Let's talk money. I would say it is a subject that I love, but in all honesty, it is a subject that until recently I did not spend much time thinking about at all. I know what I want and I trust I will have the financial means to get what I want. I am much more excited about the end thing that money helps me get, including working from home, working part time, and new Ugg boots to keep my toes warm in the Illinois winter. Ming Chee and I started a Facebook Coaching group called, Being Present to Serve, where we talked about our amazingly similar philosophy towards money. And, now, we are taking our show on the road to Newport Beach, CA on Feb 24th and 25th to talk about Metaphysical Money. What is Metaphysical Money? We named our workshop Metaphysical Money because this is not a Suze Orman or David Ramsey How To money course (fyi - I love Suze and her jackets - just not how I do the money thing). met·a·phys·ics ˌmedəˈfiziks/ noun noun: metaphysics
I loved reading the definition of metaphysics, because that is exactly how we relate to money! It is based on the first principle of things - using energy to create. I also love "abstract theory with no basis in reality" which explains exactly what we will be doing for two days. We invite each of you (whether you will be there in person or not) to set aside any of your beliefs about what is possible, how money works, and how it is earned and come in ready to create money by changing your energetic relationship to abundance. All of the beliefs about money are just that, beliefs. It is time to examine what we believe and see if those beliefs are helping us create better and faster or if they are actually holding us back. For example, a belief that I many people have is, "you have to work to make money". That is just not a belief I have. I know money can come from all kinds of interesting ways and I know money comes the fastest from when I show up and genuinely help others (whether I charge for it, or just make muffins for a neighbor). I know the actions where I am of service are the actions that attract more financial abundance into my life. And, the places where I am of service in a way that uplifts me, that is the best service I can give to another. Do your money beliefs need an upgrade? One of the most interesting exercises I went through was where I had to write down every belief I had about money and where it came from. I had beliefs from my mom, my dad, and my grandmother. I noticed that most of the beliefs I kept were from my grandmother and therefore had a fairly healthy relationship with money, even though, she grew up in the depression. She believed an Islamic principle so strongly that she lived her life by it. It is the concept of Rizak. This concept says that everything you get comes from God and is determined from God. The example that is often used is in losing your job or having something stolen, and then by miracle, someone else gives you what you need to make ends meet this month. That is because that sustenance was always meant for you from God. And, therefore, you do not need to "worry" about money, because your money has been put in a trust for you and that trust may be held by hundreds of people, including someone who pays for your coffee in the line before you, they were holding a part of your trust. That is the concept of Rizak in Islam. Once I learned this, I understood there is no need to worry about money. What I need will be provided in the means that is right for whatever life lesson I need to learn at the time. I may need to learn to live on less, and then less will be provided. I may have a big job ahead of me to help others, and then more is provided, because I have been entrusted with more money that is for other people. This spiritual concept takes "me" out of the money equation. It is all handled. My only job is to show up and be of service, the money will take care of itself. What are you here to create? During our workshop, we will be focused on being the people that we need to be in order to fulfill our contribution to the world. I use this example all the time. If you have been hired to paint my house, which is three stories high, and you need a ladder to paint it, wouldn't I do whatever I need to do to get you a ladder? I mean, I want the house painted. I can get a ladder from the garage or borrow a ladder from a neighbor but it is in my best interest to get you a ladder. In fact, it would make no sense for me to say, "nope, not getting you a ladder". When we are clear what we are going to create with the financial abundance we seek, the financial abundance (aka the ladder) will show up. Getting clear on how you want to contribute opens the door to the money coming. People who say, "when I have the money I will...", are just delaying their contribution. When they say, "I am going to start contributing today, even if it is just painting one part of the house" that is when the money shows up. You must decide to be the person you are capable of being and when you do, all the resources you need to be that person will show up. I mean, how could it not? FOMO? One more real life example. Lately, my facebook feed has been filled with bitcoin. I don't know much about it. It is some kind of digital currency. And, I found myself thinking, I wonder if I should learn more about bitcoin? Here is how Metaphysical Money works... if I need to know more about bitcoin, then someone will come up to me and say, "hey, Amina, have you heard about bitcoin? I have this great resource about it that you may want to check out!". Then, about 15 minutes later, someone else will post about bitcoin on my page. And, then the next day, someone else will tell me their experience with bitcoin. And, next thing you know, I have learned enough about bitcoin to either be part of it or not. I do not need to worry about FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) because there is no such thing. The experiences that are right for my life will find me. I don't have to go searching for them. I remember when I was looking for a relationship, people told me, "you have to get out there, Mr. Right is not going to come knock at your door or show up at your workplace." Well, guess what, he showed up at a place where I was doing training. "What is meant to be will always find a way" - Trisha Yearwood. I believe that. So, relax. Lay back. Allow. Your money is handled. Instead of "figuring out" money, figure out how to contribute to the world, knowing what you need will be handled. Instead of reading another book or attending another seminar, get in touch with the higher vibration of contribution, certainty, self-love, presence and purpose. And, if you want to connect to that vibe (whether it is related to money or anything else) you can come hang out with Ming and I who will be operating from that frequency all weekend long!
