Almost, but not quite

How do we know guardian angels exist? Are they messengers of Higher Forces? Something beyond us seems to guide us to good thoughts and words, and to help preserve us from danger or suffering. 

A divorced mom I know now shared how she had struggled to raise her young son and wondered more than once how she would survive.   Try as she did to take on on odd jobs to support them both, the bills kept piling up.   When her ex-husband refused to pay support, and she had no friends or relatives to help, she ran into greater difficulties.  She spent all her money to feed her son and drank only milk herself.  As the result, she lost a lot of weight and became very weak. The time came when she hadn't paid rent in three months.  She feared she and her son would be evicted.  Her health became precarious and she finally arrived at her wits end. She made every sacrifice she could, though she says that her now adult son doesn't realize her sacrifices. 

Without apparent rhyme or reason, she asked for help aloud and thought nobody heard.  Soon afterwards, her landlord and people around her did a complete change of heart.  The landlord told her she didn't deserve the way she had been treated, and he'd erase her debt and start her bill from that moment. After everyone seemed to have turned their backs to her, she felt this landlord was a saviour. Then, she met a stranger who oriented her to a more stable job opportunity. The divorced mom became as an adminstrative assistant and filer in a radiology department. From that period in her life, things looked up.  She was offered other jobs that enabled her to make ends meat, pay her son's private school, and manage to keep her head above water. Looking back , she admits that she almost lost her bearings, but not quite. 

No matter how great your distress, how prolonged your solitude, how you almost lose faith, you'll always have access to Forces beyond you that are able to help you, as if from nowhere.  Take responsibility for your actions and realize your intentions, reasons and drive, all help you to progress in unexpected ways.

Deja-vu on a bicycle

A friend shared a miraculous story with me that involves her family twice spared from tragedies with children over a period of months.  She believes that a guardian angel twice saved the day.

In the first case, when she was an infant, her mother strapped her into her carseat and placed her brother beside her with a bag of lollies. The mother got into her car, started it and headed off down the road.  Much to the woman's surprise, the back door of her car flew open on the side where her son sat.  As he hadn't been wearing his seatbelt, he fell out onto the road and screamed on impact. The mother screached the car to a halt, jumped out, and ran to her son.  All he could scream was, "I want my lollies!" He didn't notice the bloody cuts.  At that moment, a kind woman arrived on her bicycle. She turned out to be a nurse and knew exactly what to do.  Then, the nurse rode way as quickly as she had appeared.  After that incident, the mother didn't try to find this nurse. She felt the nurse had been in the right place and was silently grateful.

Months later, the same woman and the same car had another close call. This time, her infant  niece locked herself into the car and struck a match. The chold lit herself on fire which led to third degree burns.  The aunt (owner of the car) smashed the back window and reached in to save the girl, and at the same time, got third degree burns herself.  Just then, the same nurse rode over the hill on that familiar bicycle the woman river remembered from the incident with her son.  Again, the nurse conveniently offered very specific health advice about how to deal with the burns.  Then, the nurse rode off again.  This time, the child's aunt tried to find the nurse to thank her, but never found her. To this day, the family believes in guardian angels.

Gotta have impatience

Patience, like time, is a commodity in great demand.  Impatience is experiencing an epidemic.   Many people make much ado about 'little things,' about where they're not, and don't take advantage of what's right in front of them. If this sounds familiar, you'd benefit from reviewing why you're impatient. Why not rethink how you could make more effective use of your time? 

If you drive a car, you've heard a horn blowing behind you when you're in no position to go anywhere. How does this help the honker? What about the person who accelerates past you only to stop at the red light just ahead? And, then, the driver does the same thing to be stopped at the next intersection.  These drivers don't necessarily feel better when they vent steam. They only annoy you if you let them, but they still get nowhere fast. Which driver sounds like you?

If you go into a shop, and nobody serves you, and you wish to get going somewhere else, how does that make you feel to be ignored? Perhaps you feel the world should revolve around you when it doesn't. People aren't often mind-readers. Is that fair? Could you invite this treatment?  Wherever you work, are you more attentive to the clock and the prospect of leaving than dealing with taks at hand? Consider the kinds of pleasures and useful learning you're missing.

If your boss tells you to stop what you're doing and to perform another task when it doesn't really need to be done right away, this may stress you out. Your boss may be impatient and may also wish to take advantage of the authority he or she has over you.  Or, you may exaggerate how difficult the situation really is. Why might you be impatient to do what you think is a priority?

What is about wishing that certain experiences were already over so we can get on with something else? Yet, we don't take the time to enjoy what happens as it does.  Kids often dress as grown ups and wish they had the privileges that adults have, like staying up late.  Then as adults, we wish to go to be earlier or relive parts of our childhood, but we are taught to be too serious.

What about traits of your partner or close friends who drive you bonkers? They may be impatient for you to get yourself together so they can get on with things. Or, you may be impatient for someone to get ready when that person often makes you late. How could you react differently?

