Synchronicity. Meaningful coincidences. Are you paying attention?

Life unfolds every single moment of every day… just as it should, on its own timeline…whether the individual is ready or not. Choose to fight it and watch chaos abound. Choose to accept it as a “meant to be” and watch life fall into place.

Will it be instant, one might ask? No, usually not. It may be years later before the relevance is clear. As life rolls along, the past will have clarity. It will be evident that exactly what needed to happen…did happen — at the right time, in the right place.

Quantum physics is a wonderful baseline for synchronicity. The premise is that subatomic particle activity appears wherever attention is placed. For example, if one looks to the right, the particle is there. If one looks to the left, the same particle is now over there. One might look very quickly back to the right only to find the particle is somehow miraculously still in its original location. Wherever one’s attention is placed, the molecule is already there — almost as if it is in two places at the same time! Of course, rational thinking suggests this is impossible. But is it?

Can one go a step further with the hypothesis that wherever one directs attention, results will manifest?

Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher Carl Jung is given credit for coining the word “synchronicity” in the early 1950s. Jung suggests paying attention to one’s experiences, both waking and non-waking, and delving deeper into the hidden meaning behind each.

The “I Ching, ” known as the “Book of Changes” dates back to 168 BC and is founded purely on the principle of synchronicity. It can be a tool for unlocking and directing one’s attention to hidden meanings. In this way, the “I Ching” acts as a guide, respectfully shedding light on experiences that need attention and additional reflection.

There is a rich love affair taking place between our inner spirit and synchronicity. When the two connect and honor one another, offspring result. If one can entertain the possibilities of spirit, one can create the potentiality. The only handicap is lack of awareness. There is no snooze button or reminder notification for these moments that need awareness and attention. Yet, synchronicity is ever present. If one isn’t paying attention, one may very well miss a life-changing “wake-up” moment.

Where are you placing your attention right now? Share your “aha moment” in which synchronicity has stepped forward and claimed a moment in your life.

Contentment

Don't you find it hard not to fill every minute of every day? When I find I have a window of free time, I gravitate towards filling it with something — not out of sheer pleasure or joy, but simply out of all the tasks and activities still left to do.

Today I finished a meeting, and instead of going to back to the office or visiting someone because I was in close proximity, I returned home. Having arrived earlier than usual, I pondered diving into any one of the many tasks waiting for my attention.

As I wandered through my home assessing the needs of the environment, I heard the windchimes and nature's endless broadcast calling for my attention. I followed the sounds out onto the back deck and was immediately greeted with the sensation of a gentle breeze wafting all around me — begging me to enjoy the late afternoon.

I yielded to the temptation and found myself walking through the neighborhood to the nearby river. How utterly delightful. The sounds of nature, the colors of spring, and the energy of the impending rain combined to create joy and tranquility within my spirit.

By the time I returned home, I had stepped outside of time as we know it. I had the sense of creating time... creating moments within time... while living outside of time. It was a moment of pure contentment.

Passage of Time

Everyone talks about time. Perhaps everything has already been said with regards to time. And perhaps, this post will not be new or inspirational to anyone. If this resonates in any way with any of you, I hope you will share your thoughts with me. So, time...

Time is one of those words that has great power attached to it. Time is moving through us and by us every single second we live.

Sure, we have lots of things to do, dreams to fulfill, and responsibilities to handle. Yet, it all comes down to time. Time to do, time to create, time to fulfill, time to handle. Time.

Some of us may feel burdened by time. We don't have enough time for all we want to accomplish or for all we have committed to do. Some may feel time creates stress in our daily lives. Yet, time is not the culprit. It doesn't create the stress. Stress is the direct result of overcommitment and not yielding to the needs of our inner spirit.

So, if time is all we have, how do we use this time in the most rewarding and joyful way?

The Greeks have two words for time. The first, chronos, is chronological time and speaks to the actual passage of time. This is what we most often refer to when speaking of time. Notice there is no joy in this definition — no life in this definition. One might suggest it is simply the progression towards death — this tick-tocking passage of time.

