True Abundance

Ask anyone in the Western world how they define abundance, and you are likely to hear them talk about material riches and prosperity. And yet, true abundance is so much more!

The definition of an abundant life cannot be satisfied by the presence of material things alone. Jesus knew this when he said that man shall not live by bread alone, but by the living Word or Spirit. He challenged the common assumptions of his time by pointing out that true abundance cannot be confined to merely physical terms.

The common, limited assumption of abundance as a merely physical notion prevails even today. To find lasting fulfillment in life, it is essential for us to question and redefine such limiting social beliefs. We need to understand that true abundance applies at the levels of body, mind and spirit.

In my work, I am blessed to see the power of questioning assumptions every day. Once we become aware of limiting beliefs and behaviors, we can change them. Along the way, we learn to look deeper instead of blindly repeating the same old habits to getting the same old outcomes. By identifying the hidden determinants of our behavior, our lives often shift spontaneously!

One of the primary areas where limitation shows up is in our relationship to abundance – or its opposite, scarcity. In an era of unprecedented abundance in the western world, many still struggle with feeling that there is not enough: not enough to feel complete, not enough to feel safe or secure. We keep accumulating material things that cannot fill the deep emptiness inside our souls.

During feudal times, all wealth was tied to land ownership and material prosperity was a zero-sum game. Abundance was defined by material belongings because there was only so much land, and only so many people could own it. Land owners could build fortresses and tax travelers passing across their property, leading to more wealth. This system led to separation between those who owned land and those who didn’t, the haves and the have-nots.

This belief system is still active as a powerful undercurrent in modern society. With each economic cycle, millions of individuals over-extend themselves to acquire physical assets and wealth during economic booms, only to find their fortunes evaporate when the boom turns into a bust. In some societies, cycles of war and civil unrest strip people of all forms of physical security they may have painstakingly amassed over generations.

But does the loss of physical assets really make you a loser? And does the presence of physical assets alone define you as a winner?

Enlightened teachers like Jesus and the Buddha taught that true abundance is not based on physical assets alone. They proposed that true abundance includes qualities such as integrity, honesty, service, and loving kindness to all forms of life. These teachings pointed to a higher and necessary concept of abundance that still eludes general consensus today.

Talk to people around you and you’ll find many adhering to the outdated belief of measuring abundance by material displays of wealth. Besides that, you’ll find the limiting notion of having to compete against others to secure these limited resources for survival.

Western society is predicated on this outdated assumption that there’s only so much to go around, and that we need to compete with others for these resources on a basis of win/lose. I have to get mine first before you can get yours or the limited supply runs out (think black Friday shopping mobs!)… if you win, I will lose… and on we go, pitting our limiting beliefs against others in an effort to survive. We expand scarcity consciousness to every facet of life: believing that for my faith to be right, yours has to be wrong; for my political party to win, I have to sling mud and make yours look bad; and so on.

If I believe you must lose in order for me to win, or that you must be shamed so I can have value, or that you must be wrong for me to be vindicated, or you must be suppressed for me to feel free, then my sense of happiness becomes dependent on your lack thereof. My experience of life becomes fragmented into opposites, and I end up suffering estrangement from my fellow humans and my true nature. A life lived from such outdated beliefs offers very limited love, serenity and security.

Many forms of duality-based limitations such as these cause untold suffering in the world. Turn to the news and you will find numerous examples of this scarcity-based thinking in us versus them propaganda, xenophobia, social upheaval and marginalization that pervades society.

The Buddha taught his disciples to free themselves from the vice of duality-thinking; to liberate themselves from the opposites of desire and aversion which propel the cycles of scarcity and suffering. It is only when we let go of this misguided struggle for a bit of material security at the cost of happiness, that we are able to poise our minds in peace.

How do we uncouple from the vicious cycle of chasing after material security and finding scarcity instead?

The power lies in our thoughts. Our thoughts contain the seed forms of potential; making change possible in our consciousness, our belief systems and our world.

Physical reality manifests from our imagination and ideas about how things are. As humans, we are gifted with the ability to change the way we think, and hence create different outcomes. We can change the way we look at things and thereby change the outcomes!

