Savvify

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.

Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.

Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.

Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.

Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.

Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest person with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest person with the smallest mind.

Think big anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.

Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack if you help them.

Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you might get kicked in the teeth.

Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

What does it mean to be truly faithful?  To me, it means surrendering to the unknown (Myself). Through my experiences I have faith in myself when I know, despite all odds that everything is going to be ok. Despite my doubts, I must admit that I am constantly plunging into the unknown. I never know what’s going to happen next because everything is always changing. Yes, to be faithful I must release my doubts and fears, but everyday I practice this and it becomes easier; this is something I must admit to myself. I have nothing to fear. The only way I can describe how I experience faith in my day to day life is to tell you what I’ve been experiencing lately. So here is my story……

Two years ago, my wonderful boyfriend and I decided to leave the city in which we were living at the time. We both agreed that it was time for a change; the city pace seemed to be increasing as the days went by and everything was becoming ridiculously expensive. In the two weeks before we left, we got rid of almost everything. I have lived in the city my whole life and this process was tough, and yet liberating at the same time. I decided to let go of most of my prized material possessions.

As you can probably imagine, this was a big step for the material human I had become. Sometimes, I’ll admit, that I feel bad for feeling regret over letting these things go. It’s silly really, I mean, these are material things, they come and go.
Anyways, after almost everything was gone, we were ready to hit the road with our rental car and our two survival backpacks. We decided that we would go back to basics and leave the ‘system’ behind us as much as we possibly could. Admittedly, this was a huge leap of faith on both our part. Besides camping once and a while on family trips I had not had any long term ‘bush’ experience. However, we both had the willingness to learn and experience so off we went. We didn’t even know where we were headed (except that we were headed toward Vancouver). We figured we had come this far in letting go, we might as well put our full trust in God at this point.

As we travelled along, I noticed that certain messages were appearing in my reality (no coincidence). Keeping faith in Myself I decided to follow my instincts and travel where I was supposed to go. As the messages continued, I noticed that we were being directed to a specific location; a place called Tofino. This particular location name was consistently being mentioned whether it was from people or advertisements along the way. As I continued to pay close attention to my reality, I noticed that thoughts in my ‘head’ were being answered immediately in my perceived ‘outer’ reality. So, needless to say, my boyfriend and I ended up in Tofino B.C.

We soon set up camp in the majestic-like rainforest right beside the ocean and later on, we built our own little (and I mean little) cabin/shed. It even had a metal barrel (that we found) which we used as a wood burning stove. It was cozy…..and at times very damp! The ocean was a 5 min walk away where we would take long walks or go pick mussels off the rocks for dinner. It was a very simple way of life. As far as money, we didn’t use a lot. We ran completely out of coin a few months into our trip and had to rely on our own creativity to make money if we needed it to buy anything.

We started picking bottles and brought them into town with our dolly…..I even baby-sat for a while, but for the majority of the 6 months we were out there we didn’t work. We relaxed and talked about life, God, and the Universe. Making the choice to not work was a big leap of faith for me because I desperately believed my whole life that if I wasn’t working, I wouldn’t be able to survive. Trust me, you can survive without money! The traditional Native way of life is a perfect example of this…….they never needed money, and they were very close and happy with each other. Not only were they taught by their elders from day one how to be self-sufficient, but they helped each other survive. Being in the rainforest and living with the bare necessities, I began to appreciate everything a lot more. I realized that I didn’t need anything at all.

We have left the rainforest and now we are living in an apartment in a small town; I feel spoiled just to be able to have a bath! My boyfriend and I were working for a little while but our ‘boss’ was not worth working for and frankly we were both tired of working for other people so we quit.