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"I hate myself", someone said to me in a particular difficult moment the other day. Nothing gets the adrenaline going in my body quicker than, "I hate myself." That statement is a clear sign that there has been damage done to the soul. Sometimes, it can take on a lesser symptom, "I hate myself when...", "I wish I was better at...", "Why do I keep...", and others like that. While not quite at the kick-into-action phrase, they are not that far behind and emergency soul medicine must be applied immediately. Unfortunately, there is no pill to heal your soul, it is done through self awareness, self care and finally, self love. In the United States, we have become more and more obsessed with our health stats and scores. We have fitbits that measure how many steps we take and our heart rate. We get our blood sugar and cholesterol checked regularly. I know many people who have pH sticks to check whether or not they are in ketosis or home monitoring for a number of different statistics, but how much time, if any, do you spend on your soul health? There are numerous studies on the mind-body connection and the spirit-body connection. There has been a lot of research on various spiritual causes of illness. One of my all time favorite pieces of work is called, Purification of the Heart by Hamza Yusuf, which is an ancient text talking about what causes diseases of the heart. The book talks about the worldly actions that when you engage in "harden" your heart - the physical act of plaque on your heart from actions like jealously, hate, anger, etc. If you truly want to live a physically healthy life, I would argue, you must ensure your soul is healthy. I picture my soul like a delicate Faberge egg or like the rose in Beauty and the Beast. It in and of itself is delicate and precious. It must be cared for, protected, nurtured. Around it as an energy field that is like light-weight armor. It is super strong yet highly flexible. It is not easy to pierce it but it is able to be pierced. Each of us have a way of being that allows for certain areas of the armor to wear down over time. Mine may be on the left arm, while yours is on the right foot, but we all have these highly individualized points of weakness in our armor. And, these points of weakness are caused by phrases such as, "I wish I could be more....", "I don't know what is wrong with me" and the mother of all phrases that will put a huge slit in the armor, "I hate myself". Which is why when I hear that, I am like, "Nooooooooooooo, undo, undo, undo.... No!" Because I understand the impact to the armor when those words are uttered in a moment or self-loathing. Disease is created when we have holes in our armor. That is a way for physical disease to enter. Like alcohol to the liver, cholesterol to the heart, sugar to kidney function, self-anger is poison to the soul. And a poisoned soul leads to dis-ease in the body. It does not have to be this way. Instead, you could accept that you are human. You could accept that you are going to make big mistakes - mistakes that hurt others, mistakes that cause you to lose something dear, mistakes that cannot be undone to have things go back to the way they used to be. And, if you can accept that this is just a part of life and a part of your journey and that you will not make those mistakes over and over, but instead, you will learn and grow in your capacity to love because of the mistakes you have made, you can love your mistakes and "love the one that makes mistakes". I learned that from my coach, Tamara Green. The key is not to be a perfect human being, as I thought. The key to enlightenment is not to become perfect. The key to enlightenment is to be able to see through the eyes of love - that means to see ourselves through the eyes of love and to see another through the eyes of love. That is enlightenment. It does not mean you will never hurt another - because in truth, you being you, hurts another. It is only having the desire to be love to all, to have no other goal than this. This is the current lesson I am learning on my spiritual path. I love this path. I love what I learn. However to have access to these lessons, I have made mistakes. I have said things I wish I hadn't said. Harbored thoughts towards others that were not very kind. I have done things that are so below my Who I really Am and because of that, I get to learn this beautiful lesson. For the first time ever, I am seeing the true beauty of imperfection. I am seeing how much deeper I can love myself in my imperfection. My teacher said to me, "what would happen if you just accepted that sometimes you do these imperfect things - sometimes you behave in non-loving ways" and I balked. NO! No, no, no, no, NO! I don't want that. I only want to act from a place of love, but you know what, sometimes I don't. And, when I allowed that, I saw, many times I do not act from a place of love. Many times. And, that just increased my self-compassion. I thought it would increase my self-anger, self-frustration, but it did not, I felt so much love for the one who kept reacting in non-loving ways over really minor stuff. She must be really scared to behave that way. And, in that moment, I decided to no longer be scared. And... well... I haven't been, not at the same level. I just have not been