INFECT: 3a : contaminate, corrupt <the inflated writing that infects such stories>
b : to work upon or seize upon so as to induce sympathy, belief, or support <trying to infect their salespeople with their enthusiasm>

Happiness sneaking in with a sly smile,

Surrounding her with brightness.

Sickened, the irony of it -

She needed her dark, open sadness

For creativity’s needy sake.

Though, her grin now found comfort

Upon her own unsuspecting face.

A bit shocked, a bit shaken -

Simplicity in life had found her,

Had come to infect her.

Living had become a pendulum –

She now welcomed the swing of it.

If you liked my piece, you can actually vote for me (or other deserving writers – up to 3). Go for it! Or, you can also give this prompt a try, as well.

Our philosophy of the stretch was that as long as we had the defense on the move to keep from being out leveraged, we would be able to find a running lane, and cut up where their pursuit would allow.  Our tailback executes his assignment and follows the coaching points that we use on this play in the still shots.

Our teaching of the tailback on this play involved creating a series of still shot illustrations with all of the different coaching points in a step-by-step manner.  We feel this type of teaching creates a great foundation for the players, and is much more useful that showing X & O diagrams and going right to video.  This provides a framework for looking for correct and incorrect technique on film.  This is discussed in detail here.

Here is the play from end zone view:

I’m a big believer in using technology to enhance our coaching.  I also like to share what I have learned.  I’m excited about the new format I’ve found that I have used to create my iBook 101+ Pro Style Pistol Offense Plays.  It can be purchased on your iPad at the iBookstore by clicking the link below:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/101+-pro-style-pistol-offense/id611588645?mt=11

So will there be a series of posts again like last week? No, is the short and sweet answer to that question. I decided that this weekend instead I would simply prepare for my newest series of helpful posts starting on Monday. Of course I’m still revising and doing some coursework preparation too. The only exception to this would be if one of these nights actually turned out to be exciting or strange. Last night however I will gladly say went fine, no annoying customers or people who appear to be in such a rush that they literally can’t wait around for more than three seconds.

The weekend doesn’t just consist of this though, like I said I have coursework which I wish to get finished before exam period officially starts and also revision which I want to keep on top of and ensure everything is learnt. Aside from this I’m still learning the guitar in between as a little `break` and also keeping everything else under control too. Busy, I know. 

What’s with the title then? Well, last night and recently in general I’ve been getting a little impatient and constantly looking forward to next year when my educational stage has finished and I finally have the chance to get a job I actually want to do and will enjoy too. Part time work is never anyone’s cup of tea and I’m sure many students feel the same way. This leads me to a bit of exciting news – I’ve applied for Apple for the second time but now I have more time on my hands I’m quite hopeful I will get it. It’s a change of scenery and also something new and exciting, which I like. Granted I’ve only held my current job for just over a year really but like I said; part time work isn’t always fun. 

My question then for you is as follows; does the idea of being stuck in a job you don’t necessarily enjoy or like motivate you even more to push for your goals? 

Have a think – some may not be too bothered and will just see it as `money`, others will not enjoy it at all and actually see it as an annoyance and a waste of time. The answers will be different for lots of reasons but my focus is on what emotional or mental reaction it gives someone with regards to their life choices. 

Ciao for now.

I had the worst day at work today, which I guess has been building, but I feel very sad, so have had a good cry and released all the tension, fears and frustrations!! For those of you that don’t know, I have a very stressful and busy ‘day’ job as well as running my own business Violet-Light! I felt guided to set up my business last year, so I trusted my intuition and put the time and effort into creating my website and setting up things like insurance etc.  I have not regretted a moment of this and it has rewarded me 10-fold.

I was okay to keep doing my ‘day’ job alongside, but now it is no longer fun to do both.  I have been thinking for a while about quitting the ‘day’ job and have decided that this is what I am going to do by the end of this year.

However, I am being pulled so much more in the direction of my business (healing work & readings) I don’t feel like I can wait much longer!! The reason for giving you this background is that I wanted to share with you what it feels like to wait until the time is right to be able to follow your dreams or heart’s desires.  I’m sure many of us feel fed up, frustrated and perhaps a bit angry that Spirit and our Higher Selves has shown us this new path of happiness and we can’t quite grasp it yet!

I feel a bit like the donkey with a man sat on his back holding a stick with a carrot dangling at the end!! The donkey can see the carrot, but no matter how fast he goes can never get the carrot until the man gets off and gives it to him.

It is hard being a human being on Earth right now as we are being pushed and pulled in so many directions!  The energies are fast paced and we are all trying our best to keep our heads above water! As Lightworkers, we know we should listen to our intuition, help to bring in more light for ourselves and others and love ourselves unconditionally. Most of the time I actually find this relatively easy to do, but there are a few days in the year when it all just becomes too much and I have to remember it is okay to feel sad, it’s okay to get frustrated, it’s okay to be angry and it’s a really good thing to let it all out by having a really good cry!!! Today is one of those days!

As you know I am in contact daily with the Spirit world and my guides, so obviously I have asked them for help and advice as to what is happening! Their answer is that I need to wait as it is not the right time to quit! I also feel this in my gut too, so I am waiting, but my patience has nearly run out!! I am partly angry and partly frustrated as I feel ‘stuck’ in a situation where I don’t have any control! This is another lesson for us Lightworkers, as Spirit always says we need to go with the flow & surrender! When I feel like I do today, I turn into a ‘child’ and want to stamp my feet and say I have had enough, you pushed me on to this path and shown me the carrot, why can’t I have a bite of it!!