We have decided to take yet another leap of faith and start doing what we love to do instead of working for a living. A day after quitting our jobs I found out that I was pregnant! Ever since then my boyfriend has been on the computer non stop doing what he loves to do (his writing). He has published several articles onto his blog…..and it’s really exciting to see new people coming to his site each day. I’m really glad that he has found such an amazing outlet to express himself on because frankly, he has many brilliant things to communicate to the world. I admire his determination in doing this. He would really like to be able to have a family and not work and I wish for the same thing…..I have heard of quite a few people who have decided to make a living by writing on blogs and they do it quite well. A few of them eventual write e-books or do what ever they choose.

As for me, I have started to sell things on e-bay (which I really enjoy)….I am also doing writings of my own (as you can see) and generally just enjoying each moment as it comes. I am happy doing what I enjoy and I am always open to new ideas.  I’m glad that I could write this little blurb about Me and my adventures…perhaps you could tell me about yours? Talk to you soon,

It strikes me as funny that I’ve had an insight that has led me to writing this piece on insight. What is insight? Well, to me, insight is sudden realization of a connection. What I mean here is that thoughts, opinions, memories…perceptions connect and something new is revealed. It seems almost like two or three things that would never possibly connect do connect and a new spectrum of possibilities are open.

I’ll give you an example, for years I went around trying to build myself into “something”. I didn’t know what that “something” was, of course, but I knew it would make me socially accepted(what I perceived to be love). Now, it never occurred to me that in trying to build “myself”, I was actually already something to be built on. See, this whole time period was under the belief that “to be”, one must “be something”. There were lots of options to pick from too…anything from “intellectual” to “Hippie”. But again, it never dawned on me that I was already “something”. Then suddenly it did dawned on me, and I was faced with an ugly fact. If I am something underneath this “idea of who I am”, then I cannot describe myself because I’m not an idea. This is a frightening insight to anyone who believes you must “be something” to be socially accepted(loved). The point is that this insight did, in fact, open a whole new perception to explore.

What I’m saying is that insight itself does happen. Now, one could struggle for insight…even delve into books on people who have had insights. But that is not insight, that is memorization. So how does insight occur? If not through study, how could such “intelligence” simply just appear?

Think about this, until this insight came along, you could not believe it existed. It’s like looking at a painting and not seeing half of it because you don’t believe its there. So how did it come along so suddenly and where did it come from? I’m going to draw from my example above to answer this. In admitting that there is a “self” outside (or within) my idea of my self, I was left with 2 options…and I still am. I could either accept this insight and let go of my need for social acceptance, or I could resist and remain in my idea of who I am. Ideas are, for the most part, beautifully built distractions that can completely take us over when we believe we are our ideas. In the end, our belief is what creates our reality (perception).

Knowing that these are my two choices, I can see two directions. I can either run away from myself, or I can move toward myself (simply being). So, where do insights come from? They come from the “self”. If every idea is created within the “self”, then the “self” itself can be anything at all.

It is very important to remember that Time itself is a perception. Without the belief in time, you are left with the moment. My point is that the “self” can in fact be anything, but if only the moment exists…then it already is everything. There is no process of creation when it comes to ideas or perceptions…in the moment, there can’t be.
Once again we are left with two choices. To accept that all possible perceptions exist at once is to abandon the need for a “process”. I often feel that some sort of “process” is required to advance me as an “individual”, but if “I” am already perceiving “everything” right now then the process is no longer required.

Another example. Throughout my life I have developed goals, ambitions, and even dreams. I have done this because I very much want the “feeling” that achieving these goals would give me. The goal itself, while enjoyable, is enjoyable for the very basic reason that I appreciate it. I could say I appreciate it because I worked for it, but the fact is that I appreciate it because I choose to appreciate it. I could let a million and one things bother me and lose my appreciation, or I could choose not to.

In choosing, I am choosing a perception. In not letting things bother me, I am choosing the perception of appreciation. But, if only the moment truly exists, then I am not creating these perceptions. I am choosing them from an infinite amount of possible perceptions that already exist.

So why did I have to set a goal to have this right to choose? If they’re always available…must I really do anything except choose appreciation?

