by Connie Habash | Sep 16, 2021 | Articles, Create, Intention, Manifestation, Surrender, Trust
If your life were a book, what would its title be? What chapter are you on now? Impact your next phase of life by creating it intently as you would craft a book.
Some people believe in past lives, but my experience is that we have many lives in this one life. Isn’t your life quite different than it was in your childhood? Perhaps even vastly changed just in the last couple of years. We all go through life phases based on our age, family circumstance, where we live, our occupation, school or college, our health, our relationships, and so much more.
It’s helpful to reflect on your past as a means of gaining wisdom and understanding, completion, and crafting your next phase of life. Each period of our journey through this lifetime is like a chapter in a book. Not only can you reflect on the past by writing your story, but you can impact the future by writing your next chapter (or at least its title) now.
The Past: A Conscious Re-writing of His or Herstory
Looking at our lives as a book gives us the opportunity to write, or rewrite, our history. After all, history is told by those who write the history books, and you are the author of your own life. You may not be able to change the events that have happened, but you can change how you tell their story.
Think about the earlier chapters in your life. You may have characterized them in a certain way – maybe a very painful or disempowering way. But when we reflect on those experiences from a bit of distance, we frequently find what we learned, gained, or developed through those experiences. If we experienced a trauma, for example, we don’t whitewash the events. But we also can discern how they turned us away from a certain lifestyle, initiated a path of healing, or gave us skills that allowed us to help others.
As we consider what titles we would give chapters in our lives, think about the transformation that came from both the joy and the pain. If you had a loss or a painful breakup, you could call it “When My World Ended”, or you could call it “Breaking Up, Breaking Down, and Breaking Open” – into a new understanding of yourself.
Take a moment to pen a few chapter titles – what you would have called your childhood, teen years, college, early career or parenthood, etc. Sort out as many chapters as you can up to just before where you are now. Write the title you would have called it without conscious consideration, and then the more empowering, transformative, revealing title of what you gained from those times.
Your Current Chapter
Alright, now it’s time to sit back and feel into the now… into the present time in your life. You may feel you’re right at the start of a new chapter, smack in the middle, or nearing the end. What is this chapter in your life called? Perhaps you have felt stuck for a while, or it’s been a time of inner struggle. Or you could be riding high on the pinnacle of success. Either way, there’s gifts and insights in this chapter.
Reflect again on where you are now, and how you would typically characterize it. Then go a level deeper. If you’re feeling “Mired in the Mud”, you might consider a rewrite: “The Mud that Stuck Me Until I Awoke” or “Stopping, Stillness, Awaiting the Divine Shift.”
Don’t gloss over an easy or successful chapter, either. We don’t want to take those for granted! Dive in more deeply than just “My Great Success” – what insights are you having? What new vistas are appearing for you? How have you accessed a deeper level of joy or fulfillment? Your chapter might have an even better title, like “How I Up-leveled from Great to Magical”.
Your Next Chapter
Now that you’re more clear about where you are and how you want to tell the story of both your past and your present, what do you want to create next? Imagining the title of your next chapter and its theme can set up the vision and conditions for how it unfolds.
Before you charge into coming up with your next chapter title, though, pause for a moment. Give this a little time. Let go of trying to “figure it out”. I invite you to sit in meditation just a bit, with your mind quiet and your heart open. Open to receive the title from your Higher Self, the Divine.
Ask Spirit about what is unfolding next. This is a co-creation of what you’d like to manifest and what the Divine is guiding you towards. Usually what we are called to, what longs to be expressed from within us is not only personal desire, but also a nudge from Spirit.
Then, allow some titles for that next chapter to come to you. Write down everything – give yourself several titles to choose from. Get creative, playful, and most of all, let the title capture the feeling of what you want to experience rather than the specifics. If you’re in a tough time right now, it can be the light at the end of your tunnel, a rebirth, or a healing process. Some examples: “Finding Myself Again”, “Emerging from the Murky Waters”, or “Stepping Back into Joy”.
