Some Personal Reflections
At one point or another, many of you heard that Randy Revell (co-founder of Context Associated) often said “If you’re green, you’re growing; if you’re ripe, you’re rotting. Another way of thinking about this is, if you’re green, you’re pushing up against your comfort zone in pursuit of what you want, and you’re encountering new challenges which inevitably require new learning. If, on the other hand, you think you have it all handled, you’re ripe and you’re rotting. You’re residing in your comfort zone and perhaps even languishing in it: comfortable but certainly missing out on some of the juice and passion that comes from stretching and from really “being in the process of creating what you are certain is most important to you” (Randy’s definition of winning).
Obviously, I share Randy’s beliefs about the importance of lifelong learning, and I’m dedicated, as he was, to orchestrating opportunities for others to learn and transform their lives so they can make their greatest contribution. At a personal level, I am also dedicated to my own growth and development, and I put my money where my mouth is! Over my lifetime, I have spent thousands and thousands of dollars and countless hours taking courses. A few weeks ago, I took yet another course and I want to share some of my learning with you from that experience.
Woven through all our courses, is the notion that if you are to create what you are certain is most important to you, you must be clear about what that is. You must have clarity! Once you have that, you must take action and when that action does not produce the result you want, you need to course correct and continue taking action. (Remember, we are off course about 98 percent of the time; yet with small course corrections, we reach our destination). Most of all it requires commitment – commitment with no back door, commitment to continue without reservation, no matter what, even when there does not appear to be fruit from our efforts. Lastly, it requires “space scrubbing”. If your space is all cluttered up, you simply don’t have room for what you want to manifest. You need “space” for new results to show up.
In the Advancement of Excellence, we characterize our space as including both physical and psychological space. Time is devoted to space scrubbing by doing what needs to be done, delegating it, or dumping it. When I have engaged in this process, I have always created great value. With space for new results to show up, I have attracted them.
What I was less conscious of was the need to create space in my mind. “No thought lives in your mind rent free” was the quote that resonated with me and led to new insights. For example, if I want happiness, I need to let go of sadness… If I want love, I need to let go of hate… If I want something new, I need to let go of the old. It was noted that the universe abhors a vacuum and will rush in to fill it. So, in releasing what I don’t want, whether it be thoughts, feelings, judgments, habits, or whatever, I create the space for something new.
And so, I am inspired to create much more space in my life. For example, I am taking a leave from Malaspina University-College for eight months starting December 15, 2006. I knew I needed this type of space but what I have added from my new learning is a focus on “releasing” which I have now added to my repertoire of space-scrubbing techniques. I am committed to letting go of thoughts, feelings, habits, etc. that no longer support me in creating what I’m certain is most important to me. I know I did this in a substantial way in “Inside Passage” and I’ve witnessed many others do the same, reaping tremendous emotional and psychological freedom through the process. Knowing that “no thought lives in my mind rent free” inspires me to do this on a more continuous basis, though. I am now motivated to monitor my thoughts carefully, choose them in alignment with what I want, and I look forward to what new results show up. Once again, I’m excited about my new learning, convinced even more that lifelong learning is the key to winning! I’m looking forward to having a winning Fall and hope to see you at one or more of our upcoming courses, whether you are taking it for the first time, auditing or assisting!
~ Pam Lewis, Director & Program Leader