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The Netherlands Chapter For Spirit at Work
will meet again on December 10th in The Hague.
This is a
a non profit, bi-lingual forum for business
people to
freely discuss their spiritual values and how to
integrate them into their work. Send an email if you
would like to attend. time
The Everyday Spirituality Weekly
Contemplations email is getting alot of
positive feedback and will continue indefinely. If there
are any areas you would like to receive support in, let
me know and I will search for meaningful passages to
support you through your week.
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Down-to-Earth Meditation For Busy People Workshop
December 11, 2007, 10:00 - 12:30
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The Netherlands Chapter for Spirit at Work
December 10, 2007, 19:30 - 21:30, The Hague
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Uplifting Spiritual Websites |
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Everyday Spirituality E-Newsletter
Celebrate the Spiritual in You!
November 2007, Volume 2, Issue 11
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Greetings!
This November e-newsletter marks our ONE
YEAR ANNIVERSARY issue! Much has happened
over the
last year to provide clarity for what I should be doing in
the world to make a difference as a humble spiritual
teacher. More to follow in the next issues.
Earlier this month I have implemented the Weekly
Contemplation e-mail. I hope you like it. Let me know
your feedback on it and what types of messages you
would like to receive and I will bring them to you.
This e-newsletter gives me great joy to write and I
hope you look forward to receiving it, can print it out
and make some quiet time to reconnect with the
spiritual in you.
Thank you for taking the time over the last year to read
this down to earth spiritual text and for your continued
support.
With warm regards,
Barbara
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Feature Article: Spiritual Lessons From the Negative Encounter
We have all had negative interactions with people.
Someone cuts us off in traffic, is rude to us for no
apparent reason. Many things happen in our lives and
we think, "What was that about?"
Although we meet alot of kind, loving people in our
journey through life, we also have to deal with some
bad karma from those who lash out or act agressively
in our immediate vicinity. It is part of life.
If we are wise, we realize that we learn both positive
and negative lessons from them and we teach them
lessons. Sometimes we don't even know it.
In fact, each person that we come in contact
with that causes an emotional reaction has
the possibility to teach us a life lesson.
This can be a positive interaction, like
someone letting you go ahead of them in the
checkout line in a supermarket when they have
a cartful of items and you have only a few.
This overt act of
kindness can make you
feel lucky, special and brighten your day.
You can also have a negative interaction such
as searching for a parking space in the city
for 20 minutes when you are late for a
meeting and you spot one behind you, back up
your car beyond it in order to drive in and
before you know it some person races up in
his car and goes in your spot. When you jump
out of your car livid at this indiscretion,
all he says is, "Well, I live here and it is
hard to find a spot so get lost."
This, I can
tell you from personal experience recently,
can cause a strong emotional reaction in many
colorful ways.
Have you ever considered that negative
encounters with people on a superficial
level, like my parking space stealing friend,
are just as beneficial to your spiritual
growth as positive interactions? They are
beneficial because each interaction gives you
the opportunity to step back and say to God,
"What lessons would you have me learn in this
situation?"
What lessons can you learn from the:
pushy telemarketer who calls us during dinner
and will not take no for an answer?
The selfish city dweller who steals your
parking space or cuts you off in traffic?
The self serving boss who takes every idea
you come up with and makes it her own?
The inept salesclerk on Christmas Eve who
keeps you waiting in line for 30 minutes to
purchase a last minute, but essential gift?
These and other unpleasant experiences
offer you a chance to step back and look at
the situation with compassion and tolerance.
If you emotionally step back, calmly
consider the interaction and ask yourself,
"What lessons am I meant to learn from
this?", you may receive some surprising
answers.
The difficulty lies in having the
wisdom to be able to step back from the event
and look at it with compassionate eyes. A
good dose of tolerance is also recommended as
you are cosmically sharing a small corner of
the planet with these individuals as they are
in your immediate connection range.
Your perception of the experience is also key
to seeing things clearly. As Dr. Phill McGraw
says, there is no reality, only perception.
This means that how you perceive things
determines how you face them and react to them.
How can you find meaning and discover the
lesson that you are meant to learn from them?
Here are 6 ways to manage the negative
encounter and to learn from it.
1. Step back and acknowledge the negative
interaction for what it is and remove the
emotional response you feel about it.
2. From a loving place, contemplate why the
person did what he/she did and try to put
yourself in their shoes to gain a wider
perspective.
3. Ask your intuition, or inner self or God
what lessons you can learn from this
experience and then just be quiet and still
and listen to the response.