Ahh, but saying “I will choose appreciation” is much easier than actually doing it. The choice seems almost invisible when faced with the daily workings of the world. I get caught up in things, I form opinions, I get frustrated…the choice of appreciation just doesn’t seem possible in these perceptions. Then again, these perceptions are entirely based on “Time”. It makes sense that to abandon this perception, I must once again abandon time. There it is, appreciation…hidden behind a wall of things I “think could happen”. And what did I have to do to find it?

Relax, Pay Attention, and Be in The Moment. Insight is synonymous with Being.

I was making a left hand turn onto Lankershim Blvd. today.

As I waited for the opportunity to make my turn, I watched a young couple, a man and woman make their way across the blvd.

The woman was pushing a baby carriage, and walking as quickly as she could across that long expanse of street.

Her mate had already made it across and she knew she wasn’t going to make it in the alotted time of the traffic light.

You could see her urgency. Her will was forcing her body forward but the cerebral palsy in her body was pushing one foot clumsily and laboriously one foot in front of the other each step trying to keep up with the other…

She’s halfway across the street. Her eye is on her mate who is safely waiting for her on the curb. She’s rushing now but her mind gets ahead of her steps and she just can’t keep up. She lands flat on her back with 6 lanes of traffic in all directions looking right at her!

Her head bobs. She wasn’t injured but you could see there was no way she could get up. I looked at that head bobbing against the blackness of the tarmac.

Who was going to help this girl?!

Everyone just sat in their cars watching as if they were on their couch watching TV… I too sat in my car mesmerized …in the turn lane facing her… waiting for an answer.

A bus honked behind me urging me out of my stupor and into some sort of action in that instant I saw a most wonderful sight… a young man ran out into traffic..just ran out into traffic to help the girl up…Then out of my side vision I saw another woman…a smallish Asian woman run to the girl from another direction. The girl that fell is not a small girl and the fact that this smallish person was running to help ….startled me. She thought nothing of herself or her inability to lift a large disabled woman up. She just knew she wanted to help…..

I kept driving, looked back in my rear view mirror and watched as yet someone else was running to help ..I saw the girl rise and continue to cross the street.

My breath just caught in my chest. I was overcome with the generosity these people had shown. I was touched in such a way that I ordinary don’t get to experience. What an opportunity for me to feel such a thing. People really are good. They just need an opportunity to demonstrate it. I have never felt more proud of my people.

It makes me wonder how many other little acts of kindness are happening right now that no one else knows about.

I urge you my friends..to notice these moments..having your breath catch in your chest like that is the truest form of hope there is.

We spend most of our lives at work or sleeping (or, if you live in LA, in traffic jams).  If you hate your job, if you’re stagnating at your job, if you’re unappreciated or treated abusively at your job, that’s about half of your life you’re throwing away.  Especially if you’re rigidly holding onto work that has long since stopped working for you. 
You’ve given up your personal power by allowing yourself to completely live on someone else’s terms.  And that’s a bullet fired with lethal aim straight into your self-esteem.

Yes, leaving a job is scary.  But the prospect of a miserable, unfulfilling life is even scarier.  Believe me, I know.  I quit my job this year.  I’d worked there for 17 years.  It’s the only job I’ve ever had since I moved to LA as many years ago.  I have great difficulty with change.  But during the past several years, the dynamic of the company deteriorated, and I was being treated dismissively, condescendingly, even downright abusively.  I began taking medication because I was nearly crippled by panic attacks.  I’d wake up at night with the soaking sweats.  Entire weekends were ruined because I dreaded Mondays.  I was becoming consumed with resentment.  But the work environment was so familiar, and my esteem so shattered, that, like someone in an abusive romantic relationship, I was terrified that “no one else would want me,” and the fear chained me to my job.  Finally, I got therapy, and when management abruptly moved me to another department this year–without my consent–and away from the partner for whom I’d worked for 17 years, while he was in Europe, I quit.  It’s been incredibly empowering.