scared in the same way. And... I have acted from a place of greater love. WOW! I won't say it was easy, but I also won't say it was hard. Once I saw, it was just getting used to doing things differently. And, noticing when I slipped back into my need to protect myself. Prior to completing the workbook of A Course in Miracles in order, I had been asked to read Lesson 153: In my defenselessness my safety lies. In the lesson, it explains the vicious cycle that many of us find ourselves in on a daily basis. We think someone attacked us, so we defend ourselves by attacking them (either to their face or behind their back, calling people and saying, can you believe what xyz did?!). And, in that moment that we "defend ourself" we have just committed an attack on the other person. And, then we find out, whoops, they did not mean that, it was an misunderstanding or a miscommunication, but guess what, we already launched our rockets and created a mess! Wouldn't it be easier to instead do this, "Wow, I heard so and so just did xyz. That is so interesting." And, then go about our business. Not give it any meaning. Not assume it has anything to do with us. Not create any story about the event. Just let the event be what it is, wish the person well (because honestly, if they are doing something that could be misinterpreted then maybe they need our love?) and then go back to creating and living and dancing... I love dancing! What if that person purposely tried to attack you? What if they did? Do you need to respond? Have you ever seen someone get super angry and attack someone and they just ignored them? Who comes across as the stronger person? In college, someone taught my best friend the 90/10 rule and she taught it to me. 90% of the time people are just doing what they are doing. 10% of the time, they are gunning for you. You have to know when that 10% is happening and get out of the way. And, it is a lot less often than you think. That is the way to respond, get out of the way. Not engage. Not pour gasoline on it. Not "stand up for yourself". Why? If someone really thinks you are crap, are you going to change their mind by yelling at them and calling them names? Is that going to show them how wrong they are about you? In my experience, that has not worked. Those people have just found another way to get at me that is not as direct and now based on something I said or did in a moment of anger. The last thing I want to say about this is it boils down to my biggest realization of 2017 and just, well, my biggest realization. It all boils down to Remembering Who You Really Are. When I was studying conflict resolution, they taught me the "Swiss Cheese" Model. They said all of us are like a piece of swiss cheese, we have solid parts and we have holes. When someone says something that "hits" on of our holes, we get upset and think they are attacking us and so we react. We don't realize, it is because of our hole. And, the next person saying the same thing would get the same reaction. To fill the hole, use love. Love the fact that you have that hole. Know that sometimes you react because of the hole and that is not who you really are it is the scared, hurt, part of you. Show that part love and compassion and before you know it, that hole will be filled by the light of love and you will be well on your way to be an enlightened master :)
I want to specially thank, Lauri DeJulian, Tamara Green and Jeannette Maw for this part of my journey! I have been watching the entire Star Wars series to prepare to watch the new one in the theater... we are on the final one! As I have been watching this time, I cannot get over the way they talk about the Force. When Obi-Wan is explaining the force to Luke, he says, "It is an energy created by living beings. It surrounds us and penetrates us, it binds the entire galaxy together"... YES! If you recall from Star Wars, every time they leave one another, they say, "May the Force be with you" and every time they are about to do something big, they say, "May the Force be with you". Because, they know, that truly amazing things can happen when you are aligned to the force. So, how are you doing using "the Force"? The Force is an alignment to all that is and is naturally aligned to the highest good for all involved. To feel the Force within you, you have to quiet your mind and search your feelings. And, as we say with Aniken, it takes a lot of training, before you can fully trust your feelings. This is exactly how it works with Source Energy. It is available to all of us at all times. And, to access it, you must get quiet and connect to it. But that process of getting quiet and connecting takes a discipline - like Jedi Training. The most important part of the training has nothing to do with the skills - swinging the sword, but with how well you can manage your emotions and keep them aligned to love, truth and peace. And, when you choose to forgo the lower feelings of your ego and connect to Source Energy, miracles occur. There is really only one thing you need to know about tapping into source energy... you have to tap into it. There are a number of ways to do this. It requires some amount of tapping into your own self. This can be done through meditation. And, it can be done through prayer. I have a morning prayer I say every morning that connects me to Source Energy.