Instead of seeing the world as a physical pie and ourselves competing against others for a slice of it, we can consciously change our view. Perhaps it is time to recognize that energy is never destroyed; it simply changes form. We can expand our definition of true abundance to include all its myriad forms: the material as well as the mental, emotional, psychological and spiritual. And perhaps we need to acknowledge that there is enough for all of us, and then share our resources from that perspective.

Changing old mindsets for more appropriate ones may not be as clean or predictable as we’d like. Evolution is messy and uncertain. A clear outcome is not always apparent. To the minds of westerners who like control, reliability and certainty, this can be nerve-wracking. Yet, the alternative is to allow greed to destroy balance in our world and to render humanity extinct.

Times of change call us to trust on a grand level. We need to trust in our Source, ourselves and each other as we redefine true abundance. When we do so, times of upheaval can give birth to new paradigms that better fit our needs.

About the author

©Copyright Ada Porat. For more information, visit https://adaporat.com. This article may be freely distributed in whole or in part, provided there is no charge for it and this notice is attached.

Beat The Post Vacation Blues

It’s mid-summer, and almost everyone I know is either on vacation or suffering from post vacation blues. The bliss of getting away from it all is often followed by the despair of returning to daily routine, right!

Vacation can feel like a bit of heaven on earth, followed by intense resistance as we struggle to return to our daily routine. Authentic living requires us to embrace and integrate these seeming opposites, instead of perpetuating the cycle through attachment and aversion.

Ultimately, vacation is a change in routine, not a lack thereof. My granny taught me this lesson early on in life. I’d get home from boarding school, exhausted from the rigid academic schedule and looking forward to some reprieve. But no such luck! My mother would wake me up at dawn the next morning with a cup of coffee and a long list of chores to do! When I complained to Gran, she smiled and said, “My girlie, vacation is a change of occupation, not a lack of occupation.”

Today I understand the wisdom of her words. Changing our daily routine is not only refreshing, it is essential for well-being. Breaking away gives us the opportunity to expand our viewpoints, experiences and skill sets. It can open our perceptions to entirely new possibilities. Studies in brain neurology have show that when the brain is exercised in ways outside the habitual scope of daily routine, it remains resilient and hence more resistant to dementia.

On the flip side, the very freedom of vacation can also contribute to a sense of post vacation blues when we return to our daily lives. From working with clients I have learned that there are three areas that contribute to post vacation blues: returning to a daily routine that somehow feels dissonant, coming back to piles of responsibilities that accumulated while you were gone, and leaving the relaxed, exciting or self-nurturing aspects of your vacation behind.

There are several things you can do to integrate aspects of your vacation into your daily life for ongoing enrichment while mitigating post vacation blues. Here are a few:

Deal with dissonance.

Pay attention to the deeper reasons WHY you might have difficulty returning to your routine. If you still experience post vacation blues after the jet lag has worn off and you’ve been back at work for more than a few days, perhaps there is a deeper reason for your reluctance. Stepping away from your routine may have offered you clarity on the fact that you have outgrown your current work situation, or that the work schedule you’ve been keeping leaves no space for work-life balance; or that your work demands are not aligned with your core values. If you experience any of these deeper sources of dissonance, it may be time for a work or career change.

Plan ahead for peace.

Post vacation blues can leave you feeling overwhelmed by projects, bills and responsibilities that piled up while you were gone. A bit of planning can go a long way to prevent the budget blues. Prepaying aspects of your vacation such as the hotel, flight or rental car will help whittle down credit card balances so you don’t get hit with the whole whammy upon returning. Arrange for a neighbor or student to handle basic chores while you are gone so you don’t return to a dead garden or piled-up chores – or my favorite, schedule someone to clean the house so you return to a clean, tidy home!

Schedule a buffer day at the end of your vacation so you have time to catch up with essentials after you get back. This step can help you avoid all kinds of stress in the event of flight delays, unexpected events or simply returning home exhausted.

Savor the experience.

In our rushed lives, we often forget that vacation consists of more than time away: the first phase involves planning and preparation; the second consists of the actual vacation experience, and the third involves review and integration of that experience into your life.

What were some of the cultural, culinary, experiential or educational highlights of your vacation? How can you integrate some of those aspects into your daily life for ongoing enrichment?

