rule fOuR: LesSonS R re-PeAteD uNtiL tHeY R lEarNed . . .

"Lessons are repeated until they are learned."

10.11.12. 

(OMG look at the numbers on the date!)

hEy thErE hApPy freeFridaypeeps--
Hope your week has been amazing! For the past few days, I've been poking into Cherie Carter-Scott's work, "Ten Rules for Being Human." Her list is so short, but so incredibly powerful. Check it out! Today we'll be focusing on rule four . . . 
Ten Rules for Being Human

by Cherie Carter-Scott

1.	You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it's yours to keep for the entire period.
2.	You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, "life."
3.	There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately "work."
4.	Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.
5.	Learning lessons does not end. There's no part of life that doesn't contain its lessons. If you're alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned.
6.	"There" is no better a place than "here." When your "there" has become a "here", you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here."
7.	Other people are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
8.	What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
9.	Your answers lie within you. The answers to life's questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.
10.	You will forget all this.

Yesterday, I was writing about all of our individual lessons that are tailor-made especially for us by the Universe. It's interesting that many times, we think the same old stuff keeps happening to us, AND IT DOES . . . for a reason! As Carter-Scott writes, 

"A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it.

When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson."

Know what? That means that if the same old s(tuff) keeps repeating itself in your life forming a painful pattern, we need to

WAKE UP

and see how we are

PARTICIPATING

in

PERPETUATING

the

PAINFUL PATTERN

and if we don't . . . 

no worries . . .

it'll come around and bite us in the butt again

(in a different way . . .)

Here are my top three lessons I've been challenged with my entire freakin' life:

1. It is not good for me to put the needs of others before my own needs. I love myself first, and that allows me to love others from overflow.
2. It is not good for me to rescue others to boost my own self-esteem and ensure that they don't leave me.
3. It is not good for me to put up with others' unkind or abusive behavior towards me; it is awesome for me to set boundaries, and disengage and detach from people who do no treat me with respect.

Where are your patterns screaming at you?

Love you so much, peeps!

;) dana

rULe tHree: theRe R nO mIsTaKes, oNLy LeSsoNs

tHeRe R nO mIstAkeS, oNLy LesSonS

10.10.12.

hEy fuNfree mE(E)pS!

If you've hopped on the blog lately, you know that for the next 10 days I'll dig into Cherie Carter-Scott's work, "Ten Rules for Being Human." Here's her list--I'll focus on one rule each day!

Ten Rules for Being Human

by Cherie Carter-Scott

1.	You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it's yours to keep for the entire period.
2.	You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, "life."
3.	There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately "work."
4.	Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.
5.	Learning lessons does not end. There's no part of life that doesn't contain its lessons. If you're alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned.
6.	"There" is no better a place than "here." When your "there" has become a "here", you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here."
7.	Other people are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
8.	What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
9.	Your answers lie within you. The answers to life's questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.
10.	You will forget all this.

As I think about rule three, I am struck with the idea of forgiveness--does that seem kinda weird? I didn't know where I was going with rule three, but I'm going with my intuition here.

Like, as in, we can assume that everyone is doing the best to get their needs met (even if we think it's messed up) and that we are doing the same. That's good news. I really truly know in my heart that everyone is doing their best (even if they piss me off or disappoint me or make me CrAzY#$@#$@%^ . . . or, crazier than I already am . . .  ask my 8th grade students! I have a fake turd in my desk . . . okay, maybe two: one human and one dog--I use them to play tricks on the school janitors every year. As in, "Bill! Come quick! Someone took a crap in my classroom! OMG!" . . . it's the best . . . ).

I can think of soSosOsoSo many things that I've done that were pretty messed up (in other people's minds and even in my own looking back) but those things obviously met a really important need for me at the time. Usually, it was one of the super duper basics I needed, like being acknowledged, being accepted, being loved, being recognized and seen, or being appreciated and valued.

So, if everyone is learning their lessons (including us), we can trust, and FOR(ward)GIVE ourselves and others for our "failed experiments," as the rule states.

I don't know about you, but I am much, much harder on me(self) than I am on others. And, when I am harsh or judging about others, it's really a projection of ME (. . . not psyched to admit that one, am I? . . . NO!). 'Cuz everyone's a MIRROR:RORRIM.