Impatience is a quality that creeps up when we least expect it. Why sputter explatives? Does this make us feel better or have we been conditioned to think we have to react in a particular way?  Consider what life would be like if you learned to enjoy being stuck in traffic, if you saw being forced to postpone some of your own plans as a blessing, if you could see impatience as a teacher meant to temper your passions, if you could see advantages you didn't initially recognize. As you decide you wish to better understand and improve yourself, you love whatever happens. 

What do you really need?

Societies tell us that our ability to accumulate wealth is often directly related job and career options. Jobs viewed as "dangerous" supposedly pay more than jobs that aren't.  Stressful jobs are supposed to compensate people for their specialized skills, and being willing to put their own life on the line.  Take a closer look a your reasons for choosing certain jobs. Knowing that you create your beliefs and perceptions, notice whether job choices are really that you seek.     

From the perspective of a country or givernment, skilled labour is viewed as an asset or form of wealth.  Consider many Western nations are desperate for more tradespeople.  These nations are hiring more foreigners for mining and other areas where they note a shortage in their labour force. What does this say about desirable career choices, other kinds of wealth, and job markets?

Ironically perhaps, trade schools have been virtually phased out of Western education systems. High schools still offer some technical courses, but structured apprenticeships became harder to find to train for paying jobs.  The status quo and governments believed more people should have opportunities to attend university, and it became a business. More students were lured into colleges on the premise that jobs would await them upon graduation. They accrue debts only to be disillusioned. Job markets are changing and students must still find work to pay their debts.  

Attitude can be a form of wealth or it can undermine your efforts to create wealth.  For example, many people develop an attitude that trades are "beneath them" and that true intelligence would only be reflected by higher- paying jobs of the moment.  Suddenly, globalisation led many traditionally, higher-paying jobs being outsourced offshore (such as medical tourism, legal services, IT and anything doable over computers, among many others). Material wealth is no longer simply attainable by following routes to key professions. In fact, the larger homes in your city may already belong to tradespeople or people you wouldn't expect.

Sources of wealth can come from unexpected places. Increasingly, you realize qualified plumbers, electricians, builders, mechanics (refriegeration, motor and others) are in demand and thus, choose their prices. Trying to find tradesmen when you need one in Western countries often means long wait periods.  Professionals trained in Western countries are becoming more mobile and moving to where they consider to find better circumstances. They determine what they think they need, ignore shortages of skills in their areas and go where they choose.

The result is changing views on what you need to do to create wealth. Tax bases are shrinking in Western countries. Young people move away and aging populations mean less people are working. The overall picture is governments have less money to use to help people and create infrastructure.  Career paths which were once assumed to be well-paying are not staying that way and career paths that were once low-paid are now gaining respect and higher salaries. Avenues which we once thought were effective ways to create wealth are no longer guaranteed.

So, what are the solutions to these issues? What do we really need?

Maybe we need to change our attitude about how and where wealth can be created. How often do you limit your own options?  The Internet is being used to create wealth in new ways that many of us don't think about.  Should we? Or, should we rethink our whole concept of wealth?

We could also increase numbers of trade schools and promote this career path as a well-paying and respected livelihood, rather than impose value judgments which may deter people from realizing their dreams. Why assume one kind of path leads to the most or the best kind of wealth?

Another idea is to require professional people who train in one geographic location to work there for a certain number of years in order to pay enough taxes to justify the subsidy of their education and reduce stress on the system.   Another idea is to evolve from the current economic-based system into some other more sustainable, global system. 

How can you expand on your ideas of wealth-creation. Does it go beyond work for you? Notice the mind defines what you think you need. The heart  feels all needs are already satisfied.

Affluence

Each of us perceives some things in abundant supply in our lives. However, visible and invisible sources of affluence exist.  Whether or not you appreciate everything remains to be seen.

A writer is never at a loss for words.  Ponder how you express words with and without judgment.  Notice words adopt the connotations you give them.  Alone and quiet, they mean nothing.  The question is, what is the intention behind a writer's words?

An experienced builder offers a wealth of insight to architects and city planners.  The question is, does such a builder acquire knowledge for his own benefit or does he have an altruistic side?

An investor can build a large property portfolio.  The question is, is this investor working purely for himself (i.e. is he self-interested), or does he have a wider vision for whom he is or can help?

A missionary tends to overflow with religious ideas.  The question is, are people always persuaded that his perspective on the world is as valuable as he thinks it is?

You may have more than enough food to eat and consider you have enough to waste. After a dinner party, you may have so many leftovers, you compost for worms, leave some for the raccoons and throw some in the garbage.

A family may consider its pets to be its greatest source of wealth. How many people do you know whose cats, dogs, or other animals have become the centre of their universe?

Parents may feel their primary source of wealth is their children or other family members. The levels of love, affection and compassion shared may seem inexhaustible and unconditional.

Such examples remind you wealth is understood in different ways. It could take the form of money and material possessions. It could be something  measurable or immeasurable.  

In essence, you feel rich when you focus on what triggers joy in life. Wealth begins as a state of mind.  If you desire to create new kinds of affluence in your life, as you visualize it, then you'll be more likely to realize it.