Then, I stop and think about all the things I have accomplished in terms of my own clearing, learning and development. Plus, think about all the wonderful feedback I have had from clients and other people who I have helped along their path and it stops me behaving like a small child!  I get back to being a Lightworker!

I thought it was important to share my feelings with you because as hard as we all try and live in the moment and surrender, we all have days like the one I had today when things get too much and you just need to be human for an hour or two!

Love Sarah ♥

 Flowering Ocotillo Fouquieria splendens photographed above Hawk Canyon at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, CA, USA.

Vista of the Anza Borrego desert landscape.

Tomorrow is my birthday. That makes today birthday-pre and Sunday birthday-post. I think of it as a birthday sandwich. It’s just an excuse to create three days of “I’m going to do whatever I want” instead of one. It’s especially convenient that my birthday is on a Saturday this year so I have a long week-end of Birthday.
I have a theme for my birthday sandwiches. It’s been an ongoing theme that began when I was fifty. I decided to celebrate my birthday by doing something I had never done before. That first year I went on a solo road trip for the first time. I flew from St. Louis to Seattle, rented a car and drove down the Pacific Coast camping on the beaches of Oregon and California and visiting a couple of friends along the way. It was a two week trip culminating in San Francisco where I visited my sister and then flew back to St. Louis. Prior to this trip, I had been reclaiming my life and this solo trip far from home was a significant act of reclamation.
I was raised under the control of a great and powerful father. He is a man who commands respect and whose word was gospel in our house. It never occurred to me to go against his will as a child. I left his control following graduation from college and moved into a relationship that mirrored my life as a child. I married a man who was very “old school” in his beliefs about family and the roles of men and women. I was so conditioned in this way of thinking it took ten years before I cracked the shell and began to push my way out.
My rebirthing was not a sudden thing. It was a long, slow arduous process. Little by little I tested my boundaries and pushed against the resistance that held me in check. I chose my battles carefully and measured the fall-out against the progress. I was beginning to realize that I had a will of my own and it was ready to be heard and honored. I realized that what Chery thought mattered…to me.
For twenty years I midwifed myself. With the support of a few good friends and a lot of therapy I made my way home to myself. A spiritual meditation and yoga practice and my CranioSacral Therapy business were the most significant structures that supported my becoming. I started to meet people who saw in me more than I was able to see in myself. Those sweet souls who came into my life and “saw” me held up mirrors that allowed me to begin to see myself as they did.
I have continued to celebrate my life each year on my birthday by doing something I have never done before. Often I go somewhere I have never been. The list of birthday events include a trip to Paris, a sailplane ride, a meditation retreat with Gangaji, and last year some friends and I celebrated at a dance retreat in MardeJade, Mexico.
Tomorrow, G and I are going hiking in a remote location not far from our home where there are pictographs and ruins in the Anza Borrego Desert. After the hike we are going soaking at the nearby hot springs and on Sunday we are going to visit a camel farm where we will get to ride a camel for the first time!
Doing anything for the first time is a symbol to me that life is a celebration of new beginnings. Each day is an opportunity to experience a new me that didn’t exist yesterday and explore my surroundings with fresh eyes and an open heart. Life is a blessing to be lived not a problem to be solved, so let the fun begin.

Don’t ask me why. Spirit is moving even if I cannot quite see it. Hence that delectible fog. I imGine there is some wondrous message in it for me. Any more, there’s always a message. I just need to continue being observant and receptive.

I feel like I am gaining some strange sense of clarity on some things. It’s weird to think about the way we often tend to view ourselves in relation to others, and vice versa. I have been noticing this sort of trend where I look at people with some type of expectation based upon what my perception of them happens to be. I seem to place some sort of vision of wisdom or capability upon them, often dismissing the obvious: this person is human, fallible, with the same fears and worries as mine, probably feeling a version of anxiety related to performance or conveyance of wisdom on their part.

I experience this frequently in my work. People come with expectations ranging from apprehension (what if she sees my darkest secrets??), to total faith that I can walk on water and cause the blind to see (she can heal all my ailments with her ‘powers’ and read my future like an open book). I catch myself reminding them that I am not God. I am just the middle person. I can make mistakes or misinterpret something. If that happens, Spirit wasn’t wrong, I just misunderstood.

So what’s this all mean anyways? Why might this be rattling around in my head today? Well I have admittedly been feeling a bit unsteady. Sometimes just the awareness that there are such high expectations of me can drain me.

It is then that I must gently remind myself of what I really do and why I do it. It isn’t up to me after all. I do not control what goes on in a session, and the moment I do put my hands on the controls, it all falls down. I am the conduit, and that’s it.

“Focus little one. Let go. Trust the Divine.
Stop.thinking.so.much” 

So maybe my message today is to just get my head out of the way? Just do whatever I’m called to do in the moment and avoid spending time in my head thinking it to pieces. Adults are so funny that way: we can overthink something and overexamine it to such a degree that we suddenly look around and find ourselves in a corner. I know I am well versed in that process.

As I looked out into the fog this morning I felt such a sense of peace and comfort. Everything seemed so very simple and concise. It seemed in that moment that there was nothing in the world that required the loss of my security and peaceful trust. I want to remain within that space. I want to discover that perfect combination of energies that tip the scales into that balance.

Recent events and shifts have really inspired me to reevaluate my stuff. My focus is beginning to shift around, and though I will not stop doing what I do, its going to be changing a little bit to include more.

I guess we will see what it looks like as the fog lifts.

 Big Sur and fog on a typical day in June.

“Those are some blue eyes you’ve got there, young lady,” she said softly.
“The better to see you with,” I replied.
What am I seeing and what are others seeing in me? How would my perception of my world change if sight left the equation?
I met a man at Esalen a few years ago. His name was Buddy. Buddy was blind from birth. He wore those naked shoes, the kind with toes that have a thin rubber sole that forms to your foot. He told me they had made a big difference in his feeling of security when he walks. Buddy has a blind person’s cane for feeling in front of him but he doesn’t use it much.
The first day he arrived his friend who worked in the kitchen and had guested him on campus took him into the lodge after it was closed so he could feel his way around without any people to deal with. He memorized the placement of the tables and benches, the serving tables, the drink bar and the rest rooms. The next day he was navigating by himself without his cane. I was pretty impressed!
He was eating alone so I sat next to him and introduced myself. In the course of our conversation I learned that he had lived in St. Louis (so had I) and we knew common neighborhoods. I also learned that he was a massage therapist (so am I) and we made plans to do a trade. I don’t know what attracted me to this man at first, perhaps I was so blown away by his independence. He seemed fearless to me. By the end of lunch, with a goodly portion in his beard, I had a found a friend. Enough so that I offered to clean the salad from his beard which got a laugh and welcomed “go for it!”
For the rest of the week Buddy and I hung out. I gave him a CranioSacral treatment and he gave me a massage. His ability to sense tension in my body and know how and where to touch was exquisite. We enjoyed each other’s company. We shared stories and I was continually educated about what life is like without eyes. Not really different from life with eyes!
“How can that be?” I asked him.
As best I can recall, this is what he told me. “We come into this world with varying degrees of sensitivity to our environment. We “read” our surroundings with our senses. You and I are sitting here in the same environment. The fact that you can see and I cannot doesn’t change our environment. I am probably hearing and smelling things that you are not. You are seeing things that I am not. We are both taking in information about our surroundings which is influencing us. We make choices in part based on what we perceive from our environment. My choices and yours may differ because of something you see that I don’t…or something I hear that you don’t. None of that really matters in the end. What matters are peace of mind and feelings of joyousness. These don’t come from sight. They come from insight. They come from gratitude for life in all its forms regardless of the challenges we face.”
I am inspired to be grateful whenever Buddy comes to my mind…not grateful that I can see…grateful that I met him. Ironic this, that a blind man helped me see the world more clearly and live more fearlessly.
Blessings on you, Sweet Buddy, wherever you are.

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Leticia gazed towards Earth long after it was out of sight. She did her best not to think about her daughter. Walter is holed up somewhere in the wilderness with Alex, assuming they got far enough from the nano swarm targets, and clear of its path.

She was almost thankful that the nano outbreak was intelligent, that it would only gobble up threats, and not the Earth entirely. The Singularity wasn’t trying to destroy the planet, just humans. They’ll wait things out. When the chaos settles, he’ll teach her to hunt, to build smokeless fires, to disguise their communication in the sounds of the wild, to live as the first men, shadows in the trees.

He’ll know better than to use those rifles. Too loud, unmistakably human. If the Singularity cared to exterminate the human race completely, and it did, Leticia had reasoned its drones would comb the planet for survivors. They might already be dead. She didn’t allow herself to think anymore about that possibility, no matter how probable. Instead, turned her focus to her own reality. Soon, they’d all be dead.

This ship is a deathtrap. Indeed it was. But the ISA-001, a half-alien ship poorly restored, was also the only spacecraft that could travel through the alien gateway, though the capability had never been tested.  Commonwealth ships had tried to pass through the gateway, only to disintegrate when crossing the barrier.

The damned thing has memories of going through. What choice do we have but to trust it? That the ISA was sentient had never bothered Leticia until she had to live inside of it. It’s watching us, helping us, like an omnipresent, benevolent god. Why?

Leticia had no answers, but she was determined to find out.

I love this quote as it’s so true! I am so happy today and I keep smiling for no reason and dancing round my kitchen!

Happiness is all about enjoying the moment. We may not have fully achieved, succeeded or even started to step into our true heart’s desires, but that is not what happiness is about.  Happiness to me is just being thankful for what we have right NOW and trusting that things will work out when the time is right!

Last week’s energy update was all about patience and how we should start to gather all the information together to help us create the changes we wish to make in the future. This is still a theme for the rest of March, especially this week as the following week will be a powerful combination of energies, so best to use this week to review and think about what you want to do next. Remember, it is still not the best time to make sudden changes, unless you are 100% sure!

The energies of March are building nicely! Yes, we may all still be very busy, but hopefully we have all learnt from January & February’s energies and are that step closer to integrating the changes we needed to make to create more balanced lives.

The energy is starting to speed up again this week, but in a good way, before you let out a groan!! We are in the week ending the 17th March and this will be a very powerful day when all the new energies we brought in, during 2012 and in the last couple of months, are finally integrating themselves within each one of us and Mother Earth.  Looks like the free healing event I am planning with Doctors will Reiki will be a powerful one as it will be on this day, which will help us all with the final integration.

Loads more Lighworkers are awakening and emerging this month.  We are blasting our light everywhere and with more light coming in daily, it is not surprising that the energies are picking up the pace!

This is a short update this week, as the real excitement starts next week! The last message I need to pass on for this week is remember to breathe!! I love how Spirit has a sense of humour!

Wishing you all a blissful week!