But that's a rule that comes later. Maybe they're all the same. Yikeys. Full circle.

Sweet dreams!
;O}) mustachio woman (I actually don't have a stash . . .)

rULe tWo: yOu wILL LeArN LeSsoNs

"You will learn lessons."

October 09, 2012

"Trials are but lessons that you failed to learn,

presented once again.

So, where you made a faulty choice before,

you can now make a better one,

and thus escape all pain that what you chose before

has brought to you." 
-- A Course In Miracles

yO fReePles!@ ;0) ---

If you've been hopping on the blog, you already know that my intention for the next 10 days is to dig into Cherie Carter-Scott's work, "Ten Rules for Being Human." Here's her list--I'll focus on one rule each day!

Ten Rules for Being Human

by Cherie Carter-Scott

1.	You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it's yours to keep for the entire period.
2.	You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, "life."
3.	There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately "work."
4.	Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.
5.	Learning lessons does not end. There's no part of life that doesn't contain its lessons. If you're alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned.
6.	"There" is no better a place than "here." When your "there" has become a "here", you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here."
7.	Other people are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
8.	What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
9.	Your answers lie within you. The answers to life's questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.
10.	You will forget all this.

So the second rule is about learning lessons--and each of us has our own special set of lessons the You-niverse has uniquely prepared for us--so we can't be so quick to believe that just because someone else's lessons aren't the same as ours--that their lives are easier, or better, than ours--or that THEY GOT THE GOOD STUFF AND WE GOT THE CRAP-oLa (you know what I mean).

We never know what's going on with others on their IN:SIDES, so it's (forthcoming CRAZY ALERT) UBER DANGEROUS to compare their OUT:SIDE with our IN:SIDE. After all, don't you try to hide your crap-ola and act like "everything is just fine."--actually, it's human nature for many of us (translation: I have everything in control. I don't need anybody. Everything is pErFckT! I am a rock, a pillar, even!). Some of us who don't try to hide our imPerFcKtion may move to more dramatic measures--'cuz we lOooOoOOove dRaMa! btw: this is also human nature. (translation: SaVe mE! I am poWerLess! Life is happening to Me! It's all about everyone else!)

but I digress . . . (noT!).

We can be grateful for our lessons . . . they are like the most amazing & beautiful tailored clothing designed with just us in mind (insert your fave thing to wear---mine is amazingly blingy jeans with black lace-up boots and a flowing baby doll shirt layered with a cardigan...). We all call in our lessons . . .  and (sorry!) we keep repeating them until we finally GET IT (you know, like learn and change the way we respond to the pattern).

This also means that we may not need to rescue others when they are in the midst of learning one of their beautiful You-niversally designed lessons (I know this totally sucks, 'cuz we don't like to see people in pain). However, what I know, is that sometimes by rescuing or helping others, we are actually hurting them, and delaying the You-niversal lesson . . . and, they'll just be repeating it again . . . and again . . . and again . . .and again . . . and again . . .and again . . . and again . . .and again . . . and again . . .and again . . . and again . . .and again . . . and again . . . (okay enough already!)

This can be VERY dangerous for those of us who thrive on the rescue mission and put others before ourselves (obviously one of my You-niversally designed lessons . . . still working on it!)

At the end of the day, I want to say, "Thanks for the amazing lessons, World." As my amazing mentor, Mastin Kipp, says, "Everything happens for us, not to us."

We just need to be wide awake. Conscious.

Pretty cool, huh?

How are you becoming conscious? Leave a comment and let me know. We LoVe yOU!

;0) dana

rUle oNe: yOu wILL reCeive a bOdY . . .

"You will receive a body . . . "

October 8, 2012

dEar fUnfrEepeEps!

If you hopped on the blog yesterday, you already know that my intention for the next 10 days is to dig into Cherie Carter-Scott's work, "Ten Rules for Being Human." Here's her list--I'll focus on one rule each day!

Ten Rules for Being Human

by Cherie Carter-Scott

1.	You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it's yours to keep for the entire period.
2.	You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, "life."
3.	There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately "work."
4.	Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.
5.	Learning lessons does not end. There's no part of life that doesn't contain its lessons. If you're alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned.
6.	"There" is no better a place than "here." When your "there" has become a "here", you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here."
7.	Other people are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
8.	What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
9.	Your answers lie within you. The answers to life's questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.
10.	You will forget all this.