Write – or Let It Be Written
When you have the title for your next chapter, you may feel inspired to actually write out some of the story. You can tell a story that supports your intentions for growth, expression, or ease. It can be a time when you’re relaxing and enjoying the fruits of your labors, too – it doesn’t always have to be up-leveling. What vision would you like to put into words for the next part of your journey?
Alternatively, you can let the Divine be the author. Set your intent with the chapter title, capturing the feeling of what you’d like to experience, but surrender the story. Allow Spirit to chart your course and determine the way that the feeling you desire shows up in your life. If we become too attached to a particular form, circumstance, or outcome, we can be disappointed. But if we focus on the feeling we want to have – peace, aliveness, meaning, strength, etc. – and allow the Divine to work out the details, there are a myriad of ways that we can receive what we are asking for.
You are creating the book of your life through the mental stories you tell yourself in every moment. If you aren’t happy with the story you’re telling, you can rewrite from a new perspective. Set your intent of what you want to experience in the next chapter. And if you’re ready, the most powerful practice is simply holding the vision of your desired inner state and release story-telling altogether. Come into the present moment with a quiet mind and open heart, and trust in the Divine to guide you through the next chapter.
by Connie Habash | Jan 19, 2017 | Attention, Choices, Destiny, Intention, Manifestation
Whoa – with a title like “Your Destiny”, you’re bound to give pause. You’ve probably thought about your destiny at a few points in your life. Is destiny pre-determined? Is it a well-defined path that you just plod along? Or do you have something to do with the unfolding of events in your life? And how do the events unfolding in the United States, with a new and controversial president, affect your destiny?
Destiny is, in my opinion, a misunderstood word. We often associate it with the definition of “a pre-determined course of events.” Sometimes, destiny feels like that, as if things had to turn out a certain way, and there was nothing we could do about it.
But destiny is far more than just a fixed roller-coaster ride that you’re committed to and at the whim of as soon as you buckle up. No, destiny is a co-creation that has everything to do with your choices and your attention.
Fatalism vs. Free Will
When we think of something as “destined” to happen, some believe that there was no other choice – it was meant to be. As if our lives were some book that was already written, and when you turn to page “January of 2017” it is declared there what happens, period. This is a fatalistic point of view.
Others believe more in free will – that we determine the course of our lives and make it happen. This is also referred to as manifestation. We create exactly what it is that we want. You may remember the phrase from your high school US history class, “manifest destiny”. This was the idea that there was a divine sanction to spread across the lands of North America and settle on them. In reality, this was using a belief to manifest what people in the newly formed nation wanted: to expand their territory and acquire personal property. They created this destiny through free will by heading west, purchasing territory as well as forcibly acquiring land.
It’s Not That Simple – Yet, It Is
Destiny, in my view, isn’t so cut and dry. It’s not completely pre-determined, set in stone before we were born. Nor can we simply create whatever we want whenever we want it. If we could, we’d all be magically living our ideal lives like an avatar in an online game.
I like this definition of destiny: “the power or agency that determines the course of events”. If you’re more fatalistic, you can view that power as outside yourself. But on the spiritual path, we discover that power is within us. And when we harness that power, we can see that charting our course, to a certain degree, is relatively simple – but not necessarily easy!
You Have the Choice
I recognize that there are a lot of things that influence my life – the weather, my daughter’s moods, and currently the transition of a new president coming into office. These varied external circumstances are not in my immediate control and can definitely affect my life. But they don’t determine it. It’s up to me to decide how to respond to my daughter’s anger, although it’s certainly challenging not to react. When I’m able to respond with patience and calm, rather than blowing up, the result is usually very different. I may not be able to control her moods, but I can determine myself to shift the energy by shifting my own.
You and I have the power to choose, always, how we respond to what happens in life. A recent sermon given by one of my inspirations, Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith, summed up how I want to approach this shift in our nation right now. He asserted to be “aware of situations, but you don’t allow them to determine your destiny.”
