(
Complaining
I’m sick and tired of complaining. I’m sick and tired of hearing myself complain. In fact, I’m so fed up with it that I’m willing to complain about how we human beings are so prone to complaining! How’s that? Stay tuned and I’ll elaborate on that. But first some background
I just returned from a leg of a tour I’m calling the Earth Magic Tour, doing workshops, booksignings, and private healing sessions in Seattle, White Rock B.C., and Vancouver. Had a great time, met lots of people, and based on the feedback from the workshop participants and those who had private sessions, it went very well. Looking forward to going back there.
Jesseca accompanied me on most of the trip. She had to go home in the middle to attend to her two children, Serena and Ari, but was able to rejoin me in Vancouver. After I completed some private sessions at the Awakening Heart, we were on our way to the airport, excited about returning home, and especially happy to be returning together on the same plane.
In the course of our conversation we shared various experiences we had during that day. She described how she had done a quick reading with my Messages from Your Animal Spirit Guides Oracle Cards drawing a card to see what advice would be offered. The first card she pulled was Platypus. She then shuffled the deck, drew another card, and lo and behold! It was Platypus again. Shuffled the cards again, this time very thoroughly, and for yet the third time drew the same card! Okay, time to really heed the message.
On the card itself is an image of a platypus, with a message written from Platypus Spirit, which is,“Stop complaining and focus your attention on the blessings in your life”
Since drawing the same card three times in a row was highly significant, we reviewed the extended message in the guidebook that accompanies the cards, where Platypus goes on to say:
Complaining about this or that is a way to blow off steam, which can be healthy to a degree, but ultimately, it isn’t very helpful—for you or anyone around you. Lift yourself up no matter what your present life circumstances are, face the day head-on, and notice which thoughts you tend to put most of your attention on. Whatever the nature of those thoughts, the consequences manifest not only in your feelings, but eventually in the world around you.
Power flows wherever your attention goes. Power is Life Force, or Spirit. When your attention is focused on negative thoughts, negative experiences result. So whenever you notice yourself repeatedly attending to negative thoughts, practice shifting your attention to thoughts of gratitude. Consider the blessings in your life. What are the things that make you happy? You may find a discrepancy between what makes you happy and what you’re doing in your life right now. If that’s the case, choose to alter one or the other: Either change your life and start doing what makes you happy, or change your thinking to enjoy whatever is happening in the moment. It’s up to you.
Hmm. We both agreed that it would be great simply to notice, to bring our awareness to how much and how often we each complain. No, not monitoring one another, but taking responsibility for focusing our awareness on our individual proclivities to complain, whine, or generally be negative, whether in an internal dialogue or expressed vocally. It’s a trip to just observe this. Started the Awareness ball rolling.
Now, I must confess that I was surprised at how much of this I actually do! Sometimes subtle and sometime overt, sometimes internal and sometimes externalized through my voice, demeanor, or behavior, but nonetheless far too frequently than I had would like to admit. It really helped to recall Playpus’ message.
Okay, so next day decided to go to the Festival of the Whales in Dana Point. It’s pretty much like it sounds, except there are no whales. That is unless you hire a boat to take you out to where they’re migrating. They’re headed north to cooler waters to spend the summer, then a few months later head south again. The festival had music, lots of vendors, and places to eat. But no whales.
A good chunk of my family, including my daughter Catherine and grandson Jaden, several nephews and nieces, had spontaneously decided to go, which prompted our decision to join them. One of my grandnephews (I think that’s the right way to refer to him, but still sounds kind of funny), 10 year old Vincent, kept repeating a word that sounded slightly familiar. “Pah-uh-puss, Pah-uh-puss, Pah-uh-puss.”
I asked what he was saying and—perhaps you’ve guessed by now—he said, “Platypus. Shay (a three year old niece who’s the youngest of the tribe) was trying to say Platypus, and that’s how it came out.” He was mimicking the way she said it. I turned to Jesseca and raised my eyebrows, and she nodded her head at this remarkable confirmation of yesterday’s message! Sort of like a trump card from Spirit coming through Vincent.
So we knew we had to turn up the light awareness to “catch” any complaining. This was yet another experience with an animal spirit guide that proved to be miraculous and extremely helpful guidance. Earth Magic® indeed!
Oh, yeah. The other important part of Platypus’ message from the cards had a more general meaning. What he said about “Power flows where attention goes.” So the question became where to redirect your attention when you find it going into complaint mode? Jesseca came up with it right away when the question was asked: Gratitude. (I’m thinking, “Duh! Should’ve thought of that myself.” But didn’t really matter.)
Spirit comes through in a variety of ways, and I always look for repetition, whatever the source of the guidance. The oracle cards often provide a takeoff point in discerning any of the responses to any concerns or questions when I need spiritual guidance, yet Nature herself also provides this when I listen. I’ve found this to be particularly true with spirit animals, those that repeatedly show up in either symbolic or physical form. Symbolic such as through visual input, like dreams and images and written messages from the Messages cards, or via the auditory channels, such as hearing my nephew repeating the sound his cousin had made trying to pronounce.
Jesseca described how she was writing out ten statements of gratitude each evening as a means of sustaining the focus of attention. I haven’t been as systematic, but when I pause after catching myself—without blame, shame, or judgment—complaining either in my head or out loud, I do my best to shift my attention to what I have in my life that I’m truly grateful for. Power flows where attention goes. Another outcome of this is that other things for which I can be truly grateful appear, following the universal law of attraction.
And you know what?
What I’m reminded of is how first and always on the list are the people in my life that I’m grateful for, especially those to whom I’m closest that I love dearly and appreciate being in my life and providing the lessons I need. And, oh, yeah. My two favorite guitars . . . Okay, just one more thing. My favorite didgeridoo. Okay, and my computer. At least most of the time.
And this breath. And this one. And this one . . .
