And So The Story Goes

Author Alberto Villoldo states, “When we drop our dreary stories of victim, rescuer, and perpetrator, we become storytellers and mythmakers and are provided for in every way. We no longer have to live in fear because we're no longer the victim of our ancestral or cultural stories about scarcity, intimacy, aging, or creativity. Regardless of what we own, we go from scarcity to abundance, from having been cast out of the Eden to walking with beauty on the earth. We see what everyone else sees, but think something different about it. We become like the lilies of the field, who neither toil nor spin but have all that they need. We may still have to punch a time card, but we can live the life of the artist or poet, with many creative resources available to us”. And so it is for me since I have gone through these past several years on my spiritual path and life work. So much in my life changed when I dropped the big old bag of stories I was carrying around with me. I played every role in the drama filled world you could play. Starring roles on occasion brought me to applause, which my ego loved, or to tears as I was a disappointment to others. My emotional response rode the rollercoaster of my family and peer based reviews. Rarely, if ever, did I stop to reflect on how I thought or felt I was doing? My daily actions were more reactions than choices I made with intention or consideration of lessons learned or possibilities offered.

Practicing my shamanic lessons and rituals keeps me grounded and out of story that does not serve me. I have learned to read between the lines, listen for the unspoken, see the mists beyond the trees, and look for the guides and revere their lessons. I seek beauty, I stay present in the moment, or I try at least. It is not always easy. There are days that present themselves quite challenging and as much as I look upon those days with a bit of remorse, they always prove to be the juiciest, or the most lesson filled, or abundant with surprising gifts. But only if I approach them without story and remain open to what may unfold.

I am rich. Not monetarily but with so many resources to add to my crafting of my life. I have plenty. Not with an abundance of material things that society appreciates, but with other gifts of life: friends, family, wisdom, awareness, compassion, wonder and more. I am blessed. Each day offers potential for me to learn more, give more, receive more, celebrate more, and honor more.

The story of my life has changed in ways I never dreamed possible. What the future holds I look forward to with excitement. What the past held, I no longer fret over. What today offers I embrace and celebrate and accept. Like the storyteller and mythmaker, I recognize that my story can go to amazing lands and places, meet up with charming characters, be colored by whimsy and more. Finding the riches in life is easier now. Holding on to what is important to me and not to others does not cause so much conflict within me. And when there is the difference of opinion it is so easy to just observe it as their story, not mine. There will always be new beginnings, new chapters and even when I am gone, there will be no endings, just more possibilities.

Blessings ~ Lisa ©COPYRIGHT 2013 Lisa Meade