Grace
It’s good to be prepared for things. If you, like me, live in California, you probably have an emergency earthquake kit with food and water and such.
When I did a Firewalk twenty years ago the instructor asked us to imagine the worst thing that could happen to us. He took us through a visualization where we saw ourselves having burns on our feet, even being treated at the hospital, and surviving just fine.
Then we spent a much longer amount of time visualizing a successful outcome. We were reminded that multitudes of people have walked on hot coals without injury, both at workshops in modern times and in olden days in native ceremonies and rituals all over the earth.
We got worked up into a state where we believed that anything is possible. No limits. Mind over matter.
We were frothing at the mouth to demonstrate it....
I walked across those coals mostly without pain, imagining and chanting, cool moss, cool moss. I was doing great until I neared the finish line. At that point my ego took over, broke the trance state, and screwed with the cool moss, silently chanting, “I am such hot shit. I can’t wait to brag about this to my friends!” At that point I started feeling the heat.
Ouch. My ego got burned, and I also ended up nursing a few blisters on my feet. No hospital, though. All in all, it was a great experience of self-empowerment, and, yes, I bragged about it to my friends, and even used the story to seduce a few New Age women.
Speaking of bragging and seduction, Donald Trump. I like to think that he won’t be President. But I like to think a lot of things about the future that don’t end up the way I want them.
So, let’s get our Donald Trump Preparedness Kit in order.
How do we mentally prepare for such a possibility? What helpful ideas might be wise to pack in a survival kit?
May I suggest the following:
1. Firstly, if the earth begins to quake on election day and you think the country has landed on Donald’s Fault, do not run under your furniture or out of your house. Hug your children and stay put. Please don’t move to Canada. Let’s be change agents right here. Canada gets very cold, and Canadians are so polite, so apologetic. They are like the anti-Trump. Now, I understand why that can be very attractive at this point. So, go ahead, if you must, vacation in Canada, and then come back and help us walk over those orange coals.
2. Remember, in truth, you can't see the big picture, and you do not know what’s best for this country or for the world. The Lord moves in mysterious ways. Jesus asked us not to judge by appearances. Donald Trump, in spite of his appearances of being more primate than human, could be exactly what this world needs right now to speed up our evolution, perhaps like the way an alcoholic sometimes needs to go on a bender and hit a dramatic bottom before recovery can be committed to.
Perhaps we need a colossal ass help to us hit our collective bottom.
So, if Donald does become president, remember that only your ego, not your true self, can get burned, and instead of chanting cool moss, chant the following:
“I don’t know what this, or anything is for. I choose to trust that even Donald being president can serve the highest good for all concerned."
3. As revolting as you might find Mr. Trump, give thanks you don’t have to sleep with him. He is not in your bed, and need not even be in your head. Own your power, no matter who is in power politically. Voting for Donald is an anguished cry for help, a 911 call for love by masses of folks who are feeling powerless in their lives. Don’t be one of them. You are powerful. Your life is your own creation, and Donald Trump or any other person, politician or not, has no power to impact your life but the power that you give him. Or her.
Politicians are reflections of mass consciousness. There is great change happening in the world. Many systems are crumpling and then changing for the better. Politics is the densest, slowest system in human consciousness to evolve and to reflect change. So let's not pin our hopes and dreams on what is slow and dense. You are the quickening. Be in your power.
4) Donald feels threatened by Mexicans and Muslims. Please don’t continue that insanity by allowing yourself to feel threatened by Donald Trump. Feeling threatened is what egos habitually do… perceiving danger, projecting blame, building walls, etc. For many of us, Donald Trump running for President has become a great excuse for us to energize our fears. But hey, let’s admit it, if it wasn’t Donald it would be something or someone else. Until we stop identifying with our egos there will always be another threat to freak out about, something outside of ourselves that we are giving our power to and therefore feeling scared of: Trump, Hillary, the Zika virus, the global economy, cancer, etc. etc.
4. If Donald becomes president, you have a duty to take up drinking, to drink in copious amounts of Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Trevor Noah, John Oliver, and other comedians who help us laugh at it all. Let those wonderful entertainers and satirists help you put things in perspective. The world is not going mad at this time in history: it has always been. It just might get a bit crazier before sanity begins to become attractive to the masses. So laugh it up. Get those endorphins going. It's a sane response.
