Ready for a story that might just change your life? You know that feeling you get, when synchronicity throws something at you 3 times in as many days? Well that’s why I have to share this story with you.
I have “accidentally” stumbled across this story in the strangest and most unpredictable of places in the last few days.
It reached me at a point where I had been making a massive effort to help people, but everything seemed to be going wrong!
And it helped me decide to “adopt a starfish mentality”.
My invitation to you today is to read the story and then see if a “starfish mentality” might work for you, too!
A wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.
Time to adopt a starfish mentality?
One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a person in the distance, dancing. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance on the beach in the morning. So he walked faster to catch them up and say hello.
As he got closer, he noticed the dancer was a young man, and that he wasn’t actually dancing. He was reaching down to the beach, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the sea.
The man approached and asked the young man what he was doing.
The young man paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the water.”
“Why are you throwing starfish into the sea?” came the surprised response.
The young man replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. Unless I throw them in, they will die.”
Upon hearing this, the wise man said, “But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all the way along? You can’t possibly make a difference!”
The young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it reached the water he said, “I made a difference for that one.”
For me, this story is about spreading miracles.
You never know the impact a simple action might have in someone else’s life.
I remember a former work colleague, a friend of mine, back in my “employed” days, who was always incredibly patient with me, as I was learning the basics of web design and code writing. I would go back to him, day after day, with exactly the same question. I had a total mental block on “code”. Yet he always patiently explained, again and again, what I needed to know. He never showed irritation or impatience. And eventually I learned.
I left that employer to start my own business, over a decade ago. And websites have always been core to my work. Over the years, I have created various personal development sites. A few months ago, we did a quick tot-up and realised that the inspirational resources on these sites had touched the lives of over 3 million people across the world, over that time.
And I suddenly realised that none of it would have happened, had my former colleague not taken the time to be patient and help me build up my skills and confidence. Without him, I never would have dared to utilise the internet to spread the articles and resources I was creating.
I suspect he had no idea where his kindness was going to lead. But I’m certainly one starfish who is really pleased to have been thrown back into the sea!
Is there someone in your life who has made a difference to you through a simple act of kindness?
How about taking a moment to thank them, right now?
You could send them an email. You could give them a call. You could write them a letter. Or even tell them via the comments box! 😉
I don’t know about you, but I get fed up of all those self-proposed gurus who tell everyone what to do, how to think, how to feel and even who to be, to change their lives. But so often, if you dig beneath the veneer, they’re just as messed up as the rest of us!
Then I was thinking (I know, crack the jokes). Part of the dream that led to the creation of The Transformation Club was creating a community of like-minded people who would share this transformational journey together.
I didn’t want to create a website where people would sit on their own at their computers, change their lives, and then walk away.
I wanted to inspire them to change – and to connect with each other.
You know the kind of thing – like phoning a friend, full of excitement, because you have suddenly dumped a habit that had been causing you problems for decades. Or busting a limiting belief that had been sabotaging your dreams for years. But on a much larger scale.
When we share the breakthroughs we have on our transformation journey, we achieve two amazing things.
Firstly, we’re acknowledging our efforts and growth. By speaking them (or typing them!), we are consciously admitting that we have changed. And that’s a really crucial part of cementing changes.
Secondly, we inspire others. So not only do we change our life, but we can motivate them to change theirs. And that’s spreading miracles, if ever I heard it!
So, to help you feel more comfortable about diving in and sharing with others, I figured it was only fair if I offered you a deal.
I’ll show you mine, if you’ll show yours!
😉
So I’m going to promise you that, every time I discover a new technique, strategy, shortcut or insight and apply it to my own “stuff”, I’ll share with you, openly and authentically, via the club’s Sofa area.
I’ve already got masses of techniques and tools up my sleeves (that’s the whole point of The Transformation Club), but that doesn’t mean I don’t still have “baggage” that comes up and bites me on the backside.
So every time I get whalloped in the face by the wet kipper of my Ego or stumble over the cliff of a well-placed, deeply invisible limiting belief, I’m going to share with you how I deal with it, so you can hopefully be inspired and motivated, too.
Sound like a deal?
Here’s the first instalment:
Video only visible to members of The Transformation Club
I “accidentally” ended up on a live call with Wayne Dyer last night.
Actually, I don’t really believe in “coincidence” – I believe everything happens for a reason. But it did seem strange that it happened with such synchronicity.
I had just been through a challenging evening of high emotions and I was feeling in need of some inspiration to help me get back on track.
So a live call with Wayne seemed Heaven-sent.
Anyway, I listened for an hour, half-absent-mindedly, while I fiddled away with some graphics work in the background… until he said one phrase that seemed to jump out of the airwaves and bosh me in the face like a wet salmon leaping out of a Scottish river:
It’s not about being better than anyone else.
It’s about being better than you used to be.
Wayne Dyer
It woke me up.
The “old me” would have wallowed in the drama for as long as she could stretch it out.
She would have made sure that she milked the hurt and pain for everything it was worth.
Wayne’s single phrase kicked me out of that auto-pilot pattern.
It enabled me to press the “pause” button – to catch my breath for a moment and choose whether that was a path I really wanted to go down.
Fortunately I chose to go down another path – one that was more peaceful and grounded.
And that’s the thing with our habitual responses – our “auto-pilot scripts”.
We don’t realise we’re running them until our casualties are lying around us and it’s nearly too late to change things.
The great thing is that we can always change direction.
Here are 3 simple steps you can take:
Cultivate awareness of our auto-pilot scripts
Detach from the drama – let go of whatever it is we’re “gaining” from the emotions and drama
In each and every moment, be prepared to make other choices. Just because we’ve discovered we’re on a path we don’t really want, it doesn’t mean we have to keep walking it.
To allow this strategy to work, it’s essential to let go and forgive ourselves, if we feel we have made mistakes. Otherwise we’ll just keep making them – and that won’t make anyone happy…
So next time you spot yourself running an auto-pilot script that is no longer servingyour highest good (or that of those around you!), how about playing with those 3 steps?
And do remember to pop back here and share your comments and experiences!
Namaste,
Clare
Every Friday we share our Daily Sunshine with you – as a special treat! It’s usually only available to Silver & Gold members of The Transformation Club.
