Prayer???

So, there I was…

It was early December of 2020. I was coming up on a year of being alcohol-free and had finally found my drive and purpose.

I knew that I wanted to be a life/habit change coach. I knew that I wanted to find a certification program to get my learn on, and I also knew that it had to be reputable and resonant. The program I had sought initially was This Naked Mind coaching certification course.

That was the course that really spoke to me one I knew was in alignment with what I needed to do. Throughout that year, every time I checked on the enrollment process it was closed.

Doubt and frustration are normal.

I had researched others, but nothing felt right; I had become a bit frustrated and downcast. I wrote about this in my journal one December evening. I expressed my frustration, knowing what I was supposed to do but not how to get there. I wrote about not finding a quality program I could be proud of and how discouraging that was. Then, for some reason, I let it all go...

I realized how much better I would feel by trusting that the Universe had my back.  At that moment, I told myself to keep being patient and trust that the path would be revealed.  

I didn’t think of it as such at that moment, but I realize now that I was offering up and releasing a prayer. Beyond my primate monkey brain, I sought guidance from something higher than my egoic self.

I opened my email the following day and found that applications for the upcoming This Naked Mind Institute 2021 coaching certification course were open! The very thing I had been drawn to months prior was now available to me. I had gotten an answer less than 12 hours after trusting and letting go!

It was too much to write off as coincidence; too synchronistic to think that Seri or Alexa messing with me. It was such a revelation that I was gobsmacked.

Whoa, back up. Prayer?

Well, yes and no. It depends on how you define the term and what sort of background and cultural conditioning you were brought up in.  Being highly rational and logical Westerns, it is easy to dismiss such notions as mere coincidence and write them off as an unconnected freak occurrence. Believe me; I get it. I have been in that reality tunnel before.

If this language doesn’t sit well with you, we can use something else. Are you more new age, love- and-light-type person? Cool, let’s talk about the Universe and Gaia. Are you a Jungian analyst? Sweet, we can speak of synchronicities and archetypes.

I would offer that you don’t get too caught up in the rhetoric. Insert whatever words you have from your unique perspective to understand better what I am talking about.

Look at it this way:

Still can’t get past the idea and think this is all a big ol’ load of manure? Once again, I get it, and I ain’t here to push any dogma, only to see things from another perspective- also to work out and think through all the mess in my own head. I digress…

There are plenty of examples of scientists, phycologists, or philosophers who have ceased their logical chatter and analysis, be it through a walk, a nap, meditation, psychedelics, etc. In those moments, they have received keen insights.  Another realm of reality and possibility was awakened from inside or was revealed from outside of themselves, or both. You choose.

Maybe view prayer through a mystical lens for a little while?

Were the insights of divine origin? Were they from the collective unconscious? Did aliens beam them in? Whatever story you would like to tell yourself may or may not make a difference, but the main thing to take away here is that the ego/logical mind, the one we in Western culture prize above all, was shut off, and something else was allowed to come through. In a very real sense, it’s an altered state of consciousness.

That is what prayer, meditation, mantra chanting, breathe-work, and a myriad of other practices do. They shut down that default mode network we constantly have running. They drop the lens from which you view the world and allow for another perspective. It’s like walking through some dense forest and then climbing a tree to get a higher point of view of the surrounding countryside—no big deal.

Pucker Up:

Perhaps you pray to Allah, Krishna, or Jehovah. Maybe you consult the Higher Self or devote your prayer to the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The names aren’t the point because we all pray to some- sort-of-something-somewhere.

We like it when those prayers get answered quickly and clearly. We all want that thunder and lightning strike from the gods as our sign. Do we always get those Divine jolts? Of course not. However, there are a few instances where we get that definite answer if we are fortunate enough to recognize it.

It seems that it takes cultivating a regular practice to hear those whispers from Elsewhere. It’s kind of like financial investing. It is easier to spot opportunities in places most might miss when you have experience and an open mind.

Put another way; it helps to have the table set and the tea ready when your Divine date knocks at your door. Otherwise, it might pass you by.

On that December morning checking emails, I was in an open frame of mind, through daily practice, to receive something. The muse kissed me, and I already had my lips puckered in anticipation.

Here’s Your Sign:

Then there are times when we get hit over the head, metaphorically speaking, with an answer. It may not be what we want, or it could be too difficult to recognize as an answer. You might get signs appearing before you but still have your doubts, questions, and objections. That’s normal. Eventually, you might have to trust what was held up to you, make the jump, and know that the net will appear. 

At times, just a couple of steps on your path might be all that get illuminated; only small sections of the map may be revealed to you. The Cosmos, Yahweh, or The Wizard of OZ is giving you something to go and on saying, “Here is an answer. Do with it as you will.”

These situations and opportunities we get handed are deeply personal. The interpretation and the meaning we make out of them is up to us.  I have chosen to see these signs as a call to action.  When you get your revelation, what will you do with it?