From the Brain of Dr Nicki: Now is The Plan

"What's the plan?" I'm asked daily, most often with a subtle, defiant sneer.

"THIS is the plan. This today. This NOW." 

I mean my answer. No irony.

Inevitably, the listeners’ sneer becomes less subtle.

 

Sure, people hate that. The idea that we're already in "the plan"...or at the very least, we're in a plan. Not the one we laid out. Not the one in our heads, but a plan none-the-less. 

 

“But”, they continue, “THIS doesn't feel especially good or especially right. THIS isn’t what I expected by now. I’m not where I thought I’d be! I’m so behind, I’ll never catch up!!”

 

Forty-five year olds say this. Twenty two years olds say this just as often. Yikes.

 

Indeed, all along the way life often defies pre-conceived notions of look, style, taste, sound or feel. But here’s the rub: this really, really is what we've signed up for. 

 

Don’t grimace. I know I keep repeating this. Because it’s pivotal. Because grasping this firmly is fundamental to all potential change. We strike a bargain with our unconscious and fulfill that bargain through attitude, thinking, and behavior. 

 

"No, no this isn't what I want," another questioner harrumphs.

 

I beg to differ. 

I’m deadly serious when I proclaim:  OUR TRUE OBJECTIVES SHOW UP EVERY DAY. Reality is the teacher. Actuality is the mirror. Look hard. What do you see?

 

Look at your life as a movie. You’re the story writer, the director, the casting agent and the producer. The billboard reads: My Life, My Creation.

 

But fear not, I’m giving you good news. Really. Because if we don't like how things look and feel, it's up to us to shift gears. If we're powerful enough to create the life we have, we’re powerful enough to create the life we want.

 

"Well, that sounds dandy but I'm stuck," another voice pleads."Really stuck!"

 

Naturally, navigating historical sludge, anger mountains, and thirsty throat deserts can be problematic. There are whirlwinds & riptides to deal with. Sideswipes & ground crumblings. Stonewalls & dry gulches. Yes, impediments everywhere we travel tell us to turn back, cease the quest, give up.

 

But we yearn. 

We desire. 

And, happily desire, especially if met fervently, gives birth to manifestation. 

And manifestation...well what tastes better than manifestation! It proves our existence point. It reveals our Soul's face. It is the afterlife we never dared hope for. 

 

So what's the catch? Why do we so often get snagged on the way to our stated intentions?

 

Fear.

Simple.

Fear.

 

“Perhaps the devil we know is better than the one we're yet to meet”, we whisper. “Maybe time does heal all wounds, even if we do nothing”, we hope.  Or worse, we quake: “What if all our secret doubts, deeply held bitter loathing, and pain-laced assumptions about self & about other have merit?”

 

Yes, what if every life thing is as dreadful as we dread! Better to hold the fantasy that all can be magically different than discover what can really, truly be altered and what can't.

 

Nonsense. This doesn't work. You know because you’ve tried it. Truth is, living wants a partner in the dance. That’s why we’re called into life’s arms to be spun around the floor. Sometimes it’s a furious dance, that leaves us panting in a threatening, shadowed corner where walls crawl with ghoulsand goblins. Other times we’re spirited brilliantly across the polished floor, our footsteps falling feather light. 

 

Yes, yes. Life calls for courage. We can partake willingly or resist, but either way, the music will play on.

 

To me the choice seems obvious.  Not always easy, but obvious. And you know what, as it turns out, over all, we're far better at the whole spin than we imagined.

 

As I undulate now through the life before me, blissfully hearing at times the trumpets blare or otherwise feeling the gentle flutes soft tickle, vibrate my surrendering cheek, I recognize with unanticipated clarity, that Life is the master. Join me in this realization as best you can in this precious moment. 

Be still, listen and answer the call.