Transmuting One Another with Compassion

I received the following inspirational e-mail message this morning from Humanity’s Team:

“Spirituality is not a concept to be debated abstractly,

but a transforming power that has meaning only if it is lived daily.”

–Pierre Pradervand

For Veteran’s Day, my husband and I went to Olive Garden for dinner since they had a special for veterans (a free meal).

We had a great day so far, so although there were a lot of people waiting inside and outside the restaurant, we decided to be patient.

After being handed the black, circular pager, we were informed that the wait would be an hour. We stood outside in the perfectly cool weather and started conversing.

Note: Thank you footage.shutterstock.com for sunny image on right.

While my husband was looking up some information on his phone, I enjoyed my surroundings of mature trees standing its ground, a young couple sitting on the bench and leaning their heads toward one another, and children playing crossword puzzles while sitting on the bright, green grass.

The interesting variety of people bonding with one another—joking around, sharing interesting info from their phones, comforting their crying toddler, etc—was multi-faceted, multi-colored and multi-dimensional Life playing out its many expressions.

To our surprise, the pager started vibrating and flashing its red lights. I was so grateful that we didn’t have to wait an entire hour.

As soon as our chirpy hostess seated us in the fully packed restaurant, I immediately shared with my husband about what I believed just happened.

I excitedly explained to him that only having to wait about 10 minutes, as opposed to an hour, was part of the positive synchronicities that we had been experiencing all day, to include him receiving phone calls from two potential sellers.

We were both very surprised and excited because he had never received those types of big leads before, throughout his real estate career that he started in 2008 (after a career in the Army as a Combat Medic).

Note: Thank you www.kahunaresearchgroup.org for beautiful and flowing image on right.

I was then reminded that the series of positive synchronicities that I’ve become familiar with lately, stem from all the mental, emotional, physical and inner spiritual work I’ve been doing (since changing/remembering within ourselves—to Be a  more positive, loving version—helps us to tune into a more positive reality), such as the following:    Note: Thank you www.fanpop.com for 1st beautiful butterfly image on right

• releasing old and out-dated thoughts, feelings, intentions, habits and beliefs that stem from fear (e.g., doubt, worry, judgment, resentment, regret, guilt, shame, etc.) that no longer positively serve me, and replacing them with ones that stem from love.
• remembering more of my true self/soul/God/Goddess/Spirit/Source/All That Is within me with self-awareness and awareness of others, to include better observation, acknowledgement (reflections from others, especially of my shadow self), understanding, empathy, compassion, forgiveness, acceptance, embrace, and unconditional love of myself and others
• focusing on thinking more positive thoughts throughout the day and doing things that stem from love (that both create positive feelings)
• noticing, acknowledging, caring for and embracing my feelings for healing rather than suppressing or repressing them (which causes inner turmoil)                                                               Note: Thank you www.photographyblogger.net for  2nd captivating butterfly image on right
• noticing, acknowledging, caring for and embracing the signals (sometimes very subtle) of my body/my temple/my one and only precious vehicle  Note: Thank you www.free-picture.net for 3rd colorful butterfly image on right    
• listening to healing, uplifting and/or inspiring music (a fast way to raise our vibration since sound healing is powerful) while viewing and practicing my Google slides that I created that includes beautiful, colorful, mesmerizing, and/or captivating images +  positive affirmations (to include powerful and positive “I AM” statements) in order to create a new belief system deep within my unconscious that positively serves me/my soul, and that will help me to manifest my dreams
• meditating in silence and stillness to commune at a deeper level with my soul
• living in the Moment of Now with much gratitude and appreciation (especially for the small things that we may often take for granted), and trusting the effortless flow of life (like nature does) that everything happens perfectly in Divine ‘right’ timing and Divine ‘right’ order for every soul’s highest good  Thank you commons.wikimedia.org for 4th beautiful butterfly image on right
• living in the Moment of Now and Being my authentic/true self/soul/God/Goddess/Spirit/Universe/Source/Multiverse/All That Is—Unconditional Love (especially pure compassion)/Peace (no longer allowing outer circumstances to affect my inner world; being open to receiving; basking; savoring Life)/Joy (especially following the path that excites me/makes me smile, laugh and cry tears of joy)/Freedom (to Be who I truly am/soul rather than who my ego self thinks I am/self-image to society)/Truth and Wisdom (our intuition and inner-wisdom)/Power (to Be fearless), and Creativity (to co-create with the power within who we choose to Be and what we would love to experience).
• reading and watching videos, shows and movies that stimulate, excite, uplift and/or inspire my mind and soul
• exercising often with at least two days of rest and recovery —weekly interval walk/jog/run/sprint, weekend interval walk/jog/run at a local park along pathway surrounded by beautiful Mother Nature, home-style zumba, leg machine, and triceps workout with bar bells.
• eating and drinking healthier with weekly treat drink(s)/meal(s)/day(s)                                           Thank you mahmoud-e.blogfa.com for 5th captivating butterfly image on right
• following my heart and doing what excites me–the following is a delicious appetizer from the website Some of the Core Concepts of Bashar  (<== click title to view in another window; Bashar, channeled through Darryl Anka): “Follow your excitement! Finding your Purpose in Life: Act on it! Excitement is caused by a resonance with your Higher Self.   Excitement is a “sign” that the activity you are contemplating is aligned with your Higher Self, and this alignment is what causes the excitement.  This naturally leads you to what you are “meant” to be doing – what your Soul “hopes” your will free-will chooses to do. This is your “Purpose”.    So this is the simple yet effortlessly effective way to find your life’s “Purpose”.
• living in the Moment of Now trusting my true self/soul/God/Goddess/Spirit/Universe/Source/Multiverse/All That Is that I AM Abundance. I resonate with Bashar’s definition of abundance: “Abundance is the ability to do what you need to do, when you need to do it. Money is only one of many valid tools to achieve this abundance. And it is not always the most direct tool to use – for doing what you need to do when you need to do it.”     Note: Thank you www.fanpop.com for 6th elegant butterfly image on right
• working on believing before seeing, rather than the other way around…true faith.
• serving humanity, whether it’s through my daily (face-to-face or virtual) interactions with family, friends, former Army coworkers or my former soldiers, my husband’s former soldiers, neighbors, acquaintances, strangers, and even those I once perceived as my so-called “enemies,” etc., or sharing my personal stories through my blog that may help others remember their true selves.
• communing with my angelic realm and higher beings of the spiritual realms
• working on having an untroubled mind of sheer observation and understanding rather than judgment
• doing shadow work; exploring my dark side with profound understanding, empathy, pure compassion, forgiveness, acceptance, embrace and unconditional love; and learning/remembering to integrate my ego self, shadow self, and true self as One.
• gradually stepping aside from participating in the illusion of duality, and Being Balance of the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine energies/consciousness
• reconnecting with fragments of my expanded self

