2.  WILLING OR WILLFUL
      Think about the last time the stakes were high and you needed things to be a certain way - oh yeah, and the clock was ticking.  Was your first move to pause and connect with that which is greater than yourself, opening yourself to be guided and informed?  Or did you hunker down and shove all your energy into "making it happen" or be consumed with worry that it might not?
       Willfulness yanks us right out of the flow (see Chapter 6 in the book).  It's all about insisting something into being.  Being willful reveals what we are attached to and more importantly, what fear drives us.  Just finish the sentence "it has to happen this way or else.....".  If we can't bear the "or else", we go into lock-down to enforce the outcome. 
      Several years ago I saw a doctor, who after running some tests, said to me "You do everything by will power, don't you?"  For a moment, I thought she was complimenting me on my discipline and tenacity.  Then she went on to tell me that I had actually strained my heart muscle because of how I functioned!
      This way of operating has become synonymous with achievement, independence, and success.  A dangerous interpretation because it makes it look like your habit of intensity and contraction is the only thing that will produce what you want.  Let your muscles and breath and heart feel that for a minute - in order to have what you want, a life time of forcing awaits you.  Please say it isn't so.
       It's not about not wanting what you want or not working toward your goals, it's all about the spirit in which you engage.  Tight and frenetic vs fluid and inspired.  Basically it comes down to this - Control or Trust. 
      Control says that we must be in charge and direct life because we are separate and on our own.  Trust says we are part of something so grand and expansive and generative that the more we relax and belong to it, the better it gets.  Notice how your body feels about that.
      If we can bear to shift from being willful to being willing, we become permeable and available to vast resource and wisdom that we would never otherwise tap.  Open your mind, heart, breath, and fist so that life can flow again.  There is nothing wimpy about drawing on the resources of Something greater than yourself.  Real brilliance is finding the flow and jumping in.  
    

3.  Practice of the Month     GO OFF DUTY
       Just for a minute.  Sit back in your chair so it's doing all the work holding you up.  Let your spine relax, your belly relax, your hands relax.  Close your eyes and exhale fully a couple times.
       Turn your attention to what inspires you, delights you, amuses you - whatever makes you feel at ease.  Could be nature, a picture of your family, a great piece of comedy, a sweet memory.  Hang out here for a whole 60 seconds partaking of it fully.
       Then, regarding what ever issue you're focused on, ask "How can I let this be as easy as it wants to be?"  And listen. You may get an answer immediately or some awareness may show up for you later.
        Your job is not to figure everything out and keep the world turning.  Your job is to tune in and become available to infinite possibility.  Going off duty for a few minutes may be exactly what's called for.  Einstein found it worked for him, and he was no slacker.


4. New Cool Stuff
    *It's Never About Money!  Join us for a free 1-hour conference call on Wed, Dec 6th at 4pm Pacific time.   Victoria will address how money issues give us access to the real issue - our habituated way of being about abundance or scarcity, separation or belonging, and struggle or ease.  Explore the key practice that puts you back in the flow.  Email Victoria by December 2nd to reserve a spot.  Call info will be sent to you.
     *Re-Sourcing Ourselves:  A Retreat for Women Leaders  is being re-designed. We're looking for a retreat site that offers nature, serenity and renewal, and that is eco-friendly.  Your suggestions are welcome.
    For many women, it seems like the bigger the promises, the greater likelihood of burnout.   Given our key role in the future, the world can't afford that and we don't need to follow that well-worn path.  You'll know as soon as we do about dates and location.
    *The Embodiment Practices from the book (read by Victoria with a little embellishment) are available in CD as well as audio download for $10. See ORDERS page where you can listen to a sample.
     *The Group Study Guide for self-selected groups to study the book together is a complete 30-page guide of 8 structured sessions. Download the $12 guide from the ORDERS page (where you can read a sample).

5.  Links
Visit Victoria’s Blog for her latest thinking about the Trance and its overcoming.
Victoria regularly leads Programs and presents keynote addresses.
See the calendar for all Upcoming events.
To find organizations, books, and projects that support getting free of the Trance, visit the newly expanded Resource page.

6. Copyright | Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Written and edited by Victoria Castle © 2006. All rights reserved.

IN THIS ISSUE

 

  

 

“An instructive, encouraging and delightful book that I believe can wake us out of our numbed state, where we’ve forgotten our true nature , our fundamental human goodness. Please read it!”
- Margaret J. Wheatley, author of Leadership and The New Science

 

“I recommend this book to anyone and everyone who understands that we must rethink who we are and how we relate to the world in order to create a healthy future for all beings.”
- Lynne Twist, author of The Soul of Money

 

“Of the two dimensions of money issues - the inner and the outer - Victoria Castle is dealing with the inner side in a masterful way. I recommend this book to anyone who feels that money is a concern in their lives.”
- Bernard Lietaer, author of The Future of Money

 "Readers will appreciate
the directeness and simplicity of this compassionate, effective perspective for confronting a myth that has lived within us for centuries."
   - Richard Strozzi Heckler, author of In Search of the Warrior Spirit and The Anatomy of Change

"One of the best books I've seen for turning positive intentions into powerful practices.  A wise wake-up call, one we all should read."
      - Richard Leider, author of The Power of Purpose and Repacking Your Bags

"The Trance of Scarcity is very strongly recommended to readers who are searching for a practical and instructive approach to creating a more innovative and satisfactory sense of self and a more flowing combination of reality."
  - Small Press Bookwatch