When you integrate positive aspects of your vacation into your daily life, you’ll continue to reap rewards from the time away. One of my clients returned from a trip to France and decided to finally fulfill a lifelong dream of learning French; another decided to start an educational charity after a trip to Africa.

Refresh your daily routine.

One of the most beneficial aspects of vacation has to do with the way it changes up our daily routine – just as my Granny taught me. This is hugely refreshing because it replaces the drudgery of daily life.

You can keep that sense of renewal alive by varying your daily routine at home, too! If your favorite part of vacation was breakfast on the balcony overlooking the mountains, then find a way to bring that mood to your meals at home. Was it the excitement of sightseeing? Most of us have never seen all the sights in our own regions, so plan some weekend getaways year-round.

When you use the joyful moments of your vacation experience as inspiration to freshen and enliven your daily routine, you’ll do more than banishing post vacation blues – you’ll find your everyday life enriched in amazing ways!

About the author

©Copyright Ada Porat. For more information, visit https://adaporat.com. This article may be freely distributed in whole or in part, provided there is no charge for it and this notice is attached.

Slow Down

Here’s one good reason to slow down and watch the clouds float by on a summer’s day: when you slow down – even just enough to watch those clouds – you will change in positive ways as well.

Yes, stepping out of the rat race can change you for the better! Anxious, hurried feelings may imply a temporary sense of self-importance, but they actually rob you of the very poise you need to be self-empowered.

True self-empowerment begins with being able to choose your own direction in life. And to choose your own path, you need to become aware of the direction in which life’s current flows. A wise teacher once told me that awareness is everything. Sometimes, you need to go with the flow of the current in order to change it.

This principle applies wherever you may find yourself in life – whether caught up in the turbulence of a rapidly changing world, or swept along by an inner flood of thoughts and feelings. Like it or not, you’re going where that current goes, whether you are aware of it or not.

As long as you have no awareness of its direction, you have no real choice, but once you become aware of the current, you can respond in ways that empower you and could even change the course of events!

Slowing down allows you to become more aware of your surroundings and your place in it. It gives you the opportunity to become present with your inner guidance, an essential step toward self-empowerment. When you slow down, you can connect to the deeper meaning of life.

Singer/songwriter Neil Diamond put it this way in his song, “Slow It Down:”

“Slow it down, take your time

And you’ll find your time has a meaning…”

Your true nature is not concerned with or bound by linear time. It never feels the need to rush through life, frantically trying to fit more into every day.

When you allow the events or demands of life to dictate your schedule, you pick up your pace to keep up with the anxious feelings generated by these demands. Over time, you may identify with these urgencies as your own inner drive. You may even confuse the false sense of pressure generated by these demands, with true power. Neither is true. You are not the urgencies of your life any more than a cresting tide is the entire ocean.

Author Vernon Howard offers clear guidance to help us stop this mad dash to nowhere:

“Slow down. Relax. Dare to deliberately defy those inner screams that demand you rush nervously around. Instead, obey another quiet voice that assures you that the casual life is the truly powerful and efficient life.”

If you are ready to slow down your life, you can start with a few simple suggestions.

Beginning this very moment, intentionally separate yourself from any rushing inner condition by voluntarily stepping out of it.

Purposefully slow down by consciously reducing your usual speed:

  • At half your normal gait, walk over to get your cup of coffee.
  • Reach for the phone, your glass of water or your pen at half your normal speed.
  • Stick to the speed limit, especially when late for an appointment or feeling rushed.

One practice I find particularly valuable is to pause a few seconds before I answer someone’s question. This conscious act to slow down allows for Higher Wisdom to guide the conversation instead of the ego to jump right in. No wonder ”fools rush in where angels dread to tread!”

Whatever the occasion, you have the power of choosing to slow down, and then to practice stepping out of or redirecting the flow of your life.

Slowing down helps you become aware of your inner self in a new and higher way. This enhanced self-awareness empowers by showing you that you are not your work, your feelings or even your accomplishments. You are limitless consciousness, and you can choose your own path and pace in life.

This summer and every day, I encourage you to slow down and step out of the rush. If you want to find what is Timeless, dare to live as though you have all the time in the world!

About the author

©Copyright Ada Porat. For more information, visit https://adaporat.com. This article may be freely distributed in whole or in part, provided there is no charge for it and this notice is attached.

