Spirituality and Life

The creative process always amazes me… and I want to share a recent discovery with you.

When I was wondering what I wanted this video to be about, one of my favorite bumper stickers popped into mind.

SPIRITUALITY IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK!

The first time I saw that bumper sticker, I laughed out loud, remembering all the times I had been with people who were arguing about religion and spirituality!

‘Spirituality is not what you think,’ popped in, answering the question ‘what do I want to write about,’ so this must be it… right? It felt right, and I began.

I did research, I wrote, I pondered and after awhile found that I was making thinking about spirituality VERY HARD, and I was in a very contracted state. I was hardly even breathing!

What was I doing?

I experience spirituality as expansive, and here I was writing about it as if my life depended on the outcome.

Here are some things I learned about my creative process.

Step 1. I asked myself ‘what do I want to write about?’

Step 2. The thought popping in my awareness… spirituality is not what you think… this must be the answer.

Step 3. Then I wrestled with it, thinking about spirituality from different points of view, history, religion, comparing, analyzing…. The list went on and on.

Step 4. I stopped and took a moment and became aware of what I was doing, which led to another realization: that how I was working was the antithesis of a spiritual experience!

Step 5. This awareness sparked a memory of a quote by Oscar Wilde:

Life is too important to be taken seriously!

Which led to another session of bursting out laughing.

That was my creative trail and I wonder if you can relate?

Life is too important to be taken seriously!

What do these words mean?

Life: the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death; spirit.

Important: of great significance or value; likely to have a profound effect on success, survival, or well-being, significantly original and influential; expansive.

Taken: to reach for and hold.

Seriously: a solemn or considered manner; earnest intent; not lightly; to a degree that is significant or worrying because of possible danger or risk; contracted.

What does this quote mean to me?

Our time on Earth with the spark of life – spirit – is of such profound significance that to spend our lives in the contracted state of seriousness is a great loss.

Life is meant to be lived wholeheartedly, in awe of the mystery, learning new things, experiencing all of it with curiosity and the full range of emotions.

As all these ideas were swirling around, another thought popped into my head.

What we put out there comes back to us.

What goes around comes around. Karma.

As we sow… so shall we reap!

Step 6. This is where the creative process led me, and I entered what is called ‘flow state,’ where things just flow, and writing was easy.

I switched from a bumper sticker to a quote, from wanting to do something perfectly, to being present in the moment using my creativity.

I switched from agony to – yes – ecstasy, from contracted to expansive.

And low and behold the realization that both quotes are really saying the same thing!

This life is so precious. Experiencing it, having the courage to jump in all the way instead of thinking about jumping in is where the juice is.

You and I are free choosers in an unlimited field of choice, choosing moment to moment. The question is: are you and I choosing what we really want to experience?

Expansive? Contracted?
Juicy? Dry?
Love? Fear?
Positive? Negative?

I share these thoughts with you:

Spirituality is not what you think

and

Life is too important to be taken seriously

Now I wonder what your creative process will do with them. Let me know!

With love and gratitude,
Kris

Last Tuesday I had the opportunity to present a new Special Evening titled, Personal Power…Personal Peace to a group of 150 grads and their guests in Oregon City. It was really fun! Plus, we raised $647 for the True Colors Scholarship fund.

This video post is a recording of the evening. It includes 5 steps you can take to live life from the inside out… and much more.

This is a great video to send on to the people in your life who you have been talking with about the PES, or have thought about sharing your experience of the PES. It is filled with new content and solid information about what happens in the PES. It’s a great way to start a meaningful conversation.

I invite you to take a quiet moment with yourself… relax and see what’s here for you. We are always learning… and each new awareness assists us to be more of who we want to be.

With love and gratitude,
Kris

This is an excerpt from “Relationships that Empower You,” a Special Evening hosted at Wings Seminars on February 1st.