Love Sarah ♥

So what was last night like? Not too good, to sum it up. It’s one of those where everything was going wrong and was quickly testing my patience. Bits were going missing, equipment was malfunctioning, mistakes were being made and a lot of work had to be done. Not to mention the two dogs which ran into the store and remained for a while before being picked up again. This all didn’t happen at once either, it seemed to be when the previous annoyance had cleared up. It was literally one thing after another all night.

Therefore following yesterday’s post about ‘burning out’, last night I would dub it as ‘a run out’. It’s is purely due to the fact that my tolerance to annoying situations can wear thin and eventually my patience runs out. This does however take a while! I’m hoping tonight goes a little better than the previous two nights as it’s the last one for the weekend.

I’ll be posting the third and final post in this little mini series tomorrow to let you know of the adventures which may happen tonight. Just a little update for you.

Bye for now.

Regardless of how strong your vision is, the ability to convey that vision to all participants is paramount. In some cases, it even requires that solutions for bypassing participant buy-in should they can not see what the company is trying to do. But, you’ve got to make sure the vision is realistic – and without taking a moment to consider any move from most sides is a recipe for disaster.

In the case of JC Penney, we don’t know how things will play out in the end.  But, the NPR report highlights how the regular JC Penney customers were less than thrilled.  The environment that was created for those consumers was one that they connected with emotionally – to the point you would think they’ve lost a loved one when talking about how it used to be. Though sales were down 30% in Q4 ’12 from ’11, could that be tied to disgruntled regulars?  Or, is it tied to the pains of shifting from one client type to another? By reading the comments below the NPR report, you can see there are enough counter examples pointing to the change being positive for JC Penney.

Recent work with one of my clients has brought the same challenge to light.  How do you bring vision, instill new processes and get buy-in from the people who are key to turning those changes into company success.  Interestingly, the most important people to get buy-in from are not the C-Levels (though they do give the approval on the spend) – it is the people who will be carrying out these new processes. A broken record comes to mind when thinking about how much communication is required to convey what you are intending to do.

Sometimes the illustration of the new versus the old can offend those who are fine with the way that might not be truly effective – so you can’t just rely on illustrating the benefits in light of the situation they are now in. The element of democracy that is prevalent in the workforce these days requires something akin to a PR campaign just to put those new processes in place. Again, you can have the strongest vision and product in place, but if there’s no buy-in, you’ve wasted time and resources. Even with the installation of automated processes, if there’s a human that needs to interact with that process, you need to negotiate and guide them through those growing pains.

Hopefully, JC Penney and Johnson’s team will be given the leeway to work this transition through. Far too many changes are abandoned at the first glimmer of failure. But as with any challenge, there is a sliver of failure, you’ve just got to push through smartly. Because, ultimately, a smart vision and strategic growth always has growing pains as a byproduct. You’ve just got to guide that pain into profit and not breakage.

I had a thought to start this week’s energy update with an inspirational quote and this one gave me a really good feeling! As you know, when you get a good feeling that’s your intuition kicking in and saying YES! I then added it to this post and re-read it, it still gives me a good feeling, but I guess it is not that inspirational! Spirit are telling me that I needed to use this quote as it is what a lot of us are feeling right now! They are saying that a number of Lightworkers feel as though things should have changed a lot more than they have done since 2012.  Therefore this quote sums it up!

We all want to move ahead spiritually and find our true purpose in life.  We want to give up the day jobs if we have them, so we can concentrate on what we truly love.  Sometimes though we have to wait!! They say patience is a virtue and it’s probably one of the hardest things that any of us can achieve with ease!!

March is all about change and the perfect time to gather information and plan what we want out of our lives, so we can start ‘the doing’ in late Spring / Summer months.  We may all feel a bit low since 2012 and the craziness of the last few months, but take heart that change is afoot and this month is the beginning of the evolution!!

The energy this week is slower than we have been experiencing recently, which is a welcome relief! Mercury is in retrograde until the 17th March, which always makes us slow down, go inward and reflect. Please go to this article on more info on what the planets are up to astro-evolution-for-march-2013. The energy will speed up towards the middle and end of this month, but that is for later posts! We will also experience some big power days towards the end of March too, which is why the free healing event I am doing with Doctors with Reiki is important on the 17th! Please sign up if you haven’t already done so, the post is pinned to the top left of Lightworker Community.

So use this week’s energies wisely and take time to let all the energies we have been experiencing over the last few months to fully settle and integrate. Start gathering information about what interests you next, whether that’s a move of home, a new course, going back to study, looking for a new job or expanding your own business.  Start laying the foundations and see what’s out there.  Don’t make any rush decisions unless they feel really good! Just go with the flow and remember there is no rush, even though we may be impatient for things to happen, they will when the time is right. This is not a good energy to push things to fruition!

Wishing you all a blissful week!

Love Sarah ♥

Pretty much any of my close friends will tell you, I am not a night owl in any sense of the world.  Grumpiness arises at around the 11pm-12am if I have not hit the sack by my usual, when life is in order, 9:30pm bedtime.  Ask me to stay up past midnight and you are going to find either a less than friendly Christine on your hands or someone who is almost out of their minds with giddy silliness of rampaging emotions. 

Enter move to the UAE stage right.

There is nothing like a 10 hour time zone difference off how you have slept your entire life to make you rotate you awake time preference to something than what it was before.  Unfortunately, it has not been a complete miracle.  Nope, this whole rotating shifts thing (worst idea ever) keep me in a constant state of upheaval.  Rearranging my sleeping patterns every 3-5 days was just not lending itself to a happy or sane Christine.  So enter another life similarity to my mother at stage left.