If you’re single and have no dependents (cats and dogs notwithstanding), leaving your job is easier than if you have kids, or are a single parent, or if you have debt.  But it can be done.  It will just take a little more time and planning.  First, know your boundaries, and stick to them if they’re crossed.  Keep putting aside money, so that you can live on it for several months if you don’t find a job right away.  Reduce your debts as much as possible.  Register with employment agencies.  Post your resume online (but make sure it’s not a job board that your employer utilizes).  Take courses.  Get therapy, if necessary.  All of this can be done while you’re still with your present employer, to make the transition less stressful for you.

But do it.  You absolutely can.  Don’t let anyone control your life but you.

In September 2003, I had a fall that changed my life forever, and in September 2001, we Americans felt a blow that changed all of our lives forever as well.

As the months passed after the surgery to heal my broken hip, with the aid of therapy and the help of a patient, good-hearted friend I called my “life line,” I gradually moved from wheelchair to walker to cane. The progress seemed slow to me in our push-button age, but it was also definite.

I was away from my apartment for six weeks after I fell, and confined to it for eight weeks after that. In my Christmas cards that year, I carefully explained that my theme song had become “Ain’t Misbehavin’.”

I returned to work right before the Christmas holidays, and when people kindly asked, “How are you doing?” my usual response was, “Oh, I’m getting there.”  Then, when I asked the same question in return, I noticed that many responded with a surprising, “Hanging in there.”  Three years have passed, and this is still happening.

This response is noticeably different from the usual “Fine, thanks,” that I was used to hearing for so many years, which I often used as well.  To me, it implies that we are now being tested in some new way, and that the resources we summon to get through the day seem to run dangerously low at times.  It also verifies my suspicion that our lives have become like the news broadcasts on CNN and MSNBC.  The main picture represents life as we know it, or “business as usual,” as some would put it.  The scroll running below on our television screens stands for the urgent, the alarming, and the unknown, and coping with both factors in our daily lives adds new meaning to the term “multi-tasking.”

This situation has led many of us to a somber conclusion — that we all share a common humanity, and that “power” is indeed a relative term.  Anyone who tells me that he is “hanging in there” implies that I must be doing the same, or else his comment would be meaningless to me.  I also like to think that there is mutual stress, mutual understanding, and mutual support to be found in our complex world without looking very far, no matter how subtle it might be, and that they surface whenever we give or receive such a reply.

Five years ago, the rainbow of code of “alert” colors wasn’t part of our lexicon, and our major cities didn’t resemble armed fortresses when special events, such as the national political conventions, were held.   If I had gone to the New Jersey Transit web site for travel information before my coworkers and I looked out of an office window and saw the Twin Towers burning across the Hudson, I might have found a an enticing view of the Jersey shore on the home page.

When I went to that same web site a few months ago, the first message contained instructions on what to do if we noticed something suspicious while traveling.  Three years ago, I did not have to wonder if I could manage an umbrella, cane and purchases when venturing out in the rain, and well-meaning bus drivers didn’t mistake me for a fragile China doll either.  Now, things are different.

So our lives have been changed definitely, if not totally, and while they may be more difficult to live than they used to be, their value hasn’t diminished in the least.  In fact, I like to think that their worth increases as we stay focused, do what needs to be done, and “show up” when we are expected somewhere.

Back when our nation began, Nathan Hale, who also lived during times that tried men’s souls (and women’s as well), urged his contemporaries to “hang together.”  I think this had more to do with the notion that “in union there is strength” than it did with the cynical idea that “misery loves company.”  In fact, it might have been his way of saying, “we’re all in this together,” as we would put it today.

Whenever I meet people who tell me that they are “hanging in there,” my response is universal.  It is also what I tell myself whenever I need to: “There is no other option.”