Small Steps To Big Dreams

A lot of success coaches and motivational speakers tell you to THINK BIG. They tell you to create a big vision in order to succeed. And I agree – having a big vision is necessary to accomplish big things.

At the same time, even big things are compiled of multiple smaller components – and so I find myself coaching clients to think of small steps instead.

Whenever you are in a tight spot in life, it is important to focus on the goodness of life at the present moment. The past is over and the future is not here yet. This is the perfect time to appreciate what you do have now instead of focusing on fear or lack.

Being laid off is a case in point. If you are out of work and have been for some time, it may be difficult to think about the perfect job or the ultimate contribution you want to make in the world. At this stage of the game, you may just want a paycheck… but now is the time to think small.

This bleak season of uncertainty will pass. Make the most of it by finding small steps where you can make a difference. Spend more time with loved ones, help the children with homework, plant some flowers. You can teach yourself a new skill or take a local adult education class. Revisit your vision for your life; dream a new dream. Being unemployed may feel like a permanent condition. The fact is, it is a season that will surely pass. You are not going to be out of work forever, so take small steps in the areas where you are able to now!

Whenever a project feels huge, it’s time to think small. If the size or complexity of the project overwhelms you, focus on just the next few small steps. Locate the phone numbers you need to call… schedule the time to make the call. Outline the chapters of the book you want to write…commit to writing just one page a day. Unclutter one drawer at a time instead of thinking about uncluttering the whole house. Baby steps will get you there.

Even in business, there’s a place and time for thinking small. When thinking big, we often complicate things with too many ideas and we overwhelm ourselves.

No matter where you are in life, there is always something you can do. If you cannot tackle big things now, don’t dither in indecision – start with small steps! Here are a few pointers to help you take small steps forward with confidence:

  1. Pick just one or two things to focus on each day. I find that most clients are trying to do too much in too little time. As a result, few things get completed. If you commit to one or two things daily, you’ll get more done and feel less stressed.
  1. Revel in little things. Go out and literally smell the roses. Slow down and appreciate your surroundings. Taste your food instead of inhaling it. Have meaningful conversation instead of passing interactions. Take small steps forward with appreciation rather than big steps with fear.
  1. Scale down. Get rid of physical clutter as well as mental clutter. Review your obligations and decide if they still serve you. Do you need to withdraw from some? Clear your mind by doing a brain dump: put your ideas, to-dos and tolerances (those things you are tolerating) down on paper. Prioritize what you choose to do and what you choose to let go; then take small steps to simplify your life.
  1. Focus on being great at what you do, rather than being the best. The best is the enemy of the great, just as perfection is the enemy of the acceptable. When you choose to be great, you’ll begin to do things from a place of excellence instead of overwhelm. Small and excellent steps trump big and anxious strides in my book any day!
  1. Allow extra time for everything you do. If doing a task will take ten minutes, allow yourself twenty. That way, you take small steps to build buffer time into your day to cope with unexpected events. If you finish in less time than that… go watch the clouds!

About the author

©Copyright Ada Porat. For more information, visit https://adaporat.com. This article may be freely distributed in whole or in part, provided there is no charge for it and this notice is attached.

Harnessing The Cycle Of Creation For Success

Do you love the life you are creating? If not, don’t despair! By consciously working with the cycle of creation, you can boost your creative potential at every level. As a spiritual being, you are gifted with the ability to co-create your reality. You’ll create your desired outcomes more effectively when you align your efforts with the cycles of creation.

Cycles of Creation

Everything in nature operates on cycles: there is the cycle of the new moon waxing to full moon and waning again, the cycle of high and low tides in the ocean, the cycle of changing seasons, the cycle of night and day, to name a few. In shamanic cultures, this is referred to as the in-breath and the out-breath of Creation.

The out-breath of Creation generates a tremendous flow of Life Force energy to generate, inspire and vitalize. The Divine in-breath can be likened to the contraction or ebbing of energy as it returns to its source. It is during the pause between the out-breath and the in-breath that the as-yet unmanifest becomes manifest: this is the most critical phase of creation to focus on.

The cycle of creation consists of three sources of inspiration: Being – the realm of Spirit; Doing – the realm of intellect; and Having – the realm of physical materialization. It also consists of three phases: Phase one deals with the FLOW from inspiration to conscious choice, phase two deals with appropriate ACTION to manifest or create, and phase three deals with the EBB of the creative cycle by releasing or returning to Source.