WINGS Seminars is celebrating 25 years in business this year. On a recent morning, WINGS Vice President Sherrie Frank took a moment to interview Kris King about being in business and being in service for 25 years. Many of the questions that Kris answers in this video were submitted through the WINGS Facebook page, and cover topics ranging from running a socially responsible business to creating the life you dream about. Thank you to everyone who submitted questions!

Today I want to remind you of your strength, resourcefulness, courage, the power of your choice, and your ability to learn and grow. I believe in you.

The intention of my blog is to stay connected and inspired as life-long learners, with a flow of information and ideas both ways: from us to you and from you to us.

This is actually ‘Take 2′ of my first blog entry. I was so nervous, when I finished I was drenched with sweat. I love the content, and think it’s perfect for beginning the new year inspired and clear. Here we go!

I want to pose a question: What if your real job is to live an extraordinary life?
I will say that again…

What if your real job is to live an extraordinary life?

Open the doors of your heart and mind to this question, ask yourself… What if my real job is to live an extraordinary life? While you are being with that thought, I want to share one of my favorite poems by Mary Oliver.

What if your real job is to live an extraordinary life…?
Not to fulfill your parents expectations.
Not to prove anything to anyone.
Not to think small and play it safe.
Not to get a college degree or degrees.
Not to get a well paying job that withers your soul so you can pay the bills.
Not to hold yourself responsible for everyone else’s well-being.
Not to miss your children growing up because you are at work.
Not to be so exhausted because you say YES when you want to say NO!
Not to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.
What if your real job is to live an extraordinary life…?

Have you ever noticed that so many people seem to be sleep-walking through life, doing the same patterns of behavior everyday, and then wondering why they are bored and unhappy, perhaps waiting for something to happen so things will change? Have you done that too?

I invite you to step out of any pattern NOW that says “I can do it later!”
We have no idea how long we will be here.

I believe the universe is always sending us information about what is working and what is not, and when we don’t listen or pay attention, the universe sends us louder messages, dramatic wakeup calls… accidents, illness, broken relationships, and mishaps, raising the intensity of the message to such a degree that we have to listen.
That is the hard way to change.

Yet, in those dramatic moments, we may begin to ask ourselves the questions we won’t listen to while we are sleep walking, going through the motions.

We may ask:
Am I living… fully?
Am I loving…? Who is going to miss me, who will I miss?
Do I matter? Is there a reason I am here?
Am I creating something I am proud of?
Does my life have meaning?
Do I feel fulfilled?

I think it is time to ask these questions NOW, because,
I am still here… you are still here.
The clock is ticking, we don’t know how much time we have here and there is no time like now to get going.

How would your life be different if you chose to believe My real job is to live an extraordinary life?

Take a moment to imagine…

I believe when each of us arrived in this life, we were given a job… it’s just that nobody told us. I believe that our job is to be a happy, healthy, vibrant human being making a contribution. If I had known that, I wouldn’t have doubted myself so much, and I would have made very different decisions along the way. How about you?

Let’s see what Random House Dictionary says about each of these pieces…

Happy

fortunate, effective, well- being, contentment, joyous… are you happy?

Healthy

soundness and vigor of the body and mind, freedom from disease or ailment… are you healthy?

Vibrant

pulsating with energy, resonant, passionate… are you vibrantly alive?

Contribute

to give in common with others, to play a significant part in bringing about a result… are you using your gifts and talents to create positive results for yourself and others?

Would you sign up for this job description? To be content and joyous, vigorous in body and mind, pulsating with passion and using your gifts a talents for the highest good!

I say, YES… Sign me up! This is the kind of job I really want to have.

Now is always the time to live an extraordinary life, no matter what the circumstances. No matter who is present.

Please remember Mary Oliver’s words…
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting–
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

What will you do right now… today… to step into the life you have always dreamed of living?

One step takes you from dreaming to reality.

Until next time, I ask you a very important question:

What if your real job is to live an extraordinary life?

