Archive for February, 2008
Ancient Art of POJSU
By Kevin Murray
- Thursday, February 14th, 2008
What is POJSU? It is an ancient technique (actually not yet ancient but it may be in thousands of years.) It is highly effective. It puts you in the flow of all kinds of good things. When practiced, even in the face of fear, it has the capacity to support you moving towards your dreams. Or, we could say, it magnetizes you so that your dreams come to you.
Okay, you’ve waited long enough. What is this thing?
POJSU is the Power Of Just Showing Up.
How do you use this? Where can you use this? When can you use this? How does it work?
We’ll start with the last question because it’s the easiest. How does it work? Who knows? But really, who cares? That it does work is certain.
When can you use it? Use POJSU whenever you feel that it might be preferable to retreat or play it safe, but a part of you knows that pushing forward a little RIGHT NOW might be just the thing that is needed.
Where can you use it? Anywhere. At home with your spouse. At work. With anyone. You might be avoiding a conversation with someone. POJSU supports you to be available to listen. POJSU shows that you are willing to go beyond initial discomfort to what’s next.
How do you use it? Just Show Up!
In my business (where we made this up) we use POJSU for sales. We use this technique particularly when we’ve exhauseted all other methods and feel like there’s not a whole lot more you can do. You can call a client, fax, email, but sometimes, when things need a little boost, POJSU is just the thing. Even if the client can’t see us, we leave a card, a note, and they know that we took the time to show up personally. IT MATTERS. The next time we try to reach them, we find that they are a little more accessible. POJSU is respected.
I very often see POJSU in the realm of spiritual practice. In my community, POJSU is part of the discipline even when you’d rather stay home this weekend than travel to a retreat. It’s also showing up for my meditation when I can find many excuses not to. Over the years, those of us who continue to JUST SHOW UP know that this committed action tends to bend the universe a little in our direction. POJSU brings many gifts: sometimes peace, ease, insight, humor. Whatever the gift, there is almost always a reward, if we are willing to look for it.
In some situations, POJSU is what gets us there and yet there may be other work to do, things to say, or hear.
But none of that can happen without first showing up.
Where can you practice POJSU now?
Where is there work to be done that is being postponed?
Where is there a relationship that could use some attention?
Where is there a place where you are a little stuck?
Try Just Showing Up! and see what happens.
I welcome your comments, thoughts and reflections. Please leave a comment to continue and expand this conversation of POJSU.
Are YOU Happy?
By Meghan McChesney Gilroy
- Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
Many, many years ago my spiritual teacher asked me, “Are you happy sweetheart?” He was known for lecturing on happiness as your birthright, happiness as your purpose in life; he wasn’t known for asking casual questions. And he had a habit of focusing his intense and bottomless black eyes on you while you floundered for an appropriate answer. This wasn’t a question to be taken lightly. My mind began to whirl. Did he mean happy in this moment? Happy with every last aspect of my life? I busily weighed all the pros and cons of the current state of my personal, professional, familial, and spiritual lives. Good, good, bad, just okay. Or did he mean happy as in having a big smile on my face at all times?”Well?” he asked, “Are you happy my love?”
Finally, I stammered, “Yes?… No…. Hmmm. I don’t know.”
For several months he would periodically ask the same question: “Are you happy?” Such a seemingly simple question, but it pierced my nighttime dreams and haunted me throughout the day. I desperately wanted to be happy, especially since this seemed to be the point of his teachings and my studying, and yet the idea of being bubbly or putting on a fake smile didn’t resonate with me.
Eventually the question faded from my mind. Then years later a student asked me if I was happy. The question sent a jolt through my system. Without thinking, and with genuine joy in my heart, I answered “Yes, I am happy.” My response surprised myself until I considered it further. After years of personal growth work, my understanding of what happiness is had deepened, softened, mellowed. I no longer associated happiness with smiling all the time. I had learned to look below the surface of any question, to go beyond my interpretation of a concept like happiness. I had translated the question into a more meaningful query for me.
Yes, I felt happy as in content, authentic, and balanced. This sensation permeated through every part of my life. It was, and is, solid and lasting. My mood may fluctuate slightly on a daily basis, but in my heart I am content. I am living the life I’ve dreamt about even though it looks nothing like I envisioned.
That day my student pressed me further, strangely mimicking my wise, old teacher. “Really? You are happy all the time?”
I smiled at her and replied in an echo of the man who originally led me on my quest for authentic happiness, “Yes. And without a doubt, one day you will be too.”
So my question to you is, “Are you happy?” Please post a comment!
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