Like asking the eagle to lumber or bear to fly, you will never find your own graceful state of being by looking outward for direction. Grace appears when you step inward to your unique essence and walk your own path. (108) Humans Being is a book dedicated to all who long to find their voice, pursue their passion, and live more fulfilling, creative, and healthier lives. It offers a simple framework in the form of the Universal Soul Grid for reconnecting with unique purpose and voice and for recognizing unconscious choices that block creativity, insight, and lives of ease. The exercises are designed to provide practice fields for readers to engage at their own pace and to reinforce what it means to live in grace, listen to the heart, and lead a life of clarity and courage. The path to lives of ease and grace is available to all, and yet: Not all of us have been engaging all aspects of this path. But its influence and prompting in your life become clear when you look squarely at who you are becoming, the results of your choices, and the relative ease or difficulty of your life. The simple truth in your heart-in whatever form you recognize it-serves your own unique journey. As long as you remember that point, faith and courage more easily follow. The desire to open your eyes and see where you invest your energy to hold yourself back-for whatever reason-becomes a curiosity, rather than a failure. And the possibility of greatness and living your dreams emerges much more clearly. (p. 15)
Humans Being
Creating Your Life From the Inside OutBy LOU ANN DALYAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2009 LOU ANN DALY, PH.D.
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4389-6596-3Contents
Imagine the Impact........................................................1The Journey...............................................................5In Service of Truth ... and Ease..........................................9I Never Met A Distraction I Didn't Like...................................15In-Dwelling...............................................................20My Experience.............................................................23Create the Space to Go Inward.............................................26Shine the Light on Unconscious Patterns and Behaviors.....................49Discern Inner Wisdom from Noise...........................................60Reflection Checklist......................................................70Conscious Living By Design................................................74Design Your Garden for Growth.............................................75Step into Your Grace......................................................93Speak from Your Heart.....................................................103Lead from Wisdom..........................................................112Reflection Checklist (Revisited)..........................................122Finding Your Self on the Universal Soul Grid..............................124Path to Mastery...........................................................137Glossary..................................................................146Table of Exercises........................................................148End Notes.................................................................149
Chapter One
Imagine the Impact
If one cell can mutate and multiply to the point of transforming a healthy body, imagine what one healthy person who touches and inspires others can do. Imagine a world filled with people who choose joy, health, and peace, people who foster abundance rather than scarcity. What if I told you this is not a pipe dream if you choose to make it real? Stop for a moment and think about how your impact on the health of the world could transform lives today if you choose to lead life from your heart. Imagine.
What would be possible in places of learning around the world?
With more conscious teachers, staff, and administrators, schools could become cultures of celebration where diversity is welcomed, embraced, and sought for the richness it brings to the learning experience. Students would learn from role models how to live from the wisdom of their hearts and greet differences with receptivity and curiosity. Differences would become growth opportunities rather than sources of fear and alienation.
When administrators see their work as creating environments where all school personnel celebrate contributions-in whatever form they take-there will be a place for everyone to bring whatever gifts she or he has. Our educational systems would change-one teacher, one administrator, one custodian at a time. By building on a foundation of leaders "being," becoming more whole as individuals, and creating cultures of celebration, teachers and other school leaders would create a whole new context for learning, and a brighter future for learners.
What could happen if social systems change?
Imagine what would be possible when the leaders and workers focus less on heroic rescuing and more on helping those they serve to live into their own gifts and potential. Imagine what could change when the leaders choose to reconnect with their hearts and disconnect from ego-driven roles where they unconsciously take accountability for other people's lives. By unconsciously doing what we have always done in large social systems such as health care and child and family services, we create cultures of entitlement, dependency, and hopelessness. These are not the qualities that result from conscious choice and courage.
What is possible when people see others in need and consciously choose to help is what happens whenever we experience a natural disaster. People step into the Highest in themselves and focus on raising others up, until those in need can help themselves. What if our social systems did the same? Imagine what could happen if social systems were designed to remind people that their voices make a difference and their gifts matter. No more focus on hand outs; instead hands would be outstretched contributing and sharing the abundance of gifts in all people.
What could happen if business leaders drive conscious choices in the workplace?
Imagine what it would be like for leaders at every level of an organization to consciously consider who they will be, what they will stand for, and what kinds of organizational cultures they will make their personal legacy.
Conversations would change to support courageous decision-making, rather than fear-based silence or withdrawal. Intentions would matter. The ways we treat each other in getting the work done would matter. We could learn to see the whole person instead of the role someone holds in the organization. Imagine what it could be like to work in a company that inspires its people to develop themselves and each other, rather than fear and compete with each other.