Just as if he had tourette syndrome, Donald Trump blurts out the fearful, dark, shadow side of what remains of the old white men's club Republican party. There has always been greed, racism and narcissism there. It was just hidden well. Now it's exposed, in full view, uncensored. That's part of the healing process. Cameras are everywhere, revealing everything now. Darkness is being exposed by the light. It's all good. It's just messy.
If we can get in a state where hot coals don’t hurt or scare us, we can certainly achieve an attitude where neither can Donald Trump. Here’s how: Call on the Department of Inner Peace and your inner Secretary of Defenselessness. Tell them you would rather be happy than right. Let your board of advisers be Trust, Laughter, and a Lighthearted Detachment from the insanity around you.
And, finally, run as an independent, and elect yourself:
President of the United States of Your Own Life
You’ll be huge, trust me.
Scott Grace
www.scottsongs.com
Author of Teach Me How To Love, A True Story That Touches Hearts & Helps With The Laundry!
The Big, Scary Black Man
I was in NYC recently with my daughter approaching a breakfast buffet at our hotel, and my eyes spotted a man with biceps the size of Rhode Island and New Hampshire, respectively. He was covered in tattoos, and his skin was black. Big and scary. Mean too, I thought. Wanting to protect my daughter, I sized him up as someone to steer clear of. That pre-judging (pre-judice) was instant, no hesitation or self-examination.
But fate would have it he wound up behind us in the buffet line, and I had a chance to either stay separate and uncomfortable or try something out of my comfort zone.
Being around my daughter sometimes inspires me to try new things, to choose adventure over the status quo. I turned around and smiled, asking: “So how many hours a week do you work out? He broke out into his own friendly smile. "Four to six hours, seven days a week. The gym is my second home", he said.
His eyes sparkled with pride, and I could see an innocent boy peering out through his macho frame.
Suddenly I saw discipline instead of threat when I looked at him. SuddenlyI was curious, he was harmless, and I battered him with questions, friendly firing away while he piled on the protein for breakfast.
It turned out that he was in NY for some kind of body building contest. I asked him what his hopes and goals were and he got even more enthusiastic and childlike. “If I win here I get to go to Vegas and compete in the nationals.” “And then what?" I asked. “The prize for that one is ten thousand dollars.” “And then what?” I kept asking.
He was loving the attention, and shared his bigger dreams of helping out his family financially, moving more of his kin to the United States, and starting a foundation for underprivileged kids.
It seemed that the biggest muscle in this young man’s body was his heart.
And to think, I almost didn’t strike up a conversation. I was so close to business as usual, letting fear stifle my curiosity, building walls instead of bridges. So glad I chose differently. So glad my daughter was there, looking over my shoulder, taking it all in.
These last few weeks a number of innocent people, policeman and civilians, got shot and killed because of fear. Call it racism, prejudice, hate, ignorance, mental illness, apathy, whatever the labels, its all different variations and flavors of the same stuff: Fear.
It’s very tempting to feel powerless about it all.
But I like to think that every day you and I make a multitude of little decisions that contribute either to more prejudice on this planet, or to it’s eventual demise. Fear or love. Every moment. Always at choice, we are. Never powerless.
Either we’re helping Donald Trump build walls, or we are choosing something else.
Every day there are moments available like the conversation I had with the big, beautiful black man. They can happen ever day, these moments when we make the decision to be the change we wish to see in the world.
The children, whether any are biologically yours or not, are looking over your shoulder, waiting to see what your choice is. We are all creating their future.
With Love,
Scott Grace
www.scottsongs.com
But fate would have it he wound up behind us in the buffet line, and I had a chance to either stay separate and uncomfortable or try something out of my comfort zone.
Being around my daughter sometimes inspires me to try new things, to choose adventure over the status quo. I turned around and smiled, asking: “So how many hours a week do you work out? He broke out into his own friendly smile. "Four to six hours, seven days a week. The gym is my second home", he said.
His eyes sparkled with pride, and I could see an innocent boy peering out through his macho frame.
Suddenly I saw discipline instead of threat when I looked at him. SuddenlyI was curious, he was harmless, and I battered him with questions, friendly firing away while he piled on the protein for breakfast.
It turned out that he was in NY for some kind of body building contest. I asked him what his hopes and goals were and he got even more enthusiastic and childlike. “If I win here I get to go to Vegas and compete in the nationals.” “And then what?" I asked. “The prize for that one is ten thousand dollars.” “And then what?” I kept asking.
He was loving the attention, and shared his bigger dreams of helping out his family financially, moving more of his kin to the United States, and starting a foundation for underprivileged kids.
It seemed that the biggest muscle in this young man’s body was his heart.
And to think, I almost didn’t strike up a conversation. I was so close to business as usual, letting fear stifle my curiosity, building walls instead of bridges. So glad I chose differently. So glad my daughter was there, looking over my shoulder, taking it all in.
These last few weeks a number of innocent people, policeman and civilians, got shot and killed because of fear. Call it racism, prejudice, hate, ignorance, mental illness, apathy, whatever the labels, its all different variations and flavors of the same stuff: Fear.
It’s very tempting to feel powerless about it all.
But I like to think that every day you and I make a multitude of little decisions that contribute either to more prejudice on this planet, or to it’s eventual demise. Fear or love. Every moment. Always at choice, we are. Never powerless.
Either we’re helping Donald Trump build walls, or we are choosing something else.
Every day there are moments available like the conversation I had with the big, beautiful black man. They can happen ever day, these moments when we make the decision to be the change we wish to see in the world.
The children, whether any are biologically yours or not, are looking over your shoulder, waiting to see what your choice is. We are all creating their future.
With Love,
Scott Grace
www.scottsongs.com
Monday, July 11, 2016
Shedding Some Light in Light of Last Week's Violence
I'm in grief about what happened in my country this past week, and I felt moved to write.
I'll get to it directly, but first….
A few weeks back Aysia and I were in NYC walking through Central Park. We saw this woman with two empty chairs and a sign, saying, Wanna Talk? Conversation $1.00
I sat down and gave her a dollar, and asked her why she did what she was doing. She said she was tired of complaining about how everyone seemed to be staring at their screens these days, instead of looking up and being present to each other. And she decided to do something positive about it, lighting a candle instead of cursing the darkness.
Aysia and I spent fifteen minutes of quality time conversing with this woman, She was genuinely interested in us, especially Aysia! She asked questions brimming with caring and curiosity, and listened with the kind of listening that can only come from the heart.
When I was a child I was taught to be afraid of strangers. Or at least, wary. But here was this woman reaching out to strangers and creating moments of authentic human connection. Maybe a stranger is just someone you feel strange with. And maybe, when your heart is open, there is no such thing as a stranger.
Aysia, my seven year old self-esteem teacher and daughter, makes friends pretty quickly. She loves picking up little girls she just met and lifting them off the ground. I guess she is in touch with her human nature, and is not afraid of her species.
We grown ups might feel like we have valid reasons to sometimes feel afraid of our species. Like in the wake of the police shooting and shootings of last week, some are trembling.Some are angry.
I am grieving.
And I would like to be aware that I can bang my fists in judgment and respond with more fear disguised as aggression, adding my heated and righteous opinions to this situation, blaming those who resist gun control laws, judging those freaked out police or that tortured soul who turned to violence to protest. That may be my first reaction, but thankfully I know that blame is the ego’s attempt to manage pain, to find some semblance of power in the midst of a feeling of powerlessness.
But I am not powerless. I have choice. I can respond or react. And what I will do with my response is I will choose to be extra kind to people I meet, understanding that many are grieving, angry, hurting, and may have their guards up at this time.
My guard is down. I am defenseless. I will not defend a position or attack attack. I will not fight.
I want my daughter to grow up in a non-violent world, but it is not.
It has people who are so out of touch with their human nature that they turn to violence. And it also has many more people, more each day, who are lighting candles instead of cursing the darkness.