Cyclediagram

It All Starts With Being

As you can see from the diagram, the creative process starts with a spark of inspiration emanating from Spirit – the place of BEING where unmanifest potential exists before becoming observable as manifest matter. When you consciously connect to the Source of life, you gain access to those sparks of inspiration. It may come in the form of a thought, a dream or an inspiration; it could entail ideas about issues you have been mulling on. A good example would be some insight about how to streamline business operations for increased effectiveness, or a dream about a new direction for your life.

Flowing From Being to Doing

Dreams of possibilities always inspire. Whatever the dream you first conceive of, it will be energized by some form of inspiration. This phase in the cycle of creation can be very exciting as you start exploring new concepts mentally, brainstorming about how best to bring it about.

During this initial phase of Flow, you may find yourself drawn to people or circumstances that help clarify your thoughts. Abundant enthusiasm and energy flows from Spirit into your awareness. As you become aware of this energy of pure possibilities, you step it down into coherent concepts and start planning how to DO, implement or bring about the idea.

Taking Action

Once you have a possible plan of action established, you can move into the second phase of Action. Here, your focus shifts from mental ideation into physical doing to accomplish the desired outcome. This is the phase when the rubber hits the road and you learn whether your intended plans are feasible. Many obstacles may surface during the implementation process; you may need to revisit your spiritual inspiration and mental vision every time to find an appropriate way forward.

Getting to Results

When all obstacles have been resolved sufficiently and all the critical pieces come together, your efforts are rewarded with the desired outcome manifesting in physical reality, where you can HAVE and enjoy the results of your efforts. Reaching your goals can be very exhilarating, yet this euphoria soon leads to a sense of incompletion. It can lead to a sense of let-down as dopamine levels return to normal. Many great athletes and performers report feeling a nagging sense of emptiness after accomplishing a major goal.

At a spiritual level, post-accomplishment emptiness is a reminder that the cycle of creation is a continuous feedback loop. Creation is an energy-intensive process; you need to complete the feedback loop by returning your attention to Source. By reconnecting, this ebbing energy can be energized or re-sourced for your next cycle of creation.

Flowing Back to Source

Sometimes, the temptation after reaching a goal is to not return to Source for rejuvenation and inspiration, but to lean back in the success of your accomplishments. When you do that, you run the risk of losing your connection to Divine inspiration. By not returning to Spirit for resourcing, you may not have the energy, inspiration or strength to face the next challenge that comes along.

Getting Stuck in Doing

Another pitfall is to keep running without re-sourcing, repeating what worked the last time around in the hopes of continuing your success without new inspiration. This phenomenon often happens in the movie business – remember the success of Rocky 1, followed by the dwindling fortunes of Rocky 2, 3 and 4?

By blindly repeating the recipe of previous success, you may neglect closing the feedback loop back to Source for renewal and inspiration. Instead, you backtrack against the creative flow, taking a shortcut back to doing without true inspiration to energize the process.

The second time around may turn out very different, however. Environmental conditions may not be as before because energy is dynamic and never stays the same. As a result, you run the risk of getting stuck in doing the same things without getting the desired results. While jumping back and forth between the worlds of Mind and Matter, you’ll continue to lose creative energy because of not reconnecting to Source for sufficient refueling and inspiration before starting the new cycle of creation.

Reconnecting to Regroup

Here’s good news: it’s never too late to reconnect! You do not have to wait until you’re stuck before connecting back to Source: you can do it any time you run low on inspiration or energy!

Perhaps you rushed ahead on the adrenaline of the previous success and got involved in a new venture without consciously pausing to reconnect. As obstacles start to surface, you may find yourself running out of steam and become overwhelmed, anxious or depressed. When you feel these emotions surfacing, it is an indication that you need more creative inspiration, wisdom and resources. Simply reconnect to Source from wherever you are along the cycle of creation.

The act of reconnecting moves the ego out of the way and allows its self-imposing demands to subside. With the demands of ego out of the way, you’ll be able to regroup and gain a Higher perspective on issues.