It would not be so difficult to imagine a workplace where the whole person comes to work and people communicate in ways that continuously support the best in themselves and in each other. Imagine working in such workplaces everyday-and imagine the levels of inspired innovation and business results!
How could being more conscious change parenting?
Imagine remembering-in every interaction-the dreams you hold for your child and for the kind of parent you want to be with him or her.
Conscious parents would return to the clarity of their heart to ask whether the way they are behaving or choosing to respond in a particular situation is consistent with the kind of parent they choose to be. Conscious parents would be acutely aware of their own gifts and passions, modeling for their children the journey of following their hearts.
Imagine how our children would be raised when parents feel celebrated, valued, and connected with what is Highest in them. Imagine.
If we were more conscious, what kind of world could we create?
What does it take to create a world where people live into their potential while supporting the best in each other? It takes conscious choice-that's it. By waking up to what our hearts know and choosing to follow the wisdom and truth of our very being, we create a place for individuals, communities, and whole nations to prosper.
World peace starts with inner peace and inner peace starts with going inward to discern what is true in your heart. The awareness that comes from living that truth creates a spirit of generosity, grace, and gratitude. It is about listening, not telling. It is about asking who people want to be and what they want to create. It is about raising each other up to fulfill dreams. It is not about who gets more. Awareness means knowing that there is enough for everyone.
More conscious people would experience inner peace and create environments where others learn that they can have the same, if they choose. Leaders would live into their potential. Abundance. Clarity. Courage. This is leadership from the inside out. It is about being. The conscious path for each person relies on connecting with the wisdom and truth inside. And the good news is that everyone can have access. Inner peace. World peace. The invitation is open to everyone-to you. You choose.
Imagine the impact.
I see it every day in the people who make the choice to discover the truth in their hearts. These people come from different geographies, communities, social classes, ethnicities, genders, and ages. They come from all walks of life. What they have in common is the willingness and desire to discover how to make a difference by being different, by choosing to follow their truth, and by helping others to do the same.
These wonderful people are working at high levels in business and education and on the front lines in all kinds of companies and organizations. They are parents and children, friends, and managers. Some are preparing to retire, others to start families of their own. All inspire others by their courage to stand tall when conventional wisdom and outside forces don't support their decisions. And all teach by being, by sharing the dream, and having the courage to live from their hearts.
They are learning to listen to the wisdom of their hearts. And they are learning to trust their own wisdom over the norms of social convention and rules for belonging that curb their uniqueness and individuality. They are exploring how to stay true to themselves while creating more opportunities for friends and coworkers to be true to the best in themselves. They are learning to stay present-to pay attention to what is happening and to what they feel in each moment. They are reconnecting with the joy of following their passions and rediscovering what those passions are.
They are paying attention to how they distract themselves from being present every day by listening to the voices in their heads that remind them what they "should" be doing. And they are learning to let go and dance with life's playful rhythms. Just as important, they are developing networks of support to help each other find their Highest potential, step into it, and relish every moment of discovery. They are stepping with more confidence into the full power of their individual and collective voices-something we desperately need in our world today.
We are living in a time of massive institutional failure. Our large social systems-government, economy, education, health care, business, religion, social services, and others-have been imploding under the weight of blind conformity to structures that have long since outlived their intended purpose. As we become more conscious and more awake, individuals are speaking up more about what is called for in this period in our history. We hear more about the need for a new world order. It is a simpler, more inclusive order that calls us to be accountable for leading our own lives and choosing how to invest our energy. It can't come from the old ways of thinking-that being complicated and difficult makes something more important, or that some outside authority will provide the answers.
We need exactly the opposite. It is time to start from simple truths. It is time to look inward for answers-not outward to authority figures and media to give events meaning. It is time to accept nothing without asking if it is true for your heart today. Know your own wisdom and truth, and shine your light for others to do the same-in their own time and in their own ways.
This book is about that journey inward to the heart and conscious choice. It is about the world we can create together when we choose consciously from the heart and help each other to keep doing so every day. The choice is yours. It is always yours.
Imagine the life you want to lead and the impact you want to have.
You choose.
The Journey
Did you know there is a whole conspiracy of support for you having a life of meaning, ease, and joy? Not feeling it? Check again. It is there. Are you aware of how much energy you use fighting the path of ease and personal fulfillment? Seriously, your life and everything in it either leads you to walk your own path with sheer delight and lightness or to unconsciously impose challenges and burdens that distract you from your own calling. In the latter case, your choices at best provide moments of respite, at worst continuous pain.