4. Don't over analyze what happened and don't
hold on to the negative emotions. This is not
good for the physical, emotional mental or
spiritual well-being.
5. Realize that there is a life lesson to be
learned from it and each negative experience
adds to your spiritual consciousness.
6. In your mind and heart, forgive those
persons, bless them, thank them for their
participation in your gaining new insight and
wisdom and release it to the Universe.
If you go back to our list of unpleasant
examples above and consider things you might
see that the:
Pushy telemarketer is trying to earn a living
to support his family in the best way he
knows how. Show compassion and tolerance and
be as polite as you can on the phone and wish
him success in his next call.
Selfish city dweller deals with challenges of
living in the city and after all it is just a
parking space. Show understanding of his
situation and release your frustration and
move on. You will see that if you release
him in love, and not rage, an even better
parking space is likely to appear for you.
Self serving boss who takes every idea you
come up with and makes it her own?
This is an ongoing challenge and requires
great patience and tolerance. She must have
her own ego challenges and insecurities to
deal with so release the resentment and bless
her everyday.
The inept salesclerk on Christmas Eve who
keeps you waiting in line for 30 minutes to
purchase a last minute, but essential gift?
Patience is a virtue and is certainly even
more strongly required on Christmas Eve
shopping battles. Put yourself in the shoes
of the clerk. He or she is trying their best
in order to get home too. If the thing you
are trying to purchase is that important then
while you wait, occupy your mind with
positive affirmations. If the clerk is making
mistakes, realize that you will soon be out
of that store with your package and on your
way. Do not let your frustrations fly at
someone who is doing their best in a bad
situation.
You may be wondering how I view my run-in
with the parking space stealing city boy. It
taught me to that I cannot control what other people
do, I can only control how I react to it. I felt rage and
injustice and came to realize that I made a
big deal out of a very small piece of ground.
I bless him now, and thank him for this life lesson and
hope he learned a lesson
from me that can help him on his way.
Remember that each person you meet has
his/her battles to face. Each one is also on
a journey of life lessons from all their
positive and negative experiences; whether
they are aware of them or not. Search for the
wisdom and grace in each encounter, and you
will see that compassion, empathy and
tolerance will become your sacred tools to
respond to the negative encounter.
Your thoughts?
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What's New?
My article called "Take a Break and Meditate" appears
in the
winter issue of Access Magazine for those who live in
The Netherlands. See page 10 and 11.
Down-to-Earth Meditation Guidance & Coaching
Program.
A three month program of telephone and in person
coachng that teaches you how to
meditate.
When you want to learn to meditate, you may want
some personal attention and guidance to understand
the value of meditation, implement a program that you
can stick to and enjoy the many benefits it provides.
This down to earth program offers a combination of
teaching, guidance and coaching to help you learn
simple meditation techniques that you can implement
immediately.
Workplace Meditations; Reduce Stress for Greater
Success.
Order yours today!
A great Christmas gift for a stressed out person
in your life.
Order now and receive a 10%
discount for Christmas if ordered by December 22nd!
Remodeled website for Authentic Matters will
launch
in the middle of December. Fresh and updated
graphics with a clear representation of what Authentic
Matters does. Look for the announcement in an
upcoming Contemplations email.
The Netherlands Chapter for Spirit at
Work
will will have the 2nd meeting on December 10th at
the
Westeinde 101a in the Hague from 19:30 -
21:30. Because of illness, the meeting in
November was cancelled.
If you live in The Netherlands, you are welcome to
attend this
new spirituality in business initiative. It is a bi-lingual
open forum for discussion about ethics, values and
spirituality in the workplace.
Guest speakers, meditation, book reviews, people in
the news profiles and shared experiences will create
an environment of like minded people coming
together. Come join in this new and exciting
initiative.The topic for December is
Edgewalkers in the Workplace.
Newly Implemented Affiliate Program to sell
the
Workplace Meditations audio CD and MP3 products. If
you know of any companies who would be willing to
become affiliates to sell these products, please send
an email to Barbara.
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Closing Thought
We are all transients on earth and the sooner we
accept the impermanence of our condition, the more
pleasure we can take in the unexpected liberties it
provides.
From A Woman of Independent Means
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For more information or to give feedback, contact:
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Barbara Rogoski | |
31 626 898 717 | |
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Devil with a Briefcase, 101 Success Secrets for
the Spiritual Entrepreneur by Spiritual
Entrepreneur Jan Janzen. This book, along with her
CD Series, focuses on building profitable businesses
based on Ethics, Values and Fun while making a
difference in the world.
