Red Shouldered Hawk
When an Animal Appears,
Ask for the Message
Over the last 10 days, I’ve had a hawk come to my front lawn and land on the bird feeder pole that sits in the middle of a flower bed. There’s no bird feeder there – just a set of chimes that rings with earth tones when the wind blows.
When an animal shows up in this way, there is always a message. So every time I see the hawk, I ask, “What message have your brought me?” And the hawk keeps asking, “Are you feeling the joy yet?” or “Are you being playful today?”
Considering that I’ve been going through enormous energetic reorganization of all my bodies since I started acupuncture treatments in late April and considering that they have frequently left me feeling like a limp rag, I haven’t exactly been filled with joy. So having the reminder is a blessing.
Remembering to find the joy within us is essential because we are in charge of whatever we choose to feel. I never used to believe this, but I’ve been coming around to the notion that we are truly in charge of what we feel.
This understanding finally dawned on me recently. If I allow myself to become angry because of something someone else does, then I’m giving my power away to the other person. This doesn’t mean that I have to accept mistreatment or abuse. But it does mean that I’m in charge of how I react when someone else behaves disrespectfully or is doing an “anger dump” in my direction.
Instead of becoming angry, I have a choice. I can step back from the situation and allow myself to be in a peaceful place observing what the other person is doing, feeling, and saying. With practice, I can learn to do this while the other person is still ranting and raving in my presence.
I can also choose not to participate in the conversation or situation. I can keep love flowing through my heart. I can set a clear and firm boundary with the other person, offering to speak with them another time when they are feeling better.
I don’t have to take on their upset or accept their disrespect.
If I do feel anger, I need to ask myself, “What button has been pushed inside me?” When I ask that question, I’m taking responsibility for my own feelings. This opens me to receive the information I’m asking for. Sure enough, there is always something deep inside that is being replayed, like a old recording of a past hurt.
When I’ve identified what’s being triggered, I have options. I can ignore it, or I can heal it. When I heal it, I disconnect the button that was pushed so that I never have deal with it again. Of course, there may be residue that calls my attention to this one or two more times, but after I clean up the residue, I’m free of it.
Talk about being in JOY!!
So the energies right now are bringing us opportunities to dig even deeper. What? You thought you had already reached the bottom of the barrel of old emotional debris? Hmmm. Maybe there are hidden compartments yet to be discovered, explored, and cleansed?
How synchronous this is for me. I have just released an old energetic pattern that I have inherited I believe and it has helped me a great deal in coping with an uncomfortable energetic presence without getting myself embroiled in their drama or their projections. It is such a useful skill and one that will no doubt help me when dealing with clients who are angry or emotional.thank you it has helped me clarify the process! Blessings
As usual what you write makes perfect sense. Applying this to a situation that involves an individual is easy to comprehend. I’m trying to figure out how to apply it to utility companies and business’s etc. or to be more specific, builders. When I work out how to do this it won’t just be joy I feel but absolute ecstasy!
You really do have the most exciting visitors to your garden. Just reading about them in your blogs gives me joy!
Thank you
I guess this is like shifting a car into neutral. I did this recently – can’t even remember what happened – but whatever it was triggered some anger and I caught myself going into that space and stopped myself. I said to myself, “I don’t want to waste energy on this. It’s really not important. So I’m going to step back and just be the observer.”
And that’s what our True Self or I AM Presence is – an observer. Shifting into that level of consciousness allowed me to just let the whole thing go.