The life of joy, profound peace, and fulfillment is a life lived consciously. Stop for a moment and reflect on that. What that statement means is that for you to have the life of your dreams, you need to be awake-and keep your eyes wide open throughout. It does not have to be scary. It does not have to be dark or heavy. In fact, it can be simply delightful, engaging, and wondrous-if that is what you choose. Here is how it works:
Each choice to be true to your Highest Self leads closer to a life of purpose; each distraction from living your truth takes you away. You experience fulfillment and meaningfulness when you stand in your own light and operate from truth, instead of living in the shadow of your potential. Remember that your purpose is yours. No one else can access the truth of your heart as you can. The essence of who you become when you feel joyful, when you feel light and free, when you are able to see the gifts in all that happens is your Highest Self. We all have one. It is our truth. Sometimes it gets buried under everyday distractions, but it is there-always.
If you consider that you are perfectly designed at the core to lead a life of experiences that serve the highest and best in you, you begin to look at your health, qualities, gifts, and dreams differently. The package you arrived in-your physical body-serves your purpose. Do you know how? Are you using it effectively? The unique gifts and talents that make you who you are support your purpose. Do you know how? Are you using them in a way that feels true and uplifting to you or are you trying to conform to others' expectations of you?
What makes your life one of ease and joy is how you choose to respond to whatever happens and whoever walks into or out of your life. Fundamentally and most simply, your heart knows your purpose; and your head-which is filled with the voices of others that you have internalized over the years (all the shoulds and ought to's)-presents inviting ways to distract you from your path, choosing instead to stay in the perceived comfort of the status quo. In the distracted life, you lead with your head; in the conscious life, you lead with your heart. You need both head and heart. Which one leads makes all the difference.
That's it. That's really all there is. The rest is about "how". So for those of you who like ideas and think you already "got it," you may not want to read the rest of this book. For those of you who want to do something that can reconnect you with your light, laughter, and truth, the rest of the book is designed to help you on the path. Get cozy. The journey is quite enjoyable, if you give yourself permission to relax.
One of the first things you may encounter is the realization that you have lost touch with who you are. Many people do not have any real idea of who they are, what brings them joy, what fills them with meaning, excitement, and profound peace. Instead, they define themselves and their lives by what they do, the hats they wear, and the titles or roles they fill. Any identity of Self with "doing" is a distraction that takes you off path.
WHO YOU ARE [??] WHAT YOU DO
If what you do brings you joy and fills you with energy, keep doing it. If not, stop it. The choice is yours to stay or change. Distract yourself from your heart's desires or wake up and choose who you will be and what brings you joy.
The path to conscious living, eyes wide open, does not need to be dark or difficult. In fact, I know it to be irresistibly funny, an adventure of the highest making, and open to everyone who chooses it. So prepare to let go of self-criticism and guilt. There is no room for these two responses to life here. Drama doesn't fit either. If your identity is built on melodrama and you are not willing to let go of that drama, you are probably not ready for this particular approach. Nothing personal. It just won't work for you.
This journey is about reconnecting with your brilliant and most engaging Self. It is about discovering or re-discovering the things that most tickle you and then choosing how to design your life with them in it. It is about understanding a few fundamentals that support all of us on earth in living consciously. And it is about cultivating the soil in which to plant and grow your Highest Self in every context in which you find yourself.
As with the process of life itself, it is not complicated. It is elegantly simple. Life is not difficult. Humans who are not awake make it so, but Life itself isn't. The entire process can be described on a simple little organic grid that is defined by two core processes and two points of contact.
The grid is called the Universal Soul Grid, because it applies to all conscious life forms (that would be you and me for starters). It works like this:
First there is a contact point called Home. Home refers to who you are when you are your Highest Self. It holds your truth and wisdom. It is the best and highest in you, prior to any "lessons" learned in life. It is your inner world. Away is the only other contact point and it refers to the world of human standards, rules for success, and social conventions about what is considered right and wrong, good and bad, success and failure. It refers to your outer or external world.
The two processes that support conscious living are:
the shift from unconscious relationship with external forces and head distractions to conscious relationship with your heart, Truth, and Highest Self -the path from Away towards Home, and
the conscious integration of the inner world of Highest Self with the outer world of human relationships and everyday life-the path from Home to Away
The first process is called In-Dwelling. It is the journey inward to reconnect with your deepest passions and wisdom. The second process is called Conscious Living or Living-By Design. This process is the one that helps you to change your relationships with every part of your life in ways that support the Best and Highest in you and the people you touch.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Humans Beingby LOU ANN DALY Copyright © 2009 by LOU ANN DALY, PH.D.. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