When I talk to people in coaching, I often times remind them to say a prayer and ask for help. To engage the Force, you must take a moment to set the intention to allow the Force to guide your movements, your words, and your beliefs. It is a consistent intention of stepping back and letting "the Force" take the lead. Even when you have the force on your side, there may be times that feel like you are "losing". However, those of us that have experienced the miracles of source energy know that even when it feels like things are going sideways, they are not! Sometimes the Universe has a different path to get you to your ultimate good. Never lose faith in the Force, that is how you end up on the dark side! As you continue towards your dreams, hopes and goals, know that there is a power that connects every living thing that is supporting you to be all that you can be and serve all that you can serve. Know that you are never alone. And, that the more you tap into this power, the easier the decisions and actions get. Tap into this power and know that it is yours and waiting for you to connect. As you move forward... May the Force Be With You! During the month of December, Adventures with Amina spent 30 days focused on peace. I loved this practice. Not only did I feel much better everyday, I felt that I had more energy and was much happier. We are living in a time where there are many things that are not quite working. It is a time for each of us to step up and bring our unique gifts to the world to make the world a better place for all. However, we cannot do it from a place of judgment, anger or hurt - it is time to step up like we never have before from a place of love and peace. This is much harder to do then stepping up from a place of anger or fear. For this reason, I decided to take the 30 day Peace Practice and continue it for another 365 days. There have already been a number of times in the past 7 days where I have repeated, "I choose peace", to myself under my breath. Trump's first tweet of 2018 was anti-Pakistan... that was a great test of my peace practice. There are a number of times where we all feel like we are perfectly justified to be angry, however, it is not worth it. You already know this. I already know this. We know that nothing good comes from a place of anger. The good things come from a place of wanting to create something better. That is empowering and powerful. And, the only way to get to a place of creation is to believe that life is "fine" right now, but could be even better. That is the juicy-zone. The place of creation is a place of infinite possibility and a desire to make something better. This is a positive, inspired place, not an anger-filled place. In Islam, we are taught your intention is everything. And, I have seen this in my own life. Two people can take the exact same action, but one with a positive intention and the other with a negative intention and they have two very different outcomes. The saying, you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people, all of the time. Your intention shows up before you do. This year, I invite you to have one intention, to choose peace. To have your thoughts, actions, and words align with peace. Instead of having goals, I invite you to have one goal - to bring peace, and to be peace in every situation where you find yourself. Wish peace on others and be an example of peace to all those around you. One of the things I noticed about myself is how much I am able to get done. I am highly effective. But, in my getting it done, I often lost my peace. And, then all the kind things I was doing, went sideways. I realized, it is not about what I am doing but who I am being. This is a theme for me and one I talk of often. It is not about the actions you take. It is about the choice in a moment, when you feel justified to feel anything other than peace, to return to peace. I choose peace.
A Million Wishes In 2018, I am sending you wishes for a Million dollars A million unexpected dollars A million ways that people treat you to things you love A million ways you are recognized for who you are in the world I am sending you a million wishes of abundance. In 2018, I am sending you wishes for a Million moments of peace A million moments of divine silence A million moments of pure guidance A million moments of knowing who you really are I am sending you a million wishes of connection. In 2018, I am sending you wishes for a million happy moments A million sweet moments A million things that make you smile A million life events that brighten your day A million sweet tastes in your mouth and sweet memories in your heart I am sending you a million wishes of joy. In 2018, I am sending you wishes for a million loving moments A million moments with people who get you A million moments of feeling loved and adored A million moments of laughing until it hurts I am sending you a million wishes of love. 2018 is your year. In 2018, there are a million opportunities to do, be and have all the things you have dreamed of. In 2018, there are a million opportunities to give that which you wish to receive. In 2018, there are a million opportunities for you to shine your light brightly for all to see. My wish for you is that you see every one of these moments and experience them fully. My wish for you is that you are present and aware of the love that surrounds you at all times. And, my wish for you, is that every one of your dreams comes true in 2018. |
fROM aMINA...
Hi! Welcome to my blog, Lunch with Cinderella. I love writing about my life experiences and the fact that they may help spur some cool experiences of your own. If you are here, leave a comment... I read them all and love hearing from you! Get New Blogs delivered to your Inbox!
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