]]> http://www.krisking.org/blog/2010/12/23/what-if-your-real-job-is-to-live-an-extraordinary-life/feed/ 5 http://www.krisking.org/blog/2010/10/29/the-incredible-lightness-of-being/ http://www.krisking.org/blog/2010/10/29/the-incredible-lightness-of-being/#comments Fri, 29 Oct 2010 12:26:09 +0000 kris http://www.krisking.org/blog/?p=728

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Hi! I am Kris King and I’d like to welcome you to my blog. Last evening here at WINGS we did a Special Evening, and the title of it was “The Incredible Lightness of Being.” We had such a good time, that I really wanted to share with you the things that we did last night.

One of the ways I’d like you to start is to check in and find out what’s true for you right now. If you feel comfortable, I encourage you to close your eyes for a moment. When I ask you questions, just listen to what happens inside of you, especially your first answer, to see if it’s true for you. If you don’t feel comfortable with that, that’s alright. But it’s better with your eyes closed.

So close your eyes, take a nice deep breath. Remember to listen to your first answer.

Are you having as much fun as you want?
Are you easy to laughter and light-heartedness?
Do you laugh at your own mistakes and really mean it?
Are those lines subtly forming on your face from smiling and laughing out  loud?
Do you wake up eager to begin your day… anticipating what is awaiting you in that day?
Do you enjoy the simple things in life… every day?
Do you feel happy seeing others smile, enjoying themselves?
Do you talk with others about how happy you are?

And

Are you feeling the incredible lightness of being right now?

So, just noticing your answers, and taking a nice deep breath.

If you had more no’s than yes’s… you are in the right place, because we’re going to explore how to get more yes’s in your life.
If you had more yes’s than no’s, I want you to write to me and tell me how you do it.

One of my favorite quotes that helps me remember “What is this incredible lightness of being?” is by Oscar Wilde, and it goes

“Life is too important to be taken seriously.”

Now, does that kind of give you pause? The first time I read it and went “What is he talking about?”

And then I got it.

If you look at the word “serious” in Miriam Webster’s Dictionary, it’s synonyms are things like: grave, solemn, sedate, staid, sober, earnest, not light, utterly free of levity, prim self-restraint, and concerned.

Now, when you hear that sequence of words, do you feel a great lightness of being, ready to go out and set the world on fire? I don’t think so. When I hear those words, I have a sense of tightness, of not much breath, of being really fearful about what’s going on in my world. Life is too important to be taken seriously from a tight, restrained, contained state of being.

What I think Oscar Wilde did not mean:
It’s time to be an air head, without goals, vision or purpose.
It’s time to be uncaring or selfish.
It’s time to disengage from your responsibilities.
It’s time to just do what you want, not paying attention to the impact you have on others or our world.
It’s time to pretend everything is wonderful when it is not.

What I think he did mean:
That life is so precious that we live it fully and passionately.
That it is time to be heart centered.
That it is time to be relaxed, resourceful, and present.
That it is time to be creative and open to the mystery of life.
That it is time to be self-aware, accountable for ourselves, open to feedback.
That it is time to focus on what is instead of what isn’t.
That is is time be thankful, to share your gifts with others, being in service.

I want to share with you a recent event in my life that was pretty shocking. And yet, by using these seven principles, it turned into delight. I journey to Bhutan. I’ve been there seven times. It’s one of my favorite countries in the world – imagine having a theme of the country be Gross National Happiness instead of Gross National Product!

Ten days before the trip I get a phone call from my travel agent, Doug, and he said “I have some bad news.” He paused, and my heart started beating, and then he said “I have some really bad news.” My heart rate went up even more.

I took a nice deep breath, and I said “Okay. Tell me.”

He said “You have no tickets from Bangkok into Paro, Bhutan, or from Paro back out to Bangkok on Drukair.

Drukair is the national airline, it’s the only planes that go in and out of the country. It’s high season, it’s festival week, and I think “Hmm…. I’m going on this trip.” I said to Doug “We can handle this,” and he thanked me for my trust.