Continuous Surrender

When you reconnect to Source, you’re able to surrender obstacles, re-energize your creative juices and tap into Divine wisdom. As you bring that energy down through the Flow phase of creation into the Action phase again, you will be amazed at how your renewed vision and inspiration support you in moving forward.

When I first started doing this, I was so delighted at the results that I started surrendering every obstacle I encounter in moving forward. I found that it alleviates anxiety and greatly assists my visionary ability. It also re-energizes me and helps me tap into Higher wisdom to address issues from that perspective.

The Impact of Others’ Free Will

You may find that you run into multiple snags along the cycle of creation, especially along the Action continuum. This is not necessarily because you failed at doing the right things – it could simply be because many factors contributing to the situation have shifted. Each player has free choice and their actions influence the way the game plays out at your end. When you run into obstacles, simply reconnect to Source and surrender the obstacles to your Higher Power, asking for higher wisdom and inspiration. You will be amazed at the results!

Holding on Loosely

By holding on to your goals loosely and staying in a state of constant surrender to Divine will, it is much easier to let go of larger expectations and outcomes. You may also find it easier to ebb and flow with the process of creation when you practice on-going surrender of outcomes and stay in the present moment.

Here’s to wishing you well throughout the cycle of creation toward realizing your dreams!

About the author

©Copyright Ada Porat. For more information, visit https://adaporat.com. This article may be freely distributed in whole or in part, provided there is no charge for it and this notice is attached.

Authentic Living Brings Peace, Joy and Power

I write about peace, joy and power not because I have mastered it, but because these qualities are the hallmarks of authentic living. As such, I am always learning how to bring more of these qualities into my own life.

Living authentically requires us to practice what we teach: to the degree that I am able to live from my core of harmony and truth, I am able to help others discover these qualities in their lives also.

Along the way, I’ve come to realize that living authentically – from one’s core –  brings true peace, joy and power; it defines who we become, and is not something we simply acquire.

The profound sense of peace that comes from authentic living far exceeds the temporary high of shopping, distractions, entertainment or other forms of pleasure. While physical distractions and activities can bring a temporary sense of happiness, it can never compensate for the lack of inner bliss that pervades so much of western society.

Authentic living means something much deeper. It means living life in harmony with your inner value system; becoming still enough to listen to the Inner Voice that guides you; and if needs be, to march to a different drum than that which drives the marketplace. Authentic living also means acting from a place and in a way that nourishes and respects your body, mind and spirit continuously.

Authentic living requires you to align your life with your core values and beliefs so that your actions become congruent with your truth. It asks of you to make choices that align your external actions with your soul’s ultimate purpose at any given time, choosing to do what energizes and renews you from the inside out. It means owning your  inner truth, so that your outer life becomes transformed by that inner wellspring of life.

As you start aligning your actions, choices, and behaviors with your inner truth, something magical happens: it triggers a release of authentic personal power that may have been long dormant. You’ll become ever more aware of a deep inner Presence that brings peace, joy and harmony to every area of your life.

Sharing the way to this blissful space is my passion. And yes, you can live from this space, too!

All human beings have spiritual thirst: we desire to connect with our inner truth; we want to tap deep into the inner well of sacred power and joy that we may know about but don’t quite know how to reach.

Finding this place requires you to make space for spirituality in your life. It may call for some serious spiritual and emotional housecleaning. You may have to clean out old beliefs and behaviors, getting rid of mental clutter and self-destructive habits that linger in the forgotten corners of your life.

The results of authentic living, personal transformation and inner bliss will be worthwhile in every way!

The process will gradually redefine how you see life, yourself and others. You’ll find yourself able to let go of what others may think to cultivate more authenticity. It will help you establish healthy boundaries, while opening up the way for you to live from your authentic inner power.

Over time, you’ll find your perspective shifting from self-judgment to healthy self-respect. Aligning with this power will fill your life with the bliss of living authentically from your true core – and loving it.

In you search for peace, joy and power, remember you were created to play big, not small. Playing big is your inherent birthright as a soul. Spirit is always ready to heap on you all the bliss you can stand, but you need to make space for it in your life.

Why not let go of things that don’t serve you and create space for authentic living now, so you can enjoy that inner peace and power!

About The Author
©Copyright Ada Porat. For more information, visit https://adaporat.com. This article may be freely distributed in whole or in part, provided there is no charge for it and this notice is attached.