Note: Thank you www.funzug.com for last wild and exotic butterfly image on right

Even at Red Robins during lunch, the very friendly waitress asked if we would like to take our leftover drinks togo since I had only drank 1/4 of my soda. My husband and I agreed that we would just take one cup and combine our drinks.

She surprised us by bringing back two freshly filled cups and a big smile and wink, so we were glad we had decided to leave her a $5 tip, although the meal was free (they also supported veterans).

At first, my ego self made me feel guilty about getting two free meals that day, telling me it was being selfish; but then I believe my true self reminded me about balance and faith, and to continue learning/remembering from duality (e.g., right vs wrong, darkness vs light, cold vs hot, etc.), but not to get lost within it.

My true self encouraged me to just enjoy the available and unlimited abundance that’s my birthright and every other souls’s birthright—so as long as we choose to believe it—and that they are all blessings from the magnificent and generous True Self/Universe/God/Goddess/Source/Multiverse/All That Is.

Note: Thank you www.cureyourownallergiesinminutes.com for peaceful image on left.

I also recalled that a lot of restaurants throw away a lot of food on a daily basis since it takes too much paperwork to give it away to those who could use it (an explanation/justification that helps my ego self to ease into one of my new beliefs that my true self is helping me to create).

I’ve learned/remembered that it works out beautifully for all aspects of myself, to include my ego self (our self-image/who we think we are/who tries to portray ourselves in ways that are “acceptable” to society/our fearful side), and my shadow self (aka our dark side/the aspect of us that are “unacceptable” to or frowned upon by society/the force/passion that give us that drive to survive, succeed, and demand the recognition of our worth).

After all, our ego self is only expressing a need to protect our self-image and help us to survive in this world, and our shadow self is only expressing a need to remind us that we are worthy and that we do matter.

So it only makes sense to better understand, empathize with, have compassion for, forgive, accept, embrace and unconditionally love these darker aspects of us (as our True Self), and shine our light onto them so that they, too, can remember that we are all on the same team.

Note: Thank you bonfirehealth.com  for integration image on right.

Anyway, shortly after we were seated, our waitress approached us, and it was very apparent that she was not a happy camper. Her body language—to include her facial expression, lack of eye contact and posture—and her tone of voice all shouted, “I don’t want to be here!”

My ego self (out of fear that she was capable of ruining our good day) thought, “Oh this negative attitude is going to be reflected on your tip girlfriend, which is your loss because I usually tip at least 20% for good service and 30-40% for excellent service.”

My true self (who is fearless, pure, unconditional love) reminded me with a whisper, “Be Compassion.”

So I decided to follow my inner guidance of wisdom and love. As soon as she left us to make our decisions, we both agreed that she made it very obvious that she was not pleased with us sitting in her section. I then shared with my husband my thoughts and feelings about it.