It took five days of back and forth between Bangkok and Eugene, Oregon to get our planes in. We’d get there a day later, we’d leave two days early. We lost three days in Bhutan.

The whole time I was interacting with Doug, we were doing this: we were being open, we were being curious, we were being resourceful and totally accountable. At the five day mark, I talked to my guides in Bhutan. I told them what had happened: we were going to lose three days in Bhutan. A five day trek, where he had hired guides and cooks and animals. I felt really, really scared to tell him that, that there was no way that it could work. When I told him what had happened, he just stopped and breathed. He said “We can handle that.” And we did.

When I got off the plane in Paro, we were late. However, we both started laughing with each other, and made a commitment: We are going to make this the best trip we have ever taken. And it was.

Life is too important to be taken seriously is a theme in my life. When I contract and get fearful, I don’t think clearly. When I am relaxed and get curious, the world opens… opens wide and bright… and beautiful.

So, the incredible lightness of being is the result of taking life with joy, curiosity and love.

With love and gratitude,

Kris King

]]> http://www.krisking.org/blog/2010/10/29/the-incredible-lightness-of-being/feed/ 6 http://www.krisking.org/blog/2010/08/26/being-strong-and-resourceful-in-the-midst-of-fear-and-reactivity/ http://www.krisking.org/blog/2010/08/26/being-strong-and-resourceful-in-the-midst-of-fear-and-reactivity/#comments Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:16:32 +0000 kris http://www.krisking.org/blog/?p=684

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As I move about in the world observing and listening to what people are talking about these days, I am once again amazed by the power of beliefs and the difference of the impact between beliefs that are love based and beliefs that are fear based. It seems the media is committed to making sure you know how bad things are…over and over again. With repetition people start believing it is true. How about you?

Today I want to remind you of your strength, resourcefulness, courage, the power of your choice and your ability to learn and grow. I believe in you.

Remember all the fearful messages about what would happen when we shifted to the new millennium? We were told computers would shut down, no electricity, there would be riots and break-ins because alarms wouldn’t work, we would be vulnerable to attack and there would be no food on the shelves in markets, just to name a few. What happened…nothing. And yet millions of people wasted precious moments anticipating that something bad would happen which made it real for them until the clock ticked to 12:00 a.m., 2000.

What is the difference that makes the difference?

The work at Wings has rocked my world again and again in a powerful, positive and profound way. When I changed my mind, I changed my world is how I describe this transformation. I want to share five of the most significant shifts in consciousness that have helped me practice staying awake, being resourceful and proactive. My hope is, they will support you in remembering how powerful you are in each moment to create the world you want to live in…now.

Important reminder: These patterns are not about resisting your fear or anybody else’s…because resistance breeds more resistance. Pretending you are not afraid just makes that little voice in your head yell louder! Rather, these beliefs or presuppositions are actually based in acceptance that fear is a choice and there are other options that serve you better.

Another important piece of information…Remember when you were told that the brain doesn’t change? That you are born with a certain number of brain cells and the only thing you could do is kill them by using alcohol and drugs? Well, welcome to the world of research and discovery. Our brain structure changes responding to new thinking, feeling and experience. Neuroplasticity is a new field of science that explores this. Here is a quote that describes what happens.

“According to the theory of neuroplasticity, thinking, learning, and acting actually change both the brain’s physical structure, or anatomy, and functional organization, or physiology from top to bottom. Neuroscientists are presently engaged in a reconciliation of critical period studies demonstrating the immutability of the brain after development with the new findings on neuroplasticity which reveal the mutability of both structural and functional aspects. A substantial paradigm shift is now under way: Canadian psychiatrist Norman Doidge has in fact stated that neuroplasticity is “one of the most extraordinary discoveries of the twentieth century.”
from Wikipedia

So I am not kidding when I said, When I changed my mind, I changed my world!