There are situations in your life, and in mine, that we can’t avoid and we need to be aware of. But they do not have to determine how your day or your year unfolds. Most importantly, they don’t have to determine how you feel inside, what you believe, and what you create with what you have. You decide that.
Where You Put Your Attention
We can choose to obsess over situations, constantly watch TV and follow the media, and get all in a hissy fit about whatever happens. We can be in fear, or anger, or feel righteous. We can be excited and anticipate change. We can take action, or sit in meditation, or a little of both. What we choose right now will have an impact on our world and our experience.
I’ll repeat myself – your destiny is not determined solely by these events unfolding around you. You can give problems a lot of attention and suffer a lot by ruminating over them. Alternatively, you can focus on solutions and making a difference, on creating something beautiful in your life, or helping out others less fortunate. Where do you want to put your attention? That is the simplest, most important aspect of determining your destiny.
What You Believe, What You Think – Therefore What You Experience
No matter how things unfold in the external world, this time ahead of you can be powerful, transformative, and opening you to new possibilities in your life.
What do you believe is possible? Perhaps this is a time to step out of your previous limitations and see what you are capable of. Perhaps it is a time to step out of complacency and move into action, no matter how small. To realize your potential by stepping forward with visions that have called you for a long time. It starts from determining what you believe, what you value, and standing by that. If you believe it is possible and your thoughts, words, and action align with that belief, then you’ll begin to manifest that destiny.
In the words of Mahatma Gandhi:
Your beliefs become your thoughts
Your thoughts become your words
Your words become your actions
Your actions become your habits
Your habits become your values
Your values become your destiny
As we embark upon this new phase in American history with the incoming president, let this guide you and your destiny. Clarify what you really believe, aligned with a Higher Power. Practice faith in that belief. Support your beliefs with self-awareness in choosing your thoughts, words, and actions mindfully. Develop positive habits that support what you believe, value, and intend in your life. Don’t give up when the weather turns bad – see it as everything else, temporal and changing, and keep your rudder steered in your intended direction. You determine your experience of what is, and can see this unfold into a destiny – that you co-created – beautiful to behold.
by Connie Habash | Apr 9, 2014 | Choices, Consciousness, Create, Manifestation, Patience, Sick, Thoughts, Tired
It’s part 2 of my Not-So Patient Patient story. Yeah, believe it or not.
Now I’m going on 8 weeks of having some sort of bug – I would seem to be almost over one ailment, and then I’d catch something else.
I believe that I’m just about over this cycle. But the journey has deepened again.
My new-found patience led me to explore my internal attitudes. What thought was I holding onto in my consciousness? What could be behind this perpetuated illness?
Then I got angry with my husband about revisiting an old argument I thought we had put to rest. And angry with my daughter about not cooperating when I asked her to pick up her marbles. And I just hate being sick. I’m sick and tired of it!
Uh oh. Did I really just think that? How often have I been thinking that I’m “sick and tired” of it? Could that be behind why I’ve been feeling sick and tired?
Yes, it just might be.
So I’ve been working with my thoughts. And I found that, in both subtle and overt ways, I’ve been holding that energy of being “sick and tired.” My body finally seemed to agree. That’s a problem.
Our thoughts are powerful. We can create, transform, and manifest much of what we desire in life. We can also create what we don’t want, too. If we’re focused on what is a problem and what we don’t want, we may find ourselves experiencing more of it. Are we focusing on problems, or solutions?
This doesn’t mean to be in denial about the problem, but to be very intentional about how we approach it. I am recognizing what is problematic for me in my life, and looking at how I can change it – both on the internal level of my reactions and perceptions, and the external level of my behaviors.
I’m also changing the mantra of “sick and tired” to “I’m Healthy and Trusting”. I’m trusting the process, by being patient and recognizing the purpose for my experience. It is changing the way I respond to life in a positive and empowering way.