We have all been blessed with boDiEs . . . and what I'm wondering is, why is it so tough for some of us accept our bodies exactly where they are (even if we want to make some changes like getting in better shape or taking vitamins)? How can we learn to treat our bodies with the utmost loving care?

When I think about caring for my body, I picture being healthy and loving about a lot of stuff:

• my food and drink choices (including sugar, caffeine, processed food, eating too much or restricting food, and staying hydrated--as in--drinking water!)
• my activity and exercise habits (like not exercising or being compulsive about running, and listening to my body when it's hurting or tired)
• my sleep habits (too much? too little? why do I wake up in the middle of the night? am I staying up too late? am I bummed out and want to sleep too much? am I napping to catch up when I need to?)
• my stress levels (am I doing to much? am I obsessing over stuff I can't control? am I meditating and doing yoga on a regular schedule?)

Now, this list can be a little scary--especially since now that I've written it, it feels like a list of too many SHOULDS. Good information to think about, nonetheless. And with the shoulds, my perfectionism kicks in, and I could easily start beating on myself for not doing all of the good stuff every day and in my routine of health.

So, the main thing for me is probably balance--if you haven't noticed in my blog, I have generally been a person of extremes all my life, and I have tended to assign meaning to events and relationships (including my relationship with myself) as either good or bad, right or wrong . . . pretty much black and white, all-or-nothing. 

Good thing now is that I have the self awareness to OBSERVE MYSELF from a detached perspective so I can NOTICE how I interact with my life! 

Yeah! Ouch--in a good way! I think I'm gRoWinG!

hOw do u take carE of aNd liSteN to uR bOdY? 
LovE mE, and yOu!
dana dana fo fana

10 rULeS for bEinG hUmAn . . . Cherie Carter-Scott

We r HuMaN! LovE aLL!

October 07, 2012

hEy aLL!

For the next 10 days I'm going to feature The 10 Rules For Being Human by Cherie Carter-Scott--I'm thinking about focusing on one each day. They are so amazing!

For today, I want to remind all of us that we are first and foremost . . . HUMAN!

Check out the human smiley face video above!

So, I'm thinking that today, I'll have you check out the BIG PICTURE of what she says, and then, I'll blog about one of the rules each day (in the order that she has them, 'cuz I have to follow the rules, right?!)

So here is the overview of her rules: Pretty cool stuff . . .

***********************************************************************************

The Ten Rules For Being Human
by Cherie Carter-Scott

Rule One - You will receive a body.
You may love it or hate it, but it will be yours for the duration of your life on Earth.

Rule Two - You will be presented with lessons.
You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called "life". Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or hate them, but you have designed them as part of your curriculum.

Rule Three - There are no mistakes, only lessons.
Growth is a process of experimentation, a series of trials, errors and occasional victories. The failed experiments are as much as a part of the process as the experiments that work.

Rule Four - The lesson is repeated until learned.
Lessons will be repeated to you in various forms until you have learned them. When you have learned them, you can go on to the next lesson. 

Rule Five - Learning does not end.
There is no part of life that does not contain lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

Rule Six - "There" is no better than "here".
When your "there" has become "here" you will simply obtain another "there" that will look better to you than your present "here".

Rule Seven - Others are only mirrors of you.
You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.

Rule Eight - What you make of your life is up to you.
You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you.

Rule Nine - Your answers lie inside of you.
All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.

Rule Ten - You will forget all this at birth.
You can remember it if you want by unraveling the double helix of inner-knowing.

**********************************************************

So, what do you think? Ready for the deeper look? 

I can't wait! Can't wait to talk about the first rule 2-morrow! 

Personally, my body has been yelling super loudly at me this past month . . . and I've been fighting with my body my entire life. How about you?

YELLLLLLLL!@#$@#$$%^#$%#$%^

hearts!

dana

p.s. just wanting you to know that we don't have to believe the rules, or follow them, if the are not in alignement with our highest good . . . we get to pick! but it's great FOOD  4 thought!