I love metaphors. I can chew on them all day and when you get right down to it, they're pretty darn accurate when it comes to descriptors of life and all it's complexity. We oversimplify things, and we exaggerate, but sometimes a metaphor is like a lightning bolt ripping chords of illumination through the entire thinking process of our lives and we get 'ah ha' moments, as the avatar Oprah likes to say. It is the ultimate equalizer.
At any given moment in our life experience we can choose a metaphor to best describe the complexities of it so that others can have a deeper appreciation of what our unique sensory translation is at that time. We all experience life differently. Our unique brains and even more unique personal past experiences are deciphering our sensory input on an exponential level and, I believe with our transcendence into the 5D realm, we are able to compute on new, express levels, if you will. But, we still speak pretty much the same language. There are some new words and phrases, as with anything new, but at the end of the day, we get it, whether we admit it, or not.
Technology is not the only thing advancing on the planet, heaven forbid. Technology is but a reflection of the advancement of the human that created it, and we have truly transcended, or so it would seem to a dedicated few in comparison to the whole of the world's population. This is where 'the deep end' comes in.
In this new age of transcendence, holding onto that which no longer serves you is going to be a little bit more costly than usual. Your spiritual, emotional, physical and mental currency will have to be utilized in this new dimension. Those that choose to remain in their old patterned mindsets will have to pay dearly because when the Universe, and Mother Nature, and Universal Consciousness decided that NOW is the time to ascend to a higher level of thinking, living and being, and the human chooses to defy this, well, it has a reverberation that will show up much faster than before. 2016 is promising to be a year of great change, the likes of which we have never experienced here on Earth before, and if what I am saying is true, if you haven't already decided, you will continually be prompted, repeatedly called to make the necessary adjustments, as we are one and no one is excluded, even those that exclude themselves.
The downside to the status quo may show up as grave illness, strife, stress, or depression that drowns itself. The good news is that if you choose to transcend, Spirit will never let you drown. In an instant you can choose to become more than you've ever been. It has always been your choice. There comes a time in one's life when you have to choose. You have to face a system of discontent that no longer serves the bigger picture. You have to decide, firstly, whether or not you want to admit that there even is discontent, and if you get that far in your truth, you can go further to the root of the cause. Once you get there, you can start to apply a loving, healing principle to transmute the discontentment into contentment, at the very least, or, ideally, a complete clearing back to creative energy.
But, most of us just 'throw out' (there is no 'out', btw) stuff in the deep end and hang out in the shallows. Who wants to do all that work? Why can't we just be happy and not talk about those things? Why can't we just say it's a new day and get on with it? Well, of course we can. And, the truth is, most of us do just that. We ignore our truth. We ignore others. We play pretend, or worse, we're the real ugly deal. But, when you live in the olympic size pool of life, you do not get to choose which depth you lead with. You bring the whole energy pool. You think you're swimming in pristine waters, you think you look amazing in your perfectly chosen suit of illusion, but water is transparent, and especially when it's not, everyone can see it.
So, how can we clean up the water in the entire pool (ocean of life, our hearts and minds), not just the deep end where everything accumulates? Always start with the densest stuff first. If there's bacteria, debris, poison or toxicity, it has to go first, or, the entire pool will become infected, remain infected, cause infection, be infection (or dis-ease).
For me, I didn't just store stuff in the deep end, I labeled stuff and had it all organized. I had all my stories, reasons, justifications, understandings, because's, you name it. Every single wave in the deep end of my life was weighed down, or tagged with something that even had an anchor to keep it in place, lest I forget to remind you. You could wake me out of a sound sleep and ask me to cue up one of those waves and I could with clarity, emotion, charge and expression frozen in time, recount every experience without an ounce of clearing. Completely exhausting, non-transcending, sickening really. And, I did get sick, and even though my body healed from all of that holding on, my soul, my heart, my mind were still creating the same old program: take all pain and sink it in the deep end and then avoid it at all costs, pretend it's not even there, maybe it will just go away.
I've had to learn how to swim all over again, many times. I've had to find the instructors, study the lessons, apply what I had learned and enduring, excel at and pass quite the many exams.
Thankfully, I had a great swimming coach and program as a child. The coach was patient and kind and the program was simple. First, all the children were lovingly acquainted, then encouraged and acclimated with the shallow end of the pool and the cold water. We were taught to be courageous and not intimidated, respectful, yet playful. We were asked to sit down in a row on the pool's edge putting feet first in the water, where we were all taught to kick as one. It was a lot of fun splashing around adults with freedom and no fear of consequence. Once we got going, we never wanted to stop. This was great. If this was swimming, this was going to be a breeze. It was light and exciting, and one of the easier lessons.
Then, the instructor upped the ante and we were asked to stand in a row putting our faces into the clear, cold water and blow bubbles. He instructed us to turn our chins up and out to inhale, and then back down in the water to exhale blowing bubbles again. Some struggled with this, and rightfully so. They loved the blowing bubbles part, but the brain is wired to survive and submerging your face in the water without any prior reference point as to how to breathe life sustaining air except to GET IT OUT, is a natural response until you learn to trust in some very effective breathing techniques that when applied, make the prior, very real panic and attention grabbing notions of getting out, or freaking out, unreasonable. We all encouraged one another and laughed at ourselves. Deep down, no one wanted to get out. We all wanted to learn how to trust the instruction process, especially for beautiful, hot Summer days where you can cool off without a care in the world.
