“What you focus on expands, and when you focus on the goodness in your life, you create more of it. Opportunities, relationships, even money flowed my way when I learned to be grateful no matter what happened in my life.” - Oprah Winfrey
The past several days I experienced a wonderful chance observing people stuck in the negative fear based thinking and people living from the heart center and loving aspects of life. You see last Thursday my little town in North Carolina was hit with a micro burst storm. It lasted no more than 30 seconds but left downed lines and power outages. Huge oak trees fell and thankfully no one was injured, a few homes damaged and of course power and our connection to the outside world stopped. As the storm passed by and people ventured out to see what had happened I felt a sense of neighborly love. People were helping each other. I felt I had become a part of the neighborhood and it took a storm to bring us together. I have lived here for 5 plus years and never really connected.
Gratitude for the stars.
I went to bed that night and saw the stars fill the sky and remembered how I loved to watch them but while in North Carolina it had been impossible. I slept with contentment and gratitude for my neighbors and the night sky. Around 3am I woke and had to take in more of the night sky so a grabbed a chair, Tucker and outside we went to gaze and dream. Having had enough gazing I finally went back to bed. I really felt happy though chaos and destruction laid all around. I woke that morning ready to help the people I had met and welcomed into my life just the day before. I headed out to get some coffee and stopped asking if anyone else would like coffee tea whatever? No takers. The day progressed. People wandered about trying to find any information which was sporadic. I lost my cell phone (needed charging) so I had no contact to anywhere. I asked people if their cells were working and they were. Neighbors ran off to work glad to leave the destruction for the day. I was left with no one to help and no one helping me. Where I had felt camaraderie I now felt isolation. Why couldn’t someone had offered to charge my phone I have no idea. It is what I would have done.
When I crawled into bed that night I felt very defeated and sad. The people I had talked with are good people but lived in a life of chaos and ego. They spun horrible stories with outcomes of dire situations and ranted about the time it was taking for services to come back on. Misconceptions and lies exuded from their pores much like an addict on drugs. They lived on a fear based high. Instinctively I focused on my own thoughts and my own grateful appreciation for the people who have tirelessly worked non stop to bring our power back. I lite a candle and asked the Universe to keep them strong and safe. The power would be on, when these brave wonderful fabulous people finished. My neighbor and myself (her husband works at the power company) believed it would be on sooner than later and thankfully it was. Services came the next day. By Sunday evening our little street was back on the grid and the neighbors back in there fear based little worlds. Me? I am choosing to focus on the goodness of what I experienced and feel sorry for the people who still wont let this fabulous wonderful creative loving being into their lives. Then I do not think I want them in mine.
The reason for a delay was a group of men came down from Reeds Michigan driving their rigs and after a quick rest worked a long hard day setting poles and running new wire on the full length of our street. I want to send a loving energy hug to those men. You are my heroes and gratitude does not even touch the surface. When I forget and stop focusing on the goodness in my life I will remember and think of my heroes.
