People are coming up to me and saying, "what the heck is going on?"  They are feeling a general case of the icks and don't know why.  This blog post is for all of you - the ones that are flying high and the ones that are facing the icks.  This is what I have observed from talking to folks lately and in my own life - you are either flying high (after months, years? of ick and feel like everything you touch is turning to gold) or... you are facing a major case of the icks (one that will not give up no matter what you do).

What is the lesson in all of this?  What does it all mean? Why is this happening?
(Am I the only one who sits around and asks these questions or are you all interested too?)

I believe that we have spent the past few years preparing for this new time on Earth.  Our problems are not so new, we are not the first to deal with political challenges, impending wars, un-ending wars, fear on the streets... But, we have never dealt with these things with the level of technological and human awareness advancement before.  And... so we are in this unusual place of seeing something not great and actually knowing we CAN do something about it. That in between place is causing excitement (the people on the highs) and anxiety (the people facing the icks). 

What do we do now?

Nothing.  Yup, nothing.  If you are facing the high highs, then just enjoy it.  Surf that wave, as I love to say, and build, create, discover and add all of the brilliance you can into this environment.  It is your time to enjoy it and to do whatever you can to continue to create good in this time.  Know that this is a part of life, and it is meant to be enjoyed and savored and so do that with every cell of your being.

If you are in a state of ick (like I have been), then, do nothing.  Trying to get out of it is useless and can, at times, pull you in deeper.  Just understand that this is a part of life and the ONLY thing you need to do in this phase is KEEP YOUR PEACE.  What that means is feeling it, crying, gratitude practices, self care, self love, long walks in the brisk air, whatever you need to do to stay at peace.  For me, a natural people-person, it also has meant limiting my time with others since my, "You are so annoying" button is trigger happy these days.  I understand, my ONLY job, is to keep my peace.

Want to get your PEACE on?

Join me in Adventures with Amina during the month of November and December to amp up our peace, joy, and love vibe to let all the good that is available to us to flow in as we end this year.  During November, we are going to be doing 27 gratitude practices from Pam Grout's book, Thank and Grow Rich and in December, we are going to be doing 25 peace practices based on A Course in Miracles.  All are welcome to join us in an amping up of the good.

You know that person or situation that just pushes your button?
Makes you have that knee jerk reaction despite your hours of zen like, Buddhist mediation?
That situation that just makes you cringe?

The natural next step is to blame the other person and tell yourself, "I need better boundaries." But, do you really?

Instead of building a wall of boundaries, I suggest opening deeper.  When you realize that in truth, no one can hurt you without your consent, you can see that there is no need for the wall.

Remember the saying, sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me. 

That wisdom comes from an inner knowing of your point of power, which is your choice. You can choose to see anything as an attack.  That is a choice.  You can choose to see nothing as an attack, also a choice.  In the world today, we are seeing lots of symbolic gestures that have meaning to the people who are doing them, and, we see others who have taken those gestures to mean something different (an attack, a battle cry, etc).  Your point of power is always your CHOICE on how you PERCEIVE the world and its actions.

Part of being GREAT is to know that you are GREATER than life's circumstances, other's opinions or reactions, and living in that greatness.  Moving beyond your boundaries and standing in your knowing of who you are, how you behave and interact is the work to stepping into your GREATNESS.

In my Facebook group, Adventures with Amina, each month I take on a different theme.  It can be a book, a new concept to learn, or a way to be.  This month, I have decided on the theme Greatness.  This word has been in my environment for quite some time in many forms.  However, the form that first pops to mind when I hear the word Greatness is from a set of children's books called Timmy Failure by Stephen Pastis. In these books, the main character, Timmy, is the head of a detective agency and believes he is pretty amazing, and yet, makes a number of pretty obvious mistakes.  However, Timmy, with his ever failing belief in himself, always ends up on top at the end.  And, to me, this exemplifies greatness.  Because, if we all knew exactly how to be great, we would all be doing it every moment of every day.  It is in taking a step into the unknown and trying something, believing in yourself when the evidence would say otherwise, that is true greatness.

Greatness has two components to it, the belief and the action.  Let’s take a look at each of these.

Believing in Your Greatness

This is the key step to overcome to truly step into our greatness, comfort believing we are great.  While the ego could have a field day with this, this is a different type of belief all together.  The belief comes from the fact that each of us understands that we have within us a special skill and talent that contributes to the overall betterment of the world.  This greatness is not about believing that you are better than someone else, but rather believing that what you have, your unique life experiences (and what they taught you), your unique skills and abilities, were all perfectly crafted so that you may be of greater service to the whole.  The belief in your own personal greatness is not that you are greater than another, nor, is it that you are less great than another.  It is like two athletes on the court – the recognition that they are both great athletes in different ways.  There is a respect for all of the others on earth, because you can see they have their own greatness, as you have yours, and that the two, even if they seem similar, are their own unique thing.  When you are asked to believe in your greatness, what you are really being asked, is to respond to the call to do good in the world with the skills you have.  It is not about you, but about what you can bring to a situation.

Acting from Your Greatness

The second component is taking action from a place of Greatness.  Think of an area in your life where you are highly confident in your skills and abilities.  Maybe you are confident in your ability to manage money, make friends, host a party, play a sport, sing, dance, parent, paint, draw, etc.  Think of that area.  How do you show up in that area of your life?  Do you show up with confidence, with ease, with grace?  You are kind to others who are not “as good” in this area, because you know without a doubt, that you are “good” in this area.

When you act from a place of Greatness, you are acting from a place within you that understands that you are only a conduit of something for the greatest good of all.  Meaning, you are only there to do your best, and you know, that by doing your best, the whole is lifted.  In the previous example, one of the places I am highly confident is in dancing.  I am by no means one of the best dancers in the world, or even “very good”.  But, I am good and I know it.  One of the ways this shows up is that I am often times one of the first people out on the dance floor.  I can get the dance portion of the party started because of my personal belief in my skillset. 

With greatness, you do not have to be the BEST dancer… that is actually not what it is about at all.  You just have to be the most convicted in your desire to be of service.  If you have studied success, you will see that is often not the “best” people that are successful, but those that are willing to do what it takes to move forward.  That is greatness.  For most of us, there will be someone who can do it better than you in a specific area of your life.  One of the mistakes we make as humans is that we compare each one of our skills to a different person.  Jan is a better dance than me.  Joe is better at finances than me.  Pedro has a better family life than me.  What we forget often, is that no one else is YOU! And, that comparing 10 people to different aspects of yourself is so unfair and so unkind to yourself.

How will you step more into your Greatness this month?  How will you remind yourself who you really are and why you are here?  How will you show up more authentically and more fully as yourself?

I hope you join us in Adventures with Amina this month as we, collectively, step into our Greatness!