I much prefer the other Greek word for time — kairos. It means the quality of the time. It refers to those moments when you actually lose awareness of the passing of time. However you are choosing to spend the time, it is so joyful and pleasurable that you actually have no idea how much time has actually elapsed. What's more, you probably don't care.

This is a word full of life. This kind of time is full of love and is how memories are made. And when our time is filled in this way, it creates a permanent impression in our mind. It adds yet another facet to the prism of our heart.

When given the choice, we can choose this way to spend whatever moments we have left. We can choose this way to protect our moments from anything that erodes the pleasurable quality of any moment during this lifetime. After all, what else is there?

Allowing for Change

Sometimes it can be difficult to accept change or even to acknowledge its hovering presence.

Yet all things change. It is inherent in nature. Just observe the path of a leaf from spring to fall. It bursts to life in the spring with dazzling color and lives a noteworthy life bristling with the wind and bouncing sunlight off its blade. As fall arrives, the leaf doesn't become stiff and unreceptive to the changing environment. It changes with the cooler weather, first choosing another brilliant color as if trumpeting a new time in its brief life. Finally, as it loses its vitality, the leaf lets go and falls to the ground. Even at the end of life, the leaf demands nothing. It flows gracefully along with life's changes.

The leaf is a perfect visual of the Taos in action — living a life of simplicity and harmony while allowing natural events to occur. Sometimes it falls directly to the ground, while other times it is carried on the wings of the wind to another destination.

Change is not only necessary, it is certain. Plato said the world is composed of opposites. There cannot be life without death, success without failure, joy without pain.

This is a time of change. Great changes. With the first African-American president and the acute state of the economy, we have crucial decisions to make. Things simply cannot be as they have been.

If one chooses to be unyielding and rigid to the changing environment, not allowing personal or professional changes to take place, one may break. This message is not about Wall Street or big business, it is about you. How are you going to allow for change within your own life?

If one chooses to be open and receptive to the path one is being directed, it creates harmony with the energy of the universe. More than that, it creates the the flexibility necessary to being resilient.

For me, I have no idea where I am being led. Yet, I trust God is leading me and I am tasked with remaining open to whatever or wherever that is. I have been in business for myself for 13 years. Will I remain in business for another 13 years? I have no idea. The only thing I have complete confidence in is that all will be okay. I am a vessel allowing the universe to fill me and lead me. I have no resistance.

What needs to change in your life that you are resisting?

Pausing...

Our world has become "instant." Instant everything. Instant communication. Instant food. Instant access. Instant entertainment.

Instant communication — via telephones, cell phones, email and instant messaging has created an obsession. We receive news from across the globe as it is developing. The media continues to feed our obsession with "instant" information.

Gone are the natural pauses of the day... shelling peas for dinner or sitting on the porch with a glass of ice tea. Convenience has replaced the natural pauses in an effort to get more into the already intimidating day. A frantic pace is expected every single day.

Patience is no longer cultivated. People by and large are distracted, scanning their phones for text messages or checking other social media. They no longer notice the people and real life experiences taking place in their presence.

We were not built for this. It is not how we are meant to operate. We are crushing our spirit — the very life within us — as we hustle and bustle excitedly throughout the day.

I believe we must create the necessary pauses in our day and in our life to restore our natural rhythm. And I don't mean a vacation once in a while where you spend the first few days recovering from this frenetic pace of the day-to-day. I am speaking of pausing daily — creating a sense of balance for our spirit. Then we can glide through our day with clarity and a sense of purpose. With this new vision, difficult decisions are more easily made, priorities fall into place and brilliant ideas come forth. Time becomes just a word instead of an adversary.

So, how do we create the natural pauses? Just find a way to quiet the world. Some obvious options might be through meditation or journaling. Just being still in nature is a favorite way of mine. You may have other ideas for nurturing your spirit and limiting the distractions.

I have much to say on this topic, but this is enough for now. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic.