After reading Paulo Coelho’s autography I was inspired to re-read two of my all time favorite books, The Pilgrimage and The Alchemist.  I’m part way through The Alchemist, for at least the 10th time.

Have you ever questioned, in the context of your life:
• What it is that you should be doing?
• Have you ever had a dream that you’ve never pursued?
• Have you debated taking that first scary step?
• Have you made life choices that have gone against conventional wisdom on little more than what your saner friends deride as “wishful thinking?”

Yes, yes, and yes? This book is quite possibly the story of your life.

The Alchemist is a story about a Spanish shepherd boy who chose that humble life to find something more meaningful about life first-hand. In his shepherding duties he meets someone who tells him that he’s poised to fulfill his “Personal Legend”, a personal destiny of fulfillment that everyone possesses, if they have courage and determination to persevere. What follows is an entertaining story about following one’s dreams, being in sync with one’s surroundings, and making the best of the situation in the face of apparent setbacks.

It would be easy to dismiss The Alchemist as being nothing more than spiritual mumbo-jumbo, a fanciful tale spun from improbable events that fly in the face of our stressful day-to-day modern life. If someone had given me a plot outline of this book, I would have dismissed it without a second thought; my speak-softly-but-carry-a-big-stick, trust-but-verify, survival-starts-at-home side might have even tagged this as a dangerous book filled with delusional ideas, suitable only for small children and simple minds.

However…

The idea of the Personal Legend is something I deeply and truly believe in.  There are important truths alluded to in this book, truths I have felt all my life but didn’t know how to express. I therefore assumed that they might not be real beyond the boundaries of my imagination; I am happy to see that I’m not alone.
The Alchemist is not a treasure map to life, which is how some critical reviewers on the Internet insist on judging it; there’s no 10 Steps to Finding Your Dream worksheets to fill out, no money-back guarantee should you not fulfill your dream in 30 days or less. I am considering the book as a sort of treasure mirror instead; hold the book up to your past and your present, squint a little, and you may see something of your future reflected back. You will get back what you can put in.

This is a book for people who still believe in love and magic, that there’s a legend you are meant to fulfill. It’s possible if you know how to listen to your heart, follow the signs, step onto the path before you and live the role. Too many of us falter. If that all sounds silly to you, Tony Robbins might be more your speed, and that guy Tom Clancy is still writing tales of modern heroism set in the comfortingly-abstract world of geopolitical intrigue…

As you read this I ask you how many things are you present to at this very instant?  In the back of your mind are you compiling a shopping list.  Wondering what to do next?  How many tasks are you really trying to do at one time?  In today’s busy world mutli-tasking this is a common way of life. 

Yet that very action is ruining the very fabric of our friendships and relationships.  I suspect none of us appreciated being engaged in a conversation with someone and “poof” a text message comes in and the person we are talking with “HAS TO” answer the call.  With little or no regard towards our current conversation.  (I especially love the store clerk who answers the telephone and deals with the customer on the phone first, even though the phone call interrupted the conversation you were having with the store clerk in the first place.  It seems electronic conversations are deemed far more important than face to face conversations.)

But I digress.  My thought are, that we become so absorbed in compiling “TO DO” lists and we become aware of all the things we have to do.  We forget to be present to this very moment.  We forget to enjoy the moment.  e.g.  We run to Tim Horton’s grab a coffee and frantically race off to our next adventure.  Forgetting to really taste the coffee, to breath in the aroma and savour the taste. 

So I am going to ask you for the next 30 days savour the moment, be present to each experience as it unfolds,  be fully engaged in conversations. (so let your phone go to vioce mail)   Put your attention and focus on the the things right here and right now..

Yup, that’s me….missing in action.  I’m here, but I haven’t really been here.  I stopped writing at the end of January with any regularity because I got caught up (can you say ‘obsessed’?) in moving the Universal Circle of Women forward.  Check www.universalcircleofwomen.com  if you haven’t yet… I’m acting on a vision I had this summer and it’s consuming what energy I have left after teaching my Nia classes these days. 

Which means things like connecting with people through our blog, doing my daily rituals, connecting with friends, dancing for me, etc, etc have all fallen by the wayside.  I had a huge reality check the other day when I suddenly became aware of how tight and tense my body was and how on edge I felt… I’d fallen into an old pattern of ‘doing’ and taking on all the responsibilties on as my own, again.   Nothing that a walk in the woods couldn’t cure… some time with the trees brought me back into a grounded state and I’m back writing and meditating and honoring my need to be creative through all the administrative stuff I’m doing.

This reminder to myself to keep the love and creative energy flowing, no matter how many ‘to do’s’ there are, will surely be useful to a few of you, too… call a friend right now and tell them you care, write a line or two of poetry or dance to some upbeat music.  Do something that connects you to that sense of love and oneness again. 

Namaste,  Tina

Are you BEING the person you truly want to be?

Take a few moments and really think about who you are being right now and compare that to who you really want to be. Do you want to be a better father/mother, be happier than you are right now, be wealthier, healthier, skinnier, be better at your job or be a better business owner?

Most of us have been taught that we need to HAVE things in our life to allow us to DO what we want, allowing us to BE who we want to be (ie. ‘When I HAVE more time, I will be able to DO the activities with my children therefore I will BE a better father’).

In reality, we will never be the person we want to be if we wait to HAVE first.

If you really want to HAVE ultimate success in ALL areas of your life (personal and in business) you really need to start BEING the person you want to be right from now!

You really need to reverse this teaching of HAVING, DOING then BEING… …and begin with BEING the person you want to be, which will allow you to DO the things this type of person would do, so you can HAVE the results this kind of person has. (ie. ‘I am BEING the best father I can be, allowing me to DO the activities with my children and now I HAVE the time for them).

This article flips the HAVE DO BE teachings on its head and explores the BE DO HAVE principle. We look at why this principle is so successful in reaching goals and hopefully will inspire you to start living the life you truly want, today, without waiting until you have everything in place before you start living the life you really want to live.

Read more…