todayichooselove.com

“Wake Up Your Relationships ~ Transform Your Life ~ Heal the World”

This is the tagline that I’ve chosen for this site and for my work.

When I was at a networking event recently, I had a postcard with this on it. More than a couple people read it and replied, “Wow, that’s deep.” And a few days after that, someone else responded, “Heal the World? Yah, right. That’ll never happen.”

I started wondering if this intention of mine is being perceived as just one more example of 60s-style hippie-talk, or maybe as slick marketing hype.

Then I realized it really doesn’t matter to me what other people think about it! I already figured out that I can’t please everyone - or the other side of that: not everybody is going to like me, or agree with what I’m here to say and do.

And even though a tagline is a specific element of a marketing plan, this one also happens to be what I truly believe and am committed to working towards.

Healing the world actually does feel to me like a perfectly natural outcome of people “waking up” their relationships. (I define “Waking Up” as choosing more loving compassionate thoughts, words and actions today than you did yesterday).

I also believe we’re at a crossroads right now. I believe we’re being called to RADICALLY change the way we relate to each other. I know we can’t continue reinforcing a culture - local or global - where our relationships are based on fear, violence, blame, victim, drama, competition, intolerance, or general nastiness. This has got to change, or we’re not going to make it - perhaps at all.

And I honestly believe that it IS changing.

I know it. I feel it. And many people I know all over the world are reporting that they have the same feeling, the same knowing.

I do think we’re waking up - as individuals and as a collective, global consciousness. I think it’s been happening for a long time - generations perhaps. Maybe it’s been happening as long as we humans have inhabited this planet.

Peace. Love. Goodwill. Compassion. It’s not marketing hype. It’s not a rose-colored-glasses view of the world. It’s not hippie-hype. At least not for me.

So, is “Healing the World” really possible? I don’t know. What I DO know is that my contribution to helping us move in that direction is to put one foot in front of the other, and do the best I can to choose more loving thoughts, words and actions today than I did yesterday.

I’m willing to give it a go and see what happens - are you?

Today I had the privilege of participating in a discussion about conscious relationships from a man’s perspective. It was facilitated by two of the most conscious, loving, honest men I know: Chet Sisk, and Tom LaRotanda.

What a joy it was to witness how they graciously showed up in all their humanness. They shared their wisdom and their confusion; their questions and their answers; their confidence and their vulnerabilities; what they’ve learned and what they still don’t know.

I estimate that there were about 40 people there - still more women than men, as is typical for this kind of discussion, but the men who were there were awesome. (So were the women!) As you can imagine, there was a lot of lively discussion, and it was great fun to be in that buzz.

There were lots of great tidbits that I took away - fodder for some great articles in the future. I want to share a few of these nuggets with you here.  Some of these were shared by Tom or by Chet, and some of these are my own thoughts during the conversation:

• Being "conscious" is about being present with your thoughts, feelings and choices - and there are no real textbooks for being present. It’s something we all have to practice and learn, practice and learn, practice some more and learn some more.
• Being "conscious" means being honest - with yourself and with others - about your current thoughts and feelings.
• Being "conscious" is when you ask the question: "What thoughts, words and actions should I choose right now that will keep me in the highest integrity with who I AM and what I’m here to do?"
• We often seek validation through our relationships; being "conscious" is when I know who I am, what I’m here to do, and I know that I’m okay, no matter what another person says about me.
• We don’t know the answers for tomorrow; we have to let each day build on itself.
• We are ALL still working it out.
• There’s a danger in creating a label of what "conscious" should or should not look like, sound like or feel like. Each person’s process of waking up, and how they express themselves through that process is unique.
• This is not a black-and-white kind of deal. It’s not being either conscious or unconscious in your life. It’s a path and a journey along the continuum from less conscious and more conscious.
• Somehow "conscious" has come to focus more on the Feminine energy. We must remember to celebrate BOTH the Divine Masculine and the Divine Feminine in each of us.
• Both the Masculine and the Feminine energies are essential to our existence - one may be more dominant, but they’re BOTH important.
• A "conscious" man who acknowledges and embraces his Feminine energy is no less of a man - he’s actually more of a balanced man.
• A conscious relationship can happen when both partners allow for a graceful dance between expressing their Masculine and Feminine energies.
• We women have to learn how to lovingly honor our men’s need to BE men!

My conclusion? Men who are firmly committed to the path of "waking up" and becoming more conscious are incredibly fun, gorgeous, sexy human beings!

Thank you Tom & Chet!