Living in Answered Prayer in a Limitless Universe

In December 2007, I moved my family, including 2 young children, 6 hours away from everything that was home to us.....for a job I no longer have.

And I couldn't be happier.

Sounds crazy, eh?

I have no desire to relive, or perpetuate by sharing, the drama that led me to be in the position of being without the job for which I moved my family halfway across this state. It really isn't important, other than for me to send gratitude to the person who convinced me to move here, even if the reasons were mostly smoke and mirrors. Or maybe, as more than one person has suggested, the Universe/Spirit conspired to get me where I am, and that person was simply the catalyst. The more events unfold, the more I believe the rapid changes in my life these past months have something to do with my EDINA initiation in the Fall of 2007 (but that is a topic for another post that will be coming in the future).

Hey, whatever it was, it got me here. Here, where I begin the rest of my life.

Here, where I have learned how to truly live.

And I am filled with gratitude.

So. I spent 5+ years on a Master's in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. I took my board exams, filled out the appropriate paperwork, and payed the required fees to the state to get a license to practice. Now what? I watched The Secret awhile back, and have been familiar with the concepts within for many years. Up until this point, they had all been "nice ideas" to intellectualize about. I decided NOW was as good a time as any to really commit myself to this stuff and start moving things forward in my life the way I want them. So now what do I do spiritually to move things along? At first it was all about visualizing myself in a fabulous office space (location, location, location), with a booming practice, many satisfied patients, and money to do all the things I wanted. I focused on this for a long time and opportunities came......and went, here and there.

Inside I was struggling.

Something about fitting into the mold of CAM (Complimentary and Alternative Medicine) was not working for me. My school was very interested in furthering the field of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and strongly urged us to seek to integrate ourselves in with Western Allopathic Doctors. Many of my classmates sought to prove themselves as Primary Caregivers in very westernized clinical settings. I was told, after attending a BodyTalk seminar (that I was very excited about), that I should be wary of "diluting" myself with too many "out there" modalities, that it lessened my credibility, and that of the field as a whole.

So I bought into it.

For years, I focused on my studies (and margaritas, lol) and pushed my interest in energetic healing methods to the back burner. There it simmered, waiting until it was cooked to perfection. I continued my spiritual practice of visualizing myself really enjoying being the head of a booming successful acupuncture practice.

But inside I still struggled.

Something about the vision wasn't working for me. Little tickles in the back of my mind kept leading me to read, seek, and learn. My spirit felt tugged in a different direction. But I wasn't willing to see the part of me that was there, all along, pulling the strings.

Meanwhile, I found a spiritual community of like-minded individuals and literally felt like I had found home. Myself and my family were welcomed with open arms and we began to get involved and connected with this amazing group of souls. I learned many tools that helped to tweak, fine-tune, and discipline my spiritual practice. It was Extreme Makeover: Spirit Edition, and I was ripe for it!

I learned a few very important things:

• That I am a "CO-creator." I'm not doing this alone. I do my part by planting seeds of intentional thought, and the Law/Universe does the work actually growing the plants. "I" am not manifesting anything alone.
• That I need to focus on the "What" not the "How." How could I, in my limited perceptions of the entirety of what there is to know in the universe, even begin to declare what is possible and what is not? It's my job to focus on what outcome I want, and how I want to feel. It's the Law's job to figure out how to rearrange the universe so it manifests to fit the vision I have faithfully held.
• Talk is cheap. The difference between discussion of a lot of nice Spiritual ideas and actual changes appearing in your life is directly mirrored by your level of commitment to, and depth of, your spiritual practice. By spiritual practice, I mean time spent every day in meditation, visualization, and affirmative prayer, and living from a point of gratitude in your life.
  

The more I began to become quiet, the more I started to really listen to that little voice inside my head that was pulling me towards a new path. I decided to "chunk up" a level (or three) with my visualization. Instead of getting so specific about how my space would look, how I'd be making money and being challenged, etc., etc., I simplified my visualization. I focused on being truly happy, challenged, and fulfilled doing something that I enjoyed and that provided for my family. I visualized it being something in the healing and/or spiritual realms that contributed towards raising the consciousness of the planet. That's it. And I focused on how that would feel.

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls” - Joseph Campbell

Once I stopped putting limits on how the universe delivered my happiness and abundance, doors began opening for me. The first was a part-time position through my New Thought Church (specifically Science of Mind) as a youth leader. I applied and didn't get the position, but the process helped me in several ways:

• It helped me to break out of my "box" of how it was possible for me to make my living.
  
• It helped me to realize I was feeling very drawn to taking my healing practice in a totally different direction.
  
• I realized I cannot feel peaceful inside without pursuing what, in my mind, are the highest possible avenues of healing and conscious personal spiritual growth and evolution.
  
• I put myself "out there" and it was a great networking move.
• I learned that I could keep positive in the face of a setback, and hold fast to my vision.
  

And my vision of what I wanted for myself down the line was becoming clearer and clearer all the time. I realized that I want to teach, educate, lead, discuss, enlighten, delve, grow, evolve....... and help others do the same. I want to combine my knowledge and talents in Chinese Medicine, Nutrition, Energy Work, BodyTalk, Yoga, Tai Chi Qi Gong, Meditation, etc. and use it to help raise the consciousness of the planet by helping people to learn to raise their own personal vibrations and anchor deeply in their own Light.

I continued my visualizations with new details coalescing around them as my vision became clearer and clearer for my direction. Something big was coming, I could feel it. The Universe was continually rearranging itself in alignment with the intention I was putting forth. I truly began to understand what it means to live in answered prayer. Regardless of what I was currently seeing out in the world with my eyes, I held to my vision, and the feelings it created for me.

When feelings of anxiety, depression, or worry arose, I would breathe them away.

In, and out.

In, and out.

One afternoon in late March 2008 I was doing some volunteer hours at my Church in the office and something miraculous happened. In walked an ordained disciple of the Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, a member of my church whom I had seen speak and perform before, and had always felt very drawn to. He happened by and stopped in to see if the Senior Minister was in and available for a Spiritual Mind Treatment (aka Affirmative Prayer). Unbeknownst to me, he and the Minister were in the other room praying for, and visualizing the perfect Ministry Assistant to come into his life to help take his ministry to the next level. A few minutes later, he walked back into the office where I was, and told the woman I was with to keep and eye out for anyone who might fit the bill for the position. As he spoke to her about it I listened and started feeling inexplicably drawn to the whole idea. After a bit, I spoke up and he and I started talking. Within 15 minutes he was hugging me and saying "My spiritual sister, I am so glad I have found you!" Not only did he want me for the position, but he saw me as someone to help facilitate portions of his retreats and workshops and work alongside him as well!

Not only was I everything he was looking for, he was so far beyond anything I could have imagined as far someone to help move my life to the next level. Not only had I found a boss, I had found a teacher, a partner, a brother, and a friend. I didn't limit the Universe, and I received a demonstration beyond what I ever could have conceived of myself.

And I am filled with gratitude!