Have you been “sick and tired”? What’s the mantra you’ve been repeating? What do you want to change it to? Share it here.
by Connie Habash | Jan 6, 2014 | Awareness, Inspiration, Manifestation, Openness, Possibilities, Potential, Presence, Receiving
I know you’ve made goals and resolutions. You’re thinking about a fresh start, because it’s the new year. Most of us have a long list in mind of what we want to have, create, and achieve after January 1st.
But sometimes, it helps to let go of all that planning, resolving, manifesting, and goal setting. The truth is that All That Is arises from the Ineffable – the Great Mystery.
We often think of the universe as being created with a “divine plan.” This may be true, but I don’t think in the way we have believed it to be. I don’t think there’s a big Being in the sky who wrote out a “user’s guide” (and if they did, why didn’t we get one?!) or a flow chart of how It wanted everything to play out.
Instead, the Source of everything is unknowable and undefinable – a Great Mystery – because doing so would limit it. In the Tao Te Ching, the ancient Chinese text of wisdom by Lao Tzu, it is said that “the Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao.” Infinite, unlimited power, presence, and potential cannot be narrowed down to even a name.
This Tao – the Great Mystery – expands and expresses itself out through everything that is. Every thing that exists has that Divine intelligence within it, and is unfolding from that consciousness into the Infinite potential of what it can be.
It’s not planning itself out. It’s not writing goals, or being a great “manifestor”. It is allowing its own Divine intelligence to unfold into greater potential in each moment.
Consider that something even greater than your best laid plans might be ready to express through you. But if your consciousness is filled with having to set, work towards, and achieve particular goals, check them off your list, and define new ones, there’s no space for unlimited potential to show up.
This year, I have my new year’s intention. But I’m letting go of exactly how that looks. I’m releasing a specific picture of what I want. Instead, I’m opening to the Great Mystery. I am focusing on how I want to feel within, and letting the Great Mystery, which can’t be limited by my imagination, bring in the highest and greatest potential for me.
Ahhh. It feels great. And I’m happier that I’ve been in some time.
Ring in the new year – Ring in the Great Mystery. Tonight, allow yourself to empty out and receive the Great Mystery. Allow it to bring into manifestation your highest good. When you let go and surrender into the Source, greater things appear than you can conceive of.
by Connie Habash | Mar 16, 2013 | Action, Birth, Manifestation, Movement, Play, Rebirth, Spring, Transformation, Uncategorized
As winter comes to an end, I find that I’m a bit antsy. I’ve been sitting with what is all winter, and now the time to sit has come to an end. Spring calls us to come out of our wintering nests and get on the move!
If you’ve been working with the winter energies of listening to the stillness, seeking your inner wisdom, and letting things gestate, then reflect on what you’ve discovered from that process. Notice what is taking shape, uncovered beneath the melting snows of inner reflection. Are some ideas knocking at your door, longing for you to get them started? Is a project that you shelved over the holidays now ready to be completed? Are friends beckoning you to come out of your rabbit hole again and play?
Spring is all about birth, allowing the new and fresh to become manifest. Feel your body. Listen to its impulses. How does it want to move? Where does it want to go? Follow your body’s lead, for its wisdom will take you in the directions of growth and transformation right now, in alignment with the energies of spring. Led your body and your Divine Self spring forth!
What have you got to lose?
If your life were a book, what would its title be? What chapter are you on now? Impact your next phase of life by creating it intently as you would craft a book.
Whoa – with a title like “Your Destiny”, you’re bound to give pause. You’ve probably thought about your destiny at a few points in your life. Is destiny pre-determined? Is it a well-defined path that you just plod along? Or do you have something to do with the unfolding of events in your life? And how do the events unfolding in the United States, with a new and controversial president, affect your destiny?
It’s part 2 of my Not-So Patient Patient story. Yeah, believe it or not.
I know you’ve made goals and resolutions. You’re thinking about a fresh start, because it’s the new year. Most of us have a long list in mind of what we want to have, create, and achieve after January 1st.
As winter comes to an end, I find that I’m a bit antsy. I’ve been sitting with what is all winter, and now the time to sit has come to an end. Spring calls us to come out of our wintering nests and get on the move!