Two weeks ago found me in the Director of Nurse’s office asking if there was something we could do about the fact that I keep coming to sleep having not slept the night or day before.  Thankfully, she agreed and as of April I will only have to rotate throught day and night shifts and I get to stick with each for a two week period of time.  Praise God for that!  Hopefully this will be a happy solution to the lack of sleep problem. 

I must confess I like the night shifts…the little angels don’t sleep quietly in their beds most of the time but minus the hustle and bustle of the busy day shifts it is quite nice to have a bit of a slower pace onthese shifts.  More time to actually get to knowthe babies and what is wrong with them.  This night I have been busy snuggling with one of the big ones who eats way too much.  The precious cuties does make the most adorable facial expresions! 

So yes, I do like my job.  That is safe to say.  Plus, it’s Vasantha and I hanging out tonight which means that the talk of pathophisiology is flowing forth from her absolutely amazing brain!  World’s best teacher!!!  Loves her!!!

I’m going to go eat more dry cookies now…little angels are all asleep.:-) 

See if you can find a picture of yourself or your project in the group work we did around the “systems, leadership and coaching shifts.” The first draft of many PD activities were created for leaders at the site and district level, using video vignettes of the CCSS in action. These will provide some valuable resources for us as we continue to help leaders with the shifts necessary for this transformative work.

They throw you the keys and a waybill, tell you to have it back in ten hours and that’s it – you have to go find your cab and go shake your own money loose from the streets. They’re in the business of renting you a taxi, not putting money in your hand. Besides, you’re the new guy and they don’t think you’re gonna be there very long.

Usually they’re right.

The hours are odd no matter how you slice ‘em – either you’re getting up at five in the morning to come to work groggy and tired, or you start just before the sun goes down and work until dawn. They don’t tell you where the Adiago is, or that driving through Chinatown during daylight hours is a sure-fire way to get stuck in traffic or that Turk street is a great route to the Inner Richmond at any hour.

You get lost every single day for months, because that’s the only way to learn. Speaking conversational English is a great help when you get lost, so if you’re lucky enough to be a native or fluent speaker you’re far more able to calm angry passengers when you make a wrong turn. If your English is rudimentary, I’ve been told this part of the learning curve is much harder on you. I can’t speak from personal experience – I’m one of the ones who was born here.

You’ll get burned a few times from people who tell you they’re just running upstairs to grab their wallet; you’ll get asked to take people to buy drugs; if you’re younger, you’ll probably get a blowjob or two. These are all experiences to charge to the game. Don’t get too happy or mad or frustrated – just learn from them, keep moving and you’ll be fine.

If you last long enough to figure out how to pay your rent, eventually it gets easier. The daily stress lessens and things become a little more routine. The money starts coming a little steadier and there’s less feast or famine as you learn to make the most judicious use of your time. Your instincts about when to cut bait on a radio call get sharper and your tolerance for assholes becomes less. You’ve probably thrown people out a few times by now and realized that yes – you are driving the car and you are in charge. The old-timers at the window will see that you’ve stuck around for a while so your shifts will get a little better and maybe they don’t stick you in a van as often.

After a year of full-time work, you’re now an actual cab driver, though there’s still tons to learn. By now you’ve probably gotten a glimpse or two of the darker sides of the business.

Drugs and gambling are the diseases of the industry; speed and football, mostly. Speed is usually the domain of the night driver, taken often initially for utilitarian purposes, though some tweakers become cab drivers because they’re up all night anyways. I’ve even seen a few guys who stay up for days at a time, working for a few different companies and driving three and four eighteen hour days in a row. These guys don’t last long; invariably they get in an accident, a fight with another driver, violate probation, etc.

Be smart and stick to coffee. While you’re at it, keep your drug use to your days off – unless it’s weed, in which case don’t smoke in the car and don’t let anyone see you smoking before you get behind the wheel. And no matter what, your days of drinking and driving are over. Drinking and driving a cab is a big no-no but if you get a DUI outside of work it will virtually guarantee your getting fired. A DUI makes you too high of a risk to the company that insures your taxi and is a guaranteed exit out of the business.

As for gambling… gambling junkies are gambling junkies and they’re gonna do what they’re gonna do. The guys that make foolish bets on football or the ponies or buy scratchers are usually the guys sitting at the airport and in hotel lines waiting for that meter-and-a-half fare that seldom comes. Hell, some of them drive straight down to Lucky Chances and spend their whole shift playing pai gow instead of working. If you’re gonna gamble, do it outside of work and gamble with the money that you’ve made instead of the money that you haven’t yet.

By now you’ve also seen what a lot of the old-timers look like too. Half of them eat fast food from a drive up window and never get out of the cab. They die of heart disease and lung cancer and cirrhosis because they eat garbage and don’t exercise and have shitty circulation from sitting all day. Pack a lunch – it’s the cheapest and fastest way to eat well, plus you don’t have to spend valuable minutes and dollars getting something to eat from a store when you could be working instead.

The owners of your company run a business that you do not share in the profits of, so best to stay clear of them as much as possible. There are plenty of nice people who own cab companies but you’re not really their employee so remember – you don’t actually work there. There is no job security other than paying your gates on time, not getting in accidents and keeping a low profile. The bosses are in the job of making money and dealing with people who get in the way of that so pay your gates and stay off their radar and you’ll be fine. You don’t want to know what they’re up to in the office and they don’t want to know what you’re up to in your cab – keep it that way.

Over a long enough time period, you’ll find yourself working the shifts you want and knowing how to move through the city without wasting a moment. You’ll learn where the speed traps are and find a kick-ass lawyer for the tickets you get. You’ll figure out how to get a shift covered at the last minute and how to pick up extra ones when you’re tight on rent. You’ll know when to ask for time off and how to get it approved. You’ll get a few well-tipping regulars and know when to go home early.

Along the way, you’ll have some adventures which are important because let’s face it – you didn’t get yourself into this business solely for the money, did you?

Didn’t think so.

When we first start out on our spiritual paths, it can be confusing, scary and a bit daunting! There is so much information out there on the web it can be overwhelming to know where to start. This is one of the reasons I wanted to write this article, not just for new Lightworkers, but also for those that have already found their spiritual path too, as when you shift to the next level you normally need to find a new teacher!  I have to say even though I want to share my thoughts with you about what good looks like, the right teacher normally finds you!!

One of the main reasons why we are here is to grow! None of us, no matter who we are or what age we are ever stop learning and developing.

Everyone is unique! We all have different learning styles and spiritual gifts. Our intuition plays a big role in finding the right teacher for us, so we need to listen to ourselves rather than what others think about someone!

You may feel that you are ready to do a new healing course, take up yoga or want to learn more about crystals. That’s the first step in listening to YOU! Once you have decided what you want to do, then start to look for the course that appeals. Trust your gut! If it feels good, then go for it! If you feel comfortable with what you have chosen, then just book yourself on to the course, don’t worry about checking out the person who is running it!  I know that’s a pretty simplistic view, but our spiritual paths are all about trust! Trust yourself that you have made the right choice.

However, if you have a choice between a few different things and they all feel good, then check out the teacher!!  I am going to list a few things that I feel are very important for finding a Reiki / attunement teacher.

Look to see what additional support the teacher offers.  Are they available before and after the course by email / phone? A Reiki course can create a massive shift and you may need support afterwards. A good Reiki Master/Teacher of any style should offer free healing (either distance or in person) if you need it once you have received the attunement(s). Sometimes we can feel unwell or incredibly tired during the 21 day clearing period as our bodies accept and integrate the new energies. If you feel like this it is good to know you have the support from your teacher to help you through. I offer this to all my clients and am able to scan their chakras / bodies to see if there is anything out of balance or any blockages that need help shifting after an attunement. I then send them healing if needed and let them know what I found. I will do this as much as it is needed.

The next check I would do is to understand what work they have done on themselves and ask them about their own spiritual journey. What led them to this point.  The reason why I believe this is important is because the more clearing a person has done, the better a channel they are for healing and giving attunements.  It doesn’t necessarily matter what level you are in Reiki as if you have done lots of other work on yourself, you may be a much clearer channel than someone who is a Reiki Master! This may be hard to believe, so I shall give you an example. I have a friend who has done Usui Reiki level I, yet when we swap healing, the energy she channels is like that of my Reiki teachers! The reason this is the case is that she is a yoga teacher and has also trained in Shiatsu massage. She works on her breathing and being in balance everyday.  She knows all of the key energy centres and understands the human body very well. She is an amazingly clear channel already, yet she has only done Reiki level I!! I have received treatments from a number of Reiki Masters who are not half as good as she is in terms of the energy that can be channelled. The best Reiki teachers are those that have done lots of other spiritual work on themselves and practice it in their daily life.

When I work on someone I can feel how much energy comes through me, as the receiver takes only what they can handle. If the person giving the healing is a lovely clear channel and the person receiving is also very clear then you get a huge amount of energy coming through!! Therefore, if you have done a lot of work on yourself you need someone to at least match if not exceed your energy capacity, otherwise you won’t be getting the full effect! Of course any healing is lovely as it is always wonderful to receive, but if you are looking for a new teacher, then understanding how clear you are and how clear they are is important to recognise.

When people have not done that much work on themselves, it feels to me like they are really ‘full’, which is basically all the junk that they need to clear! Therefore, when I give healing to someone like this, the energy they take in feels like just a trickle, rather than a massive blast when working on someone who is really clear, as this is all they can take in that moment.  Hopefully this gives you an idea of what I mean when I’m talking about being a clear channel.

In summary, when looking for a new Reiki teacher or someone who offers other attunements; ask them about their spiritual path, what work they have done on themselves and what support they offer. Listen to your intuition and if it feels good then you have found the right teacher!

One other point I would like to add is that sometimes when you trust your intuition you may find you get an awful teacher!! This has happened to me twice when I booked in for a couple of different workshops. The reason I’m sharing this is because they both taught me something incredibly valuable, how not to be a teacher! I did wonder if my intuition was going on the fritz after coming out of these as I did not enjoy the workshops like I normally would have. Then I realised that was the lesson! We all need to understand what we don’t like to know what we do like. Then, when the time is right for us to become a teacher, we have already learnt what makes a good one and a bad one. We can then build on this foundation.  So don’t worry if your intuition leads you to a teacher you don’t work well with, look at it as the lesson it is meant to be!

I also want to remind you that each one of us is also a teacher, no matter whether you have just started out or have been working on yourself for a while.  We all learn from each other.  One of the things that has always stayed with me that my Reiki teacher said is that she never knew what she was going to learn about herself next! I asked her what she meant by that and she said, “whenever I teach a Reiki class, my students always teach me something new about myself.” I thought this was wonderful as I was a bit in awe of her! When she told me that I realised that it makes no difference if you are at level I or are a Reiki Master/Teacher, we are all still helping each other to grow.

Love Sarah ♥

So I was thinking a week of integration would probably be a good idea, I slept in yesterday, got up and did my oil pulling, an hour of yoga, and then had my green smoothie.  Just when I think I know what the plan is it all changes, all of a sudden a house sit that didn’t happen is on again at short notice for an indeterminate time. It’s good news really, but then I find myself sitting and writing and the sense of stuff moving in my belly is back, it’s like what some people call butterflies but there isn’t anything to be nervous about.

I love my life, but I do have moments when I wonder about this constant processing, why can’t I have longer periods of clarity before things start getting triggered again! The answer is simple but I don’t have to like it, I just happen to have a lot of trauma, in layer upon layer, and I have an obsessive need to keep clearing it away. Can I really heal everything in this lifetime? There are some who would say that’s a crazy ambition, but even though I might have some complaints about the details at times, I keep moving into deeper states of ecstasy, and I am happy most of the time even when I have uncomfortable stuff moving through.

So I guess I will just have to integrate and process simultaneously, after all I do describe myself as a shamanic practitioner and shamans are the ultimate interdimensional multi-taskers!

Shamans transmit to their people in sign, song, and dance the nature of the cosmic geography that has been revealed to them in the process of initiation trances and soul journeys. Map-makers and myth-dancers, shamans live internally in a multi-dimensional realm continuous with so-called ordinary reality.

Joan Halifax (Shaman: The Wounded Healer, New York, Crossroad, 1982. P 66.)

Leticia Dos Santos, the Earth’s smartest woman had no time to be a mother. “It’s a waste of her talent,” her colleagues and employees said. Only one had the courage to say it to her face: Martina Graff, Chief Financial Officer at Higgs Boson, Inc.

“I can’t believe that you of all people can’t contain your primal instincts. Have you thought about how this will delay our research? We need your leadership. You know that. We need you to connect the dots. Billions of women can have babies. No one, I mean no one on this planet can think the way you do. Maybe Kosoko Bello, but that man is socially inept, a lab rat and a stone wall. Not leadership material, not a Higgs Boson man.”

“I find him rather charming, actually,” Leticia interrupted, her fingers dancing around her keyboard as she composed a letter to her employees at Higgs Boson, Inc.

“I am of course happy for you, but seriously, Leticia, what were you thinking? Is it too late to get an abortion? Of course you’re not. Never mind. How long will you be gone once it’s born? A week? Two?”

“Today’s my last day.”

“You’re not due for a month.”

“I’m resigning.” Leticia Dos Santos double-flicked her finger right index finger, letting her computer know to send the email. “Effective immediately, I am no longer CEO or President of H-B-I.” Leticia did not just want to have a baby; she wanted to raise her child, an archaic, uncommon practice in all but the poorest countries.

Primal

Agent Red was not surprised by how much Leticia already knew about the Singularity threat. Between her genius circle of friends, her backdoor (and illegal) access to the Commonwealth’s top-secret servers, and her own nearly unquantifiable intelligence, Leticia had arrived in Houston well aware of the “secret” agenda and points of conversation. She even had some recommendations on how to slow the artificial super intelligence, for which Agent Red had to interrupt their meeting —rather apologetically— to get the security team working on the advice.

What surprised the agent, given the circumstances, was how quickly Leticia ended the conversation when he offered her a ticket onboard the ISA-001.  Still, he pleaded,

“We’re not going to beat this thing. I’m asking you to help our species survive.”

“I don’t care,” Leticia said. And she meant it. There was no time to waste. She would go back home to Malibu on her private jet. She’d have a helicopter waiting at Los Angeles International. Whatever time was left (weeks, days, hours?), she’d spend with her husband and daughter.

“Please think about it.”

“Go to hell,” Leticia said before slamming the door behind her.

Before takeoff, and again midflight, Leticia called her husband. He didn’t answer. She tried to log into their security system but it was offline.

Leticia jumped out of the Higgs Boson helicopter before it had touched down and raced inside her house. “Alex! Walt!” When no one answered, she checked every room in the small mansion.

Finding no one, she brought the security system back online from her office and watched the last half-minute of video:

Alexandra hugged Walter’s leg by the front entrance. She seemed happy, excited, a large backpack (far too big for her small, seven year old frame) strapped around her shoulders. Next to Walter, on the floor, lay a large duffle bag, his shotgun, and rifle. Walter held an envelope and a couple of loose papers in his hands. First he held the envelope up to the camera then placed it on the wooden stool by the front door. Next he held up the loose papers, one-by-one. They read: (1) You should go. (2) You won’t find us. (3) Love you forever. Walter then placed the large notes over the envelope on the stool, pulled a small tablet from his back pocket and shut off the security system.

March is a high energy month, whereas this week is a funny energy as it is neither high or low, but not really in the middle either!! I’m probably not making much sense, but what I pick up is a rest period in between two very hectic months (Jan & Feb) and a big change month (March). This week is the bridge between the two energies. I found it quite hard to tune into the energies of this week as they feel ‘floaty’, neither one thing or an another!! That being said, the energy of this week feels rather nice, a bit like being wrapped in a warm, fluffy blanket when it’s freezing cold outside!

This week is a time for reflection, quiet moments and curling up with a good book.  Some of you reading this may think that sounds nice, but I have too much to do, so I can’t indulge myself in a break away from the norm! You don’t have to stop what you are doing, just slow yourself down a fraction rather than doing everything at warp speed! I am being told this is a recovery week for a lot of people and I am including myself in this statement!  The last couple of months have been tough going and we all need a break, even if it is just for a few minutes a day this week!

