Chronicles: Alan B. Rowley II - Success Warrior - ECoach - P90X

What is the message that Dragonfly brings?

Over that last week or so, dragonflies have been appearing around me.  Not like "poof, suddenly there's a ninja" kind of appearing and not all of them real dragonflies but they or their likeness has been popping up in various places.

It all started with a very lovely card from Mrs. Chili.  The card had been made for her and was beautiful.  I also like how sturdy it was.  It really felt substantial as I held it.  In today's disposable world, it's an odd and nice sensation.

A few days later, as Trey and I were headed for tee-ball, a dragonfly flew in front of the car for a while.  I just cruised along as it hovered just ahead of the windshield like he was leading the way.  Trey thought it was pretty cool.

A couple days later, my parents invited us over to their house for dinner.  I was sitting there eating quite a weird combination of foods (I think we were invited over to share left-overs) and I looked across the table to the base of the wall.  There was this huge (probably 3 foot wingspan) dragonfly wall decoration.  It hadn't been hung yet and was just resting against the wall.  I didn't ask about it but thought it was out of place. 

A couple of days later, I sat down at the buffet at work to talk to someone about something work related.  The person was to my left.  Across the table and just to the right, there was a woman wearing a grey shirt with a dragonfly pattern on the chest.

So, I decided to find out what it means when Dragonfly shows up in your life.

It has a lot to do with the changing of perceptions, seeing through illusions, using the power of light (more in the context of The Force than actual light), and all of this culminating in some kind of life change.

Very, very, interesting, Mr. Dragonfly.

Spreading Peace?

"Understand that you are a second little world, and that the sun and moon are within you, and also the stars."  - Origen

We are the Universe.

I've been listening to Speaking the Lost Language of God (linked in left sidebar) and I have found it very interesting.  I will finish it up today (which means I can start listening to the one Rick sent me) and I highly recommend this to program to anyone that is open to the idea that we are all connected.  More than connected, we are all part of a whole.  Each person influencing the universe in some way.

Interestingly, according to Gregg Braden, it doesn't take very many people in order to influence a larger group of people toward being more peaceful.  Any community (including the community of Earth) can be influenced by the intention of people equal to the square root of 1 percent. 

We can't end our wars (and it looks like the U.S. might be about to start another one in Pakistan) with anger directed at our government over the wars.  Anger just feeds the anger.  Braden believes that if enough people lived in true peace, things would change (probably in ways we can't predict) and the wars would end. 

The question then becomes, how do we move people toward peace?  How do we move them away from anger, fear, and materialism?

Obviously it starts with each of us but my question is how do we spread that feeling to the rest of the country and world?

So much to say with so little time

So for today, all I will say is, "Peace be the journey."

Aim High

"Everyone practices magic, whether they realize it or not, for magic is the art of attracting particular influences, events, and situations within human life.  Magic is a natural phenomenon because the universe is reflexive, responding to human thoughts, aspirations, and desires;"

"People who don't know what they want usually attract what they need.  This may be a seemingly random series of situations and perhaps unhappy events, destined to jolt them to a higher level of awareness in the long run.  Since the universe does respond to our innnermost desires, true philosophers have always held that one should be idealistic in spirit and perpetually aim to invoke the highest.  People who have a low-minded view of things will discover this reflected in the events of their lives, thus confirming their perspective, while others who are high-minded and invoke the spirit of excellence find themselves capable of attracting it."

- David Fideler from Jesus Christ, Sun of God: Ancient Cosmology and Early Christian Symbolism

I just read this passage the other day and it reaffirms the direction that I want to take this blog and points out something that my wife and I have discussed many times.

If you stagnate for too long, the Universe will do something to urge you to get moving again.  Many times, what the Universe picks as your kick in the ass is not something pleasant.  The Universal wake up call can be harsh.

It is far better that you seek out in your own way the manner in which you will continue to grow as a person.  What do you need?  What do you want?  These are questions that must be continually asked and answered.  There are no destinations in life, just lay overs.  When you achieve one goal, you celebrate and take a short break and then start on the next one.  If you try to make it your final destination, the Universe will give you a nudge.  If you ignore enough nudges, the Universe will give you a hard push.

We have found that it's more enjoyable to work toward our goals from our own sense of direction and for positive reasons than wait for a harsh negative experience to clue us in.