We were taught coordination putting arm strokes together with breathing while still standing in the shallows with the deep waters in clear sight. And slowly, we were inched into eight feet of water where we were all lined up along the side of the pool holding on with both hands. We extended our legs behind us and all began kicking as one machine. No one could touch the bottom of the pool and when we realized this we all giggled with excitement because of what we had achieved.
Then the day came when we asked to learn the meaning of perseverance while treading water in the deep end. With only a swim stroke between us and the side of the pool, we were asked to float and tread water until they told us to stop. At this point, endurance, sheer faith and determination ensues unless you never try that day. I don't remember anyone quitting. We all successfully learned to tread water and went on to the next level.
We practiced daily with exercises and the instructor was sure to let us have free swim and play time as well. We played and practiced and once we mastered all levels, we were allowed to begin to put it all together. How long can you hold your position without swimming just bobbing there kicking and flowing?
We all learned how to swim above and below the water, no matter what the depth. We learned to do laps, and we eventually learned to do deep retrieval diving, as well as high board springing. It was a most comprehensive and effective program to help anyone navigate any pool with gallons and gallons of clear, cold, refreshing water. We were all asked to do the same as everyone else, but it was obvious that we were all at different levels. It didn't matter. The goal was the same for everyone and if it hadn't been for this program, we would have just continued to pretend (as children do) to know how to navigate the deep end, as well as playfully, cautiously and effectively avoiding it.
It didn't end there. After the lessons of acquaintance and acclimation, love, courage, encouragement, respect, playful trust, coordination, perseverance, application techniques and practice, came the very public testing days where we were all gauged to determine where we were allowed to even be in the pool, at any given time. That decision was not your own until you reached a certain level where the instructors didn't have to instruct anymore, but the lifeguards still had to maintain a presence and an overall observance of all happenings.
Everyone is watching everyone else. It's the exciting and terrific day color coded bathings caps are given out clearly indicating who can swim where. Everyone can see each others progress which we were asked to display. Each had to humbly stand, practically naked in our swimsuits beside the seemingness endless amounts of water and each other, and follow the instructors prompts. We each had to jump or dive in the above our head water at around 8 feet, swim across to the other side and back, go down in and retrieve a metal pipe lying on the bottom of the pool floor, jump or dive off the highest diving board, we were asked to do it all. Some of us excelled as far as you can in the program and some were moderate to intermediate swimmers. I suppose there may have been a quitter or two, but I was unaware of them from my vantage point. It didn't matter. We were all in the same pool together given the same opportunity. There were shallows and deep waters. There were fears and obstacles to overcome. There were guides, counselors, teachers and lifeguards. There were experienced and first time swimmers. We were all there somewhere in the mix and, we were all one.
Can you imagine if the coach just threw us in the water without any instruction? Surely after that, we would never attempt the deep end and maybe not even the pool at all. Whatever was going on down at that end of the pool would just have to remain a mystery, but life is both the deep and the shallows. It's the shady chairs and it's the sun deck. It's the deep, rich tan and the palest skin. It's the warmth of the sun and the cool of the water. It's the smoothness of a babies cheek turned toward the sky, and it's an old woman's wrinkles as she lathers on sun screen. It's the instructor and the student. It's the life guard and the swimmer. Life is both the sparkling pool waters in Summer, and sparkling ice crystals in Winter. You would never deny one and only choose the other, well, you could try, but eventually balance wins.
And so, it's a new year. If you've not cleaned out the deep end of your pool yet, you may want to just take a walk around and look at what's accumulating. How does it feel to know that there's stuff down there? How does it feel to know that you are in charge and you are allowing this in your life? Can you truly feel free and clear knowing that you're running out of depth? Can you still truly feel good? Eventually, the water will have no room. Eventually something will overcome. Eventually, you may go to take a dip in your pool and find cement instead of what was once beautiful clean, clear, flowing water.
Go to the deep end. Try to learn to float again. Can you freely tread water out in the deep, or does it become overwhelming? Perhaps start by filtering out shame, guilt, apathy, grief, fear, desire, anger, pride, stories, reasons, justifications, and because's. Get to feeling at least neutral about the deep end, instead of avoidance. As you continue, reach for courage, and these will follow: clarity, willingness, acceptance, reason (not reasons), love, joy, peace and enlightenment.
Learning to swim is a lot like learning to ascend, or transcend a new realm. There are teachers, teachings, techniques, and lessons, and effective programs to assist you in your renewing of your mind, spirit, soul. Just go within.
What keeps you out?
That's what it's all about. It's simple really. Connect to your heart. Stay there for a long while. Then engage your mind. If the mind is conflicted in the light of the heart, just allow your mind to be renewed with the weightless life raft of true, real, transcending love. Sprinkle the deep end with love buoys of forgiveness for self, and others. Create unity in your family and your community. Make it your life's work. Be diligent and relentless in teaching yourself how to float and swim in the clear waters of transcendence taking all experiences and wringing them out into beautiful drops of wisdom and grace.
Like the bottomless boats that allow you to see all that transpires, be so translucent that when others see you, they just see the clear waters of your weightless soul, free, swimming and flowing with all that is, for the highest good of all.
And, so it is.
Namaste and, go for a swim won't you?
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