So just breathe and slow it down. If you breathe properly for a minute right into your belly, you will feel yourself start to relax. This is the first step. Then once you have done this, just close your eyes and think of a colour.  Whatever colour pops into your head is the one you need more of in your life to help you slow down and just be. Surround yourself with this colour, this can be as simple as looking at a picture, wearing a scarf or visualising yourself surrounded by the colour you think of.  I am a big believer in colour healing and I need lots of the colour blue this week and I am writing this with a blue scarf wrapped round my neck! I have worn this all day and I feel loads better than I did this morning!! Colour really does work to help re-balance us. I use colour in all areas of my life and in all my healing work. I am being guided to work with colour more & more since my last shift, so I know this is an important area that Spirit want us to use more often.  Those of you reading this will realise what I mean once you do the exercise above.

Use the energies of this week to slow yourself down, breathe into your belly and use colour to re-balance. It will help you more than you think!

Wishing you all a blissful week!

Love Sarah ♥

~George Iles~

I wanted to start this month’s energy update with a quote about hope and faith because it’s what I’m holding on to right now.  I’m in a new place spiritually and feel alone, yet surrounded by love.  My main gift, as most of you know, is clairaudiance, but as I am changing and shifting, so are my gifts and how I use them.  It was so easy to write my previous updates as my guides just spoke to me and I wrote what they said.  They are not giving me this information in just words any more and I’m finding it hard to accept this new way of being!

I feel all at sea and I have doubted my gifts over these last few weeks.  When we grow, it takes a while for the new energies to integrate.  This is true of any growth, not just spiritual growth.  If we move home or change jobs, it shifts us into a new way of being.  We need to find our feet and learn the ropes of where we are now!

A good friend and teacher of mine explained what was happening to me yesterday when I told her it feels strange not to be able to just have a conversation with Spirit like I used to. She reminded me ‘we are all one’. As we step more fully into our power and grow spiritually, so do our gifts and how we use them.

She said that if I only heard the information in words I may be missing out on other meanings and interpretations of what was being given to me.  Life is not one dimensional and nor is the Spirit world or our senses.  This finally made sense to me as I have been battling with this new way of working for the last few months.  I am now ready to receive the information being given in all forms, not just in words.  I can still have conversations with Spirit when this is appropriate, but now I get everything as well! It’s difficult to explain as I kind of just know, feel, see or hear what I need to write, say or do!  Like all new ways of working, this will take some time to get used too, but I know this is the next shift for me and I need to just go with the flow!!

The reason I felt like sharing this with you in the March energy update is because 2013 is about evolution and March is one of the power month’s for this.

“We are evolving from a species that pursues external power
into a species that pursues Authentic Power…
Authentic power has its roots in the deepest source of our being.
An authentically empowered person
is incapable of making anyone or anything a victim.
An authentically empowered person is one who is so strong, so empowered,
that the idea of using force against another
is not a part of his or her consciousness.”

~ Gary Zukav ~

We are evolving into multi sensory humans and our spiritual growth is a constant throughout 2013.  This is the year of change.  We may not enjoy change, especially when it is outside of our control.  We may not feel ready for it and we may need to ask others for help when we are in the midst of it.  If you feel like this, know you are not alone.  Many Lightworkers are facing big changes right now.  The energies of January and February have been the catalysts to show us where we are heading.  The intense energies we have all been experiencing have shown us the light, in some respects, as they have opened our eyes to the changes we each need to make to create happier and more balanced lives. These changes are necessary and beneficial to the whole of humanity as when we grow and change we enable more light to come in to help others.

March is one of the big month’s this year in terms of change. You may not see major change occurring this month, but you will definitely see and feel the change in the air!  March’s energies are crystal clear, just like that feeling you get on a really cold day, but when the sun is shinning too! As you step outside the air feels crisp and fresh, but when you turn your face towards the sun it smiles down on you giving you a lovely warm feeling inside.

March is a high energy month. It is a great time to think about your plan of action for the future.  However, it is not the best energy to actually go ahead and make those changes.  The energy is great for planning, thinking, understanding and gathering information rather than doing! So use the energies of March to decide what you are going to do, how you are going to do it and when these changes should take place.  May & June are the best month’s to do the doing!

Wishing you all a blissful month!

Love Sarah ♥

At that time I was reading Louise Hay’s “You Can Heal Your Life” and I took it fully on board, I was meditating every morning and at night before I went to sleep, and working with affirmations which are a big part of her teachings. It was a beginning of my integration process, bringing the understandings and the knowledge from the realm of spirit into the rest of my existence.

And so it began, the deeper journey into the understanding of my spiritual life, and in time the knowing of what it is I came here to do. That came in snippets over the years, you kind of build layers over time and the more that you dive into that place the more you receive the knowledge that I believe is inside each and every one of us.

If you keep reading my posts I will gradually share much of this with you, as well as what is currently unfolding, but for now let me come back to where I began, with the notion of integration. Spiritual practices are a wonderful way to integrate big shifts, meditation, yoga, sound healing, the list goes on and my basic philosophy is, if it works then go for it! There isn’t a right or wrong way to do this stuff, some of my ways of integrating I couldn’t possibly describe to you because they are so intuitive and in the moment.

Enjoy the joy that comes with the shedding of your excess baggage, dance in the light and embrace every moment of pure happiness! I began this post talking about sitting meditation and that really is delicious , but tonight much of my joy has been expressed through dance. When I move my body through space responding to divine sounds I am in heaven, nirvana, whatever you want to call it, on a journey that can only contain happy endings.

Blissful blessings to all life dancing upon the sacred space of existence, the eternal place of the heart.

http://www.divinedance.com.au/about-divine-dance