Aysia will find her way in the world. I have high hopes for her. She has her mother and her father role modeling love and kindness. Her mother is a nurse who helps bring babies into the world. Aysia sees me bringing joy to people’s hearts through music.
One day she will realize that their are sick people here sharing the planet with us, people who have forgotten who they are, and sometimes do violent things. And that we all are a little sick, or we wouldn't be here.
And that sanity starts when we light candles instead of cursing the darkness.
If you, like me, are grieving the recent tragedies, please join me in responding with love instead of reacting with fear. That might mean giving and receiving extra hugs this week. It might mean slowing down from your usual pace and asking a neighbor with sincerity how they are doing.
Once the choice is made to light and to be that candle, you will naturally ask your Higher Self, "How can I be truly helpful?" From there love will guide you to your human nature. And you will know what to do. Your heart knows what to do. There are no strangers here. But there are many in need of conversations, who could use a little coaxing to look away from their screens. And maybe you can skip charging the dollar. Love is free.
Warmly,
Scott
www.scottsongs.com
I'll get to it directly, but first….
A few weeks back Aysia and I were in NYC walking through Central Park. We saw this woman with two empty chairs and a sign, saying, Wanna Talk? Conversation $1.00
I sat down and gave her a dollar, and asked her why she did what she was doing. She said she was tired of complaining about how everyone seemed to be staring at their screens these days, instead of looking up and being present to each other. And she decided to do something positive about it, lighting a candle instead of cursing the darkness.
Aysia and I spent fifteen minutes of quality time conversing with this woman, She was genuinely interested in us, especially Aysia! She asked questions brimming with caring and curiosity, and listened with the kind of listening that can only come from the heart.
When I was a child I was taught to be afraid of strangers. Or at least, wary. But here was this woman reaching out to strangers and creating moments of authentic human connection. Maybe a stranger is just someone you feel strange with. And maybe, when your heart is open, there is no such thing as a stranger.
Aysia, my seven year old self-esteem teacher and daughter, makes friends pretty quickly. She loves picking up little girls she just met and lifting them off the ground. I guess she is in touch with her human nature, and is not afraid of her species.
We grown ups might feel like we have valid reasons to sometimes feel afraid of our species. Like in the wake of the police shooting and shootings of last week, some are trembling.Some are angry.
I am grieving.
And I would like to be aware that I can bang my fists in judgment and respond with more fear disguised as aggression, adding my heated and righteous opinions to this situation, blaming those who resist gun control laws, judging those freaked out police or that tortured soul who turned to violence to protest. That may be my first reaction, but thankfully I know that blame is the ego’s attempt to manage pain, to find some semblance of power in the midst of a feeling of powerlessness.
But I am not powerless. I have choice. I can respond or react. And what I will do with my response is I will choose to be extra kind to people I meet, understanding that many are grieving, angry, hurting, and may have their guards up at this time.
My guard is down. I am defenseless. I will not defend a position or attack attack. I will not fight.
I want my daughter to grow up in a non-violent world, but it is not.
It has people who are so out of touch with their human nature that they turn to violence. And it also has many more people, more each day, who are lighting candles instead of cursing the darkness.
Aysia will find her way in the world. I have high hopes for her. She has her mother and her father role modeling love and kindness. Her mother is a nurse who helps bring babies into the world. Aysia sees me bringing joy to people’s hearts through music.
One day she will realize that their are sick people here sharing the planet with us, people who have forgotten who they are, and sometimes do violent things. And that we all are a little sick, or we wouldn't be here.
And that sanity starts when we light candles instead of cursing the darkness.
If you, like me, are grieving the recent tragedies, please join me in responding with love instead of reacting with fear. That might mean giving and receiving extra hugs this week. It might mean slowing down from your usual pace and asking a neighbor with sincerity how they are doing.
Once the choice is made to light and to be that candle, you will naturally ask your Higher Self, "How can I be truly helpful?" From there love will guide you to your human nature. And you will know what to do. Your heart knows what to do. There are no strangers here. But there are many in need of conversations, who could use a little coaxing to look away from their screens. And maybe you can skip charging the dollar. Love is free.
Warmly,
Scott
www.scottsongs.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)