Five significant shifts in consciousness that assist me to stay awake.

1. Moving from victim to accountable.
When I came into the Personal Effectiveness Seminar I believed that I was doing everything I could to make my marriage, family and life work, and I was working very hard. I was resentful with a capital R! I blamed my husband for my feelings of dissatisfaction and loneliness. I was certain he was the main reason our marriage was not working. I wanted him to change so my life would get better. I realized with some horror during PES that I saw myself as the victim of my husband.
I will always remember the freedom I felt the moment I realized that my choices were my own, that my choices had gotten me right where I was and because they were all mine…I could change them! I was the one I had been waiting for all this time. I could choose based on what I wanted instead of pleasing others. In taking ownership of my choices, being accountable, I became thoughtful about my deepest values and how to live them moment to moment. Light bulbs were going off with great regularity illuminating how much of myself I had given away by being dependent on others and seeking approval by saying “Yes” when I wanted to say “No.”
Becoming accountable means the end of blame and fault finding. It means the beginning of, I believe, the most profound spiritual path.

2. It’s about me.
Learning that whatever is going on inside of me in any given moment, feelings, thoughts, desires and actions, are about me was and still is profound and again freeing.
I am the one who decides what things mean to me and how I respond to that meaning is my creation. My assumptions, interpretations, judgments and beliefs are all made up by me and I was acting as if I was right about it all. So that’s where my loneliness, emptiness, and resentment came from…my own belief system.
What I am thinking and feeling in any moment is my greatest teacher, because they reveal my belief system. Instead of reacting unconsciously, now I can ask myself, “What am I thinking right now that is causing me to feel or act this way? If it is happening inside of me, it is about me. If it’s happening inside of you, it’s about you. This is the end of “You make me…”

3. All thoughts and emotions come from one of two sources fear or love.
When I first read this statement in A Course in Miracles, I sat there knowing I was staring at the truth. It made complete sense to me.
Fear is the thought that resists, contracts, reacts, tightens, shuts down, grasps, dominates, attacks, makes wrong and blames. Love is the thought that accepts, expands, relaxes, engages, collaborates, learns, accepts and is accountable. Fear says, “This is the way it is.” Love says, “There are other ways of looking at this…let’s look together.”
Using this premise I can locate where I am in any moment. If I am tightening up, I ask myself, “What am I afraid of?” and then I explore my interpretations of what’s going on. With that insight I can make a choice that serves me better.

4. We do not describe the world we see, but we see the world we describe.

(from Synchronicity: the Path of Leadership by Joseph Jaworski)

Say this to yourself a few times.
Now this gets really interesting and is based on quantum thought. Here is the power of language and beliefs:
“Our language and our nervous system combine to constantly construct our environment. We can only see what we talk about, because we are speaking blind, beyond language.
Language is like another set of eyes and hands for the nervous system, through which we coordinate actions with others. We exist in language. It is by languaging and recurrent actions or human practices that we create meaning together…and when we describe it, we create distinctions that govern our actions. We lay the path down by an accumulation of recurrent human practices.”
By so doing we create repeat performance after repeat performance; not seeing the truth of the moment, instead reacting to our projections from the past.
You may have thought that our attention to our use of language at Wings bordered on anal. However, shifting from describing what we don’t want to describing what we do want in a positive frame changes how we experience our world and our place in it!

5. What I give my attention to grows stronger.
When I focused my attention on what was wrong in my life…it became monumental and insurmountable. I didn’t realize that I was the one doing the focusing. I thought it was just happening to me.
When I learned that what I focused on was my choice and how I interpreted what I was focusing on was also my choice, I was blown away! When I focus on my weaknesses they increase, and when I focus on my strengths…wow…they increase.
Another way of saying this is, “What grows is what gets watered.” When I focus on being right, I keep trying to prove it. And you can imagine the results. When I focus on collaborating with a person instead of getting my way, collaboration grows in my life and relationships blossom with love and respect.