Note: Thank you myevolvedthought.blogspot.com for beautiful ‘Listen to Heart’ image on left.

I told him that I had a feeling she was having a very bad day. He agreed, and we reminded each other of how stressful it was sometimes, back in the day, when we waited tables, especially during super busy hours.

We even agreed that it made matters worse when people weren’t willing to give descent tips for hard work and great service, let alone generous ones.

The restaurant was packed, and she probably had a lot of veterans coming through for the specials. If they happened to be cheap tippers, then I could understand why she wasn’t pleased to serve us, and why that would be another factor to her stressful day.

My ego self inserted its usual judgment, “Well, regardless of whether or not she’s having a busy day, she should be even more professional and friendly since it is a special day of appreciating veterans.”

My true self then expressed empathy and shared a different perspective, “I understand, but one can only give to others what they believe they already have within themselves. You don’t know her situation; she could be having financial issues, hence, she could really use the extra money. There could be various factors that are causing her fearful behavior since a ‘negative’ attitude stems from the various degrees of the lowest/slowest vibrating frequency of Love energy, which is fear energy.”

Note: Thank you alisonimiller.com for peaceful image on right.

I was also reminded of how emotionally stressful (more than physical) it was to sometimes to have to deal with some difficult personalities and downright rude customers. It made me feel like my dignity had been taken away.

On the other hand, when I was working as a waitress in my early twenties, at this Italian restaurant, I learned from one of my very motivating managers (I included his story in my post, “Unconditional Love from Angels and Aliens”), we have the power to turn a negative situation into a positive one.

Even though I had customers who weren’t in a good mood when they first came into the restaurant, I decided to experiment with my manager’s idea.

I thought about how I would like to be treated if I was in a bad mood coming into a restaurant. I showed genuine concern with comments like, “Looks like you’re having rough day…” or “Is there anything that I could get you to cheer you up? Fresh-baked french bread?”

I also did my best to be friendly (not the “I just drank 3 cups of espresso and a can of Red Bull” kind of friendly), observant, fast, and professional. To my surprise, about 9 out of 10 of my customers would leave in a brighter mood.

I then realized that a lot of good things can arise from a simple act of kindness, to include but not limited to: making others smile and/or laugh, receiving a heartfelt “Thank you,” having a customer call your manager to compliment you, receiving a big tip, creating regular customers who insist on waiting in line to sit at your section even though there are other tables within the restaurant, etc.

I was grateful that my true self reminded me to Be my authentic self/ true self, so I decided to show my appreciation by Being Unconditional Love. As I imagined myself temporarily being in her shoes, I felt connected to her on a deep level, to the point where I wanted to help her raise her vibration.

Note: Thank you dm.stagram.com for the colorful and flowing image on right.

Throughout the evening, my husband and I said or did something to show her that we were willing to make her day easier rather than make it worse. We continued to smile at her, talk to her in a friendly tone, and even added a little humor.

Although we were definitely capable of eating another basket of the warm, flavorful bread sticks, we looked at each other and chose not to…not because we weren’t loving ourselves by neglecting our wants, but because we both understood (with unspoken words) that it was a choice to benefit us all.

When we’re hungry, our eyes can be way bigger than our stomachs. We may stuff ourselves with baskets of bread sticks out of impatience (like the Cookie Monster), and then later regret it because we realize that we, not only had one too many and that it’s going straight to our butt, belly and/or thighs, but that we can’t even fully enjoy and finish most of our meals.

In addition, we both remembered what a major pain-in-the-ass it was when customers asked for back-to-back-to-back bread baskets or plates during super busy hours…and then left a $1.50 tip for a party of 8 or something similar to that.

We even did our usual organizing of the used plates, bowls and silverware in one area of the table after we finished our meals. To my surprise, each time she stopped by our table, she smiled a little more, and became friendlier. Next thing you know, she started initiating more small talk.

After we enjoyed our meals, she seemed to have a minute, so I asked her about the delicious house wine that she had given me a sample of, and mentioned to her that I really enjoyed the sweet, smoky and smooth flavor. Her face lit up and she started telling me some more details. She then asked us to come back soon.

I was happy to see her mood gradually elevate to the point where she smiled a big smile and shared with us her very friendly side. We thanked her for her service, and left her a $5 tip for a bill of $2 and some change (since the meals were free).

I’m grateful that we crossed each other’s paths. When we remember to Be our true, sunshine selves, especially during our gloomy days or darkest hours, we truly grow as One and expand our individual and collective consciousness.

Note: Thank you workthedream.wordpress.com for wonderful quotes on right.

I received the following daily, inspirational e-mail message from Neale Donald Walsch’s team this morning, 11/12/13:

On this day of your life, Barbara, I believe God wants you to know…