Looking for Signs

The Celestine Prophecy is not a current book, but it's a powerful one. I read it many years ago and think a reread would be useful. What stuck with me in that book is the magic that is all around us. The signs that are visible, to those who look.

In this book, many times the person was wondering about the next move they should make. No matter if you're literally walking down a road and come to a split in the road and a decision is forced - go to the right or go to the left - all of us find ourselves making some sort of decision on a regular basis in our lives. No one wants to be wrong. Many times there is no additional information to follow, and always there is no guarantee.

We tend to try and gather more information, ask other people what they did in that case, or maybe just follow along with what our parents did or the most well worn path because it's familar and we feel the others before us must have known more.

In the book, when the person is faced with a decision but is very still and quiet, he just wonders and waits. Suddenly one or the other of the options become lit up and 'shiny'. One option just appears more attractive to them suddenly. In the book it's a visible thing, like which path to choose? The traveler looks at one, then the other, and is still. He just wonders. That's the magic. The magic is in the stillness and the wondering. Normally our minds race and our thoughts are loud and we keep lots of external stimulus going - the music, tv, talking, people. With all of that noise we don't allow ourselves to hear the other voice. That voice is our 'gut feeling', our intuition, our guardian angel. We call it all kinds of things but it all points to the same spirit that does lead us and will guide us IF we listen and look for it.

Meditation has long been used by people who want to be closer to God or to the Higher Power. It centers and calms the mind and stills the noise, so that inner voice can be heard. It is the Power of Now. Eckhart Tolle speaks of this - Roy Masters has spoken of this for some 50 years at the Foundation for Human Understanding (http://www.fhu.com/) - the space between the seconds. The now. The present. It's where God is. If you find yourself ever crying out wondering where God went - He didn't go anywhere. More than likely we went somewhere and that was off in the churn - off in the swirl in our heads and off in the swirl of the world and into the loud, noisy, confusing vortex. It costs no money and takes no more than a few seconds or short minutes to just stop it all and be very aware of right here, right now. In the moment - where God is.

It doesn't only work for Big Things. Some of these concepts seem huge and eternal and biblical in nature. Maybe things you would draw on for times when you're life is in danger, but that's not so. Small things, even trivial things, are all part of our lives. The appreciation for life and all it contains starts in every little thing.

I'm typing on a keyboard connected to a computer that's connected to the Internet. I am grateful for this connection. I'm grateful for the actual physical hardware and devices and electronics that make up all the parts and pieces of this system. I'm grateful to every person who touched this system and the associated software every step of the way in the manufacturing process, testing, development, sales, installation, and ongoing maintenance. Stopping to think about the enormity of this connection and all that it contains and how much work and time has gone into making it possible - it's like contemplating the stars on a clear night. It's mind boggling and truly a wonder. Something I could never duplicate. I send each of the people involved my gratitude and thanks and a bit of silent prayer. How often do we feel that gratitude and that wonder for such an ordinary part of our life?

When I began my bookselling business, I went from being a kept animal in the zoo who was fed regularly and fat and lazy to suddenly being set loose in the wild. I had sat at my desk and got my paycheck, no matter if I worked hard that week or not. Sometimes I was off all week on vacation and not working at all but I still got that paycheck! In the wild, everything changed. My entire mindset had to change, and it wasn't easy at first. If I sat around killing time chatting with friends, guess what? I didn't make any money! There was no automatic pilot. No safety net.

Going out into the world to look for inventory, I felt my wits come back to life, the dulled intuition changed. Consider this - if you drive along the street and come upon a church rummage sale by chance and stop. You didn't know it was going on today, you could have been on your way in the other direction, what are the odds that you see this and it's going on now and you stop. You walk up on a table of books for sale. You pick up one and buy it. Someone had to donate that book, make the decision to give it away, take the time to physically take it to the drop off area, and you walked up - not 30 minutes or even 10 minutes later after someone else had bought it - but right then, and you bought it. Taking it home, you list it for sale online.

Someone in another state, across the country or even across the world in another country wants that book. They just heard about it maybe, or they've had the title scrawled on their To Do list for months and only now are getting around to sitting down at the computer to search for it. They find it, not on a different website, but on the one where you listed your book for sale. There are lots of other listings - some better condition, some more expensive, some less expensive. So many things to take into consideration - do they want the seller to be closer geographically so the book may arrive faster? Or is the seller's feedback the most important thing?

After all of the decisions and timing go into it, that person chooses your book. They click on it. Because of a lot of other factors, they have the money to pay for it and the transaction is completed. You receive this order and you ship it out.

What seems like such an ordinary, non-spectacular thing is actually a small miracle. The odds of that book finding its way to you - the odds of listing it on that day and for that person somewhere far, far away to suddenly desire it. The odds of that particular book being chosen out of all the others.

Having your income and your livelihood attached to this type of miracle is like eating directly out of God's hand each and every day. To be less than thankful for each transaction and in awe of the entire process would be a shame.

Being still is the first part. Being aware of this magic and this miraculous existence is next. When you are in awe and wonder you can't help but feel grateful and amazed each day. Going out into the world, I've found that when I'm mentally prepared and in that grateful and awed sense of mind, magical things happen. I have gone into a store and looked around, having no idea where to go or if there's anything I should look for and something stands out. Something is 'shiny' - like in the Celestine Prophecy. One book catches my eye and holds it. One area of the store looks inviting and open, but not for any specific reason. It just looks brighter somehow.

Watching carefully and quietly for those clues, you can follow and discover wonderful things. I ask my angels before every scouting trip to please keep me safe and well and show me items they'd have me find that I can resell for a good profit for my family as well as provide things to others who need them.

Times when I'm hurried or anxious or feel desperate, I come home frustrated and empty handed.

Times when I feel that deep peace and quiet and know I'm being led by my angels, I have found abundance.

It seems at first that praying for resale profits is a wrong thing to do. I ran into that so often for years. I felt that being spiritual translated directly to poverty. Praying for money was crass and ridiculous. I should be altruistic and monklike, right? But not so. My realities in my life are that I must have money to live and to support my family. Money itself is not evil. The LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Money is necessary, and what you do with it can be good or evil. I have found peace in asking my angels for guidance to be directed to the best items I can find, so I can do my best that day and provide my best for my family.

If you have that gratitude and that stillness, it's not just about finding inventory. You'll be kinder to people who cross your path during the day as you scout. You'll be more aware as you drive. You'll be slower to anger and much quicker to offer help to others. At those times I find myself offering a steady stream of Thanks to God and to my angels - one thing after another. Thanks for that book or that one, Thanks for that parking space, Thanks for that lovely person I met, Thanks for that incredible opportunity, on and on. And aren't we tasked in scripture to pray without ceasing and to be thankful always? It's something we can't keep in our busy minds with all the other noise, but in a certain state, in a certain frame of mind, it is natural and effortless.