These 5 changes of mind have assisted me to stay awake and learning. I offer them to you to see if they work for you too. Let me know what you discover.
1. Moving from victim to accountable.
2. It’s about me.
3. All thoughts and emotions come from one of two sources, fear or love.
4. We do not describe the world we see, but we see the world we describe.
5. What I give my attention to grows stronger.

With love and gratitude,
Kris King

]]> http://www.krisking.org/blog/2010/08/26/being-strong-and-resourceful-in-the-midst-of-fear-and-reactivity/feed/ 12 http://www.krisking.org/blog/2010/07/23/create-meaning-in-your-life-everyday/ http://www.krisking.org/blog/2010/07/23/create-meaning-in-your-life-everyday/#comments Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:23:45 +0000 kris http://www.krisking.org/blog/?p=646 right of the individual or the organization, that we want what we want and we want it now!]]>

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Hi! I am Kris King and I hope watching and listening to my blog is assisting you to live your extraordinary life everyday – each day – feeling fulfilled and inspired. Perhaps 10 minutes to be present with yourself and open to the possibilities of conscious living.

Today’s blog is about creating meaning in your life… everyday!

As I have been reading the news and being aware of world events, I again realize that we live in a world where instant gratification is almost held as a right of the individual or the organization, that we want what we want and we want it now! Impatient, very often angry when we don’t get what we want, perhaps even blaming others for our outcomes, and then blind to the impact we have on others.

I think the results of this short sighted thinking, of personal gain over healthy and sustainable relationships and community, is a lack of meaning in our lives, and one of the most powerful causes of depression.

Thinking about “What am I getting?” instead of “What am I contributing?”

As I reflect on this, a Gandhi quote keeps running through my mind that I want to share with you.

It’s the action,
not the fruit of the action,
that’s important.
You have to do the right thing.

It may not be in your power,
may not be in your time,
that there will be fruit.

But that doesn’t mean you stop
doing the right thing.

You may never know what results
come from your action.

But if you do nothing,
there will be no result.

Take a moment to notice the impact of Gandhi’s words. What do they mean to you?

Here is a story that embodies what Gandhi’s quote means to me:

Imagine it’s a long, long time ago, in a village on the Eastern Steppes of Asia. A farming community and a busy place. A crossroads of trade…

It is a lovely Tuesday morning in early summer, and a small old man is out delivering eggs from his farm. He knocks on the door of one of his customers. She opens the door. They smile, chat for awile, he hands her the eggs she has ordered and then asks, “When would you like me to bring you eggs again?”

The woman pauses for a moment and says “Next Tuesday will be fine.” He nods, and kindly says “Til then,” and goes on his way.

On the following Monday the countryside is invaded by marauders… men on horseback wreacking havoc on the community and villagers, stealing, burning and maiming. The villagers are terrified, barricaded in their homes, hiding their valuables and protecting their livestock.

Tuesday morning, the woman and her children are hiding in their farm house, a heavy dresser pushed against the front door to stop anyone from breaking in.

She hears a knock on the door. She is petrified, signaling to her children to be still, be silent. She then peaks out through a shuttered window and sees the egg man! She pushes aside the dresser, opens the door, yanks him inside and says “Are you crazy? Don’t you know what’s going on out there?”

He calmly looks at her and says “It’s Tuesday, here are your eggs.”

When i first heard this story, I was deeply moved and astounded by the egg man’s integrity, commitment and courage. To hold his integrity so high that he would do whatever it took to fulfill his agreements.

What does it take to live life the way Gandhi and the egg man demonstrate? These are the elements I believe are necessary:

1. Having a clear vision
…Knowing what kind of person you want to be, what your deepest values are, what you stand for.
…Knowing what you love.
…Knowing what you want to create, what you are passionate about in your life.
…Knowing what you care enough about that you will risk stepping outside of your comfort zone to bring it to life.

2. Being accountable
…Realizing that if you want something, it is your job to create it, your choice, your responsibility, your actions.
…It starts with you.

3. Commitment
…At each choice point, you choose your vision again, because you will be tested.
…Haven’t you noticed that when you say you want “this”, you are tempted to do “that” instead of the thing you just said you were committed to? I truly belief that’s the universe testing our commitment.
…You don’t choose a vision once – you choose it every time you don’t want to choose it! That’s called persistence and discipline.
…You risk. Take action again and again and again.

4. Being in service
…Unconditional giving.
…Wanting to leave the world a better place than you found it.
…Using your gifts and talents to create the world you want to live in and share it with others.

5. Faith
…Believing that when all of the above are in play, your vision will come to life.
…Remembering that it is alive within you every time you choose it.

Meaning is not something that happens to us. It is something we build through our vision and our actions.

It’s the action,
not the fruit of the action,
that’s important.
You have to do the right thing.

It may not be in your power,
may not be in your time,
that there will be fruit.

But that doesn’t mean you stop
doing the right thing.

You may never know what results
come from your action.

But if you do nothing,
there will be no result.

Have you wanted a stronger sense of meaning in your everyday life?

If yes, perhaps it’s time for you to whole heartedly support what you want to help bring into reality. Through your thoughts, your words and your deeds. Through your choices.

What action will you take today to create the world you want to live in?

Thank you for listening. This is Kris King asking you a very important question: What if your real job is to live an extraordinary life? That’s what WINGS is here to assist you to do.

]]> http://www.krisking.org/blog/2010/07/23/create-meaning-in-your-life-everyday/feed/ 5 http://www.krisking.org/blog/2010/05/12/gratitude/ http://www.krisking.org/blog/2010/05/12/gratitude/#comments Wed, 12 May 2010 07:01:48 +0000 kris http://www.krisking.org/blog/?p=550

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Well, Hi! I’m Kris King and I’d like to welcome you to my blog. If you’ve come before, welcome back. If you’ve not been here before, welcome for the first time and I hope you come back many times.

The purpose of my blog is to connect with people in a profound way. Such a way that we’re touched, connected, and we’ve learned something together. I’m a walker, and this morning I was out walking and thinking about doing this blog today, and part of me was really nervous, and I was kind of thinking “what am I doing this for?” And I looked back at my past blog entries (which are really excellent, and I hope you look at them), but as I looked back at them, I realized that I was doing what I thought I should do instead of what I really wanted to do.

When I realized this out on my walk, I burst out laughing, because here I am, a teacher, who for the last 25 years has been teaching people to live what they know and trust and love; what they really want to do instead of what they have to do. So I kind of tickled myself this morning, and realized that what I wanted to talk with you about today is something really important to me, and is on my mind right now.

Sunday is my birthday. I turn 67 on May 9th, and I am profoundly grateful for that fact. Because, when I was 36, I had breast cancer, and my life was a mess and I didn’t know how to get out of it. So I took care of myself, I got well physically, and three years later I did the seminars that we offer, and they changed my life. I truly belief that I’m alive today and healthy and happy doing what I love to do because of what I’ve learned here at WINGS.

I’m grateful. So, today I want to talk about gratitude. Mother’s day is coming, too, we have lot’s of things colliding that are about gratitude, grace, thankfulness, maybe some forgiveness, too, around your mom (I know I had some of that to do when I was cleaning up my past). So I’m going to ask you to take a nice deep breath with me right now, so that you and I connect in breath. Do you know that the word conspire simply means ‘to breathe together’? So take a nice deep breath – and just take a moment to begin thinking about all the things in your life you’re grateful for. The things you have, not the things you don’t. The things that are right there present in your everyday life that you’re thankful for. And as you think about those, I’ll share some of mine with you.

Number one, I’m grateful that I’m talking with you right now. There’s an invisible web stretching out from my office right here in Eugene, Oregon to Japan and Germany and Russia, and I think that’s pretty amazing. So I’m thankful that I can connect with you, someone I might have never met, in a way that’s meaningful.

Another thing I’m grateful for is that when I was a kid, I felt safe in my world. I grew up in Miami, Florida when it was all tall pines and wide open spaces, and from the earliest remembering, I could go outside and be free. Free in the citrus orchards, free in the coral rock fences that people built. Free to do whatever I wanted to do in the physical world. I’m grateful for that. I remember sitting in a kumquat tree when I was about five, and eating so many kumquats I got sick. I could do what I wanted, and my mom trusted that I was safe in that world.

I’m grateful for the love of my family, my mom, my dad, my sister, my brother, and the moments that we shared growing up, and now. That I could sit with my mom when she was in her last moments of her life. I feel so grateful for that, to be present with her in that passing. I feel grateful for the love of my husband and my sons. I feel grateful that my son Matthew was in my life for 21 years; I’m sad that he’s not here now, and I’m grateful for the time that we had together.

I am so grateful to be present on this sunny day in Eugene, Oregon, where I can see the trees and the birds. The natural world has always been an inspiration to me.
I’m grateful to every participant that has come to WINGS Seminars and learned how to change their lives in a positive way, trusting what we do, trusting themselves, opening their mind to a bigger vision of who they are and what they’re capable of.
So take a moment again and breathe. Notice how you’re feeling right now as I talk to you, and the thoughts that are coming to your mind as you think about what you’re grateful for.

My list is long, and I know yours is, too. So, one of the things I’m really grateful for is my memory. Turning 67, I have so many people saying they’re having “senior moments.” I say, “Please don’t say that. Trust your memory.” So I’m thankful for that.

I’m really thankful that I’m a really good story teller. That when I have experiences in my life, that I can translate those to people in a way that they feel connected with their own stories, as well as with mine.

I think one of the things I’m really great at in my life and grateful for, is being present – right here, right now, in this moment, no matter what’s going on. And that didn’t used to be true. That didn’t used to true at all. I was reactive, defensive – I had no clue about my own power, my own presence, the impact I have on people. And I’m so thankful that in these years of learning and teaching and traveling the world, that I’ve learned to be present in the moment, appreciating the smallest things, appreciating the grandest things – whatever it is in the moment – without reservation, without judgement. To simply stop and be present. I am so grateful for that.

You may be a very busy person and you may take a lot of pride in that, and what I know is when I’m busy, for the most part I feel pretty disconnected from what’s around me. I feel important and like I’m getting a lot of stuff done, and yet… when I look back over a day that’s spent that way, I realize there was something missing, and that something was me. I wasn’t really there. I was on a mission to accomplish, which is good, but what I know is when I accomplish things and I’m present in the moment, then I enjoy it. Then I revel in it. Then I can laugh at myself and my outcome.

So how do we be grateful for everything in our life, instead of just the things that we think are the correct things to have in our life? How do we be grateful for a moment of pain, a moment of insecurity? How do we feel grateful in the moment when we hear bad news from the doctor? Well, that’s a great moment, again, to breathe and realize how precious our lives our, and that we have this moment to experience, and it’s the first time, perhaps the only time we’ll have that moment.

So gratitude is embracing the now – the now of life – and in that, realizing how precious our lives are, that we have a now. I used to think that I was one of those pieces in a big puzzle, and it didn’t really matter that I was here. But now I realize it really matters to me that I’m here, and that I be the woman that I know I want to be.

So my offering to you today is to breathe, be present, and look around for the things you’re grateful for. And when you come up against one that you go “err – not today. I am not grateful for that,” to stop, and breathe, and notice what you can be grateful for in that very thing that you just wanted to deny, to push away, because it’s a part of life just as much as you are.

Breathing together. Conspiring.

So I’ll leave you with this thought:
What if your real job is to live an extraordinary life?

This is Kris King – see you next time.

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