Second & Third Chances

(c) 2010 Joan M. Newcomb

Just finished listening to Michael Caine's interview on the Today Show. The topic arose about second chances, because at some point Michael Caine thought he was washed up as an actor, whereas he was really transitioning from romantic leads to (the more interesting, I think) character roles. And now he's written his second memoir, so he's a side career as an author. And he has three grandchildren, which he says his life is "really all about".

We value longevity and stability in this world, even though as a culture we are moving through rapid changes that require being able to shift at a moment's notice. It's not uncommon for someone's resume to show them transitioning jobs every two years. Marriages lasting more than 5 are considered 'long term'. If you keep an appliance or an automobile that long, it most likely will have a recall out on it for some defect! A computer? Forget about it - all your original software is no longer compatible with the rest of technology.

Even within relationships, in order to maintain one so that it proves to be long lasting, requires you to continually grow and change. Whatever brought you together as a couple initially can become a limitation as you each mature. If you keep treating your offspring as children when they're adults, they may stop talking to you!

Life requires flexibility and creativity in order to live it joyfully.

It's important to give *yourself* second, third and fourth chances, too. Any ending of any sort is an opportunity to reinvent yourself and try something new. You loved that job, you loved that house, you loved that person, wonderful. To quote Maude, from Harold & Maude, 'now go and love some more'.

Now, there's a next step to this. In which you realize that You are not just the personality with a story line, but You are the Essence of who you are, you are Infinitely capable and creative. And you're making all this up.

It's not exactly that 'this is all an illusion', implying that it's not real. But You are bigger than you. As the little you, personality with a body, you can have access to all the information in the Cosmic Internet, but it feels like it's outside of yourself. It feels like the power is somewhere else. Shifting to the You that is Infinite, that is beyond this lifetime, you can see that you created it all, your individual storyline, and everyone else in your story line. You *are* the Cosmic internet.

You 'made all this up' in that you created this physical reality. Of course it feels real - it's reality! You also created everyone who shows up in your reality. They're not fake, just because you created them. You created them to be different personalities, because You wanted the feeling of being more than U (unity-universe).

When you're walking along the street, it feels like it's you in your body, and it takes time and space to get anywhere. When you're in a car, you get there faster. When you're in a plane, you can look down and see the city, and the country side, people look like ants (if you can see them at all). When you're in a space ship, you can look at the planet... and planets, and solar system.

In the 'up above' perspective you feel disconnected from 'lower down', and it can be easy to say 'it's an illusion'. However, look at your body. It's make up of cells, molecules, atoms. Each of them are 'real'.

There's a way of being 'up there' and 'down here' at the same time. Having both perspectives is very freeing. There are no mistakes, because You're creating it exactly the way it is. When you shift into Quantum Physics and Parallel Universes, you're creating all choices at once simultaneously. So there have never been any mistakes, you chose both colleges that accepted you and a parallel self went to the other one and created a whole other storyline (parallel universe) from there. You married that guy and you didn't marry that guy. You backpacked through Europe *and* you stayed home and accepted that entry level job. Right now there's a Parallel self that lives in Paris and speaks fluent French!

This week, play with seeing yourself and your life *as* Your Infinite/Essence. Be bigger than any problems you've created. Don't just be connected to the Cosmic Internet, *be* the Cosmic Internet! What risks to you feel empowered to take (because they're no longer risks)? What patterns disintegrate in your holographic story line? The script becomes improvisational!

Try this for a week and see what happens!