The Color Blue

My favorite color is Blue. I don't know why - I just like it.

I wear Blue shirts as often as I can get away with it. This blog has lots of Blue in it. So does my newsletter. I'm just naturally pulled to Blue.

Fortunately, there's lots of Blue things around: the sky, water, cars, clothing - you get the point. So, I get to be happy all day long because I see my favorite color all day long.

There's an interesting thing about the color Blue beyond the fact that it's my favorite color - it's not any other color. Oh, it has various shades and tints like Navy Blue, Midnight Blue, Aqua Blue and Light Blue but the main thing is that it's always only Blue.

I don't like Red as much but it's the same thing. It's always only Red.

Now, you may have noticed that I'm always writing about Love because I'm committed to being Loving as a State of Mind and a Way of Life. That means no matter how I feel, I'm committed to being Loving with whomever I'm interacting with - even if they're not being Loving with me. I'm committed to Loving everything that happens to me - even things I don't particularly care for or want. I'm committed to Loving me - even when I screw up and want to beat myself up for it.

So what does one thing have to do with the other?

Well, Love is just like Blue - it's always only Love. If it's not Love then it's something else.

Put another way, we're never experiencing “not something” - we're experiencing something we probably don't like but it's NOT a “not”.

If we're feeling an absence of Love, we're actually feeling something other than Love. We're not actually feeling an absence of Love - we're feeling angry, sad, depressed, disappointed or something else, but it's not an absence of Love - we're experiencing the presence of something other than Love.

To be more precise, Love never disappears - it is what it is and there's no place for Love to go. However, it is entirely possible for some other quality to become more present based on our level of awareness in the moment.

If Love is always there, we can find it no mater how things look. We can look for something to Love about the people in our lives and remember that when we're not experiencing Love we're experiencing something else but Love is still totally available. All we have to do is look for it.

In relationships, not understanding this fact can produce lots of problems.

Actually, it already does. Allow me to explain.

We always get what we focus on - we're just not usually clear on what we're actually focusing on in the moment. For example, if we're focused on knowing whether we can trust someone or not, what method do we actually use? Do we look at their actions? Do we look at their past? Do we compare how they're being in relationship to the people and experiences of our past? If we're doing this, are we looking for reasons to trust them or are we looking for reasons to prevent untrustworthy people from being in our life?

If we're looking to prevent untrustworthy people from entering and negatively affecting our lives, is that the same thing as looking for Love? Is that the same thing as seeing Love wherever you look?

Hmmm....

If we always get what we're looking for then we'd have a problem because what we'd be looking for in that situation is someone to avoid. The problem: we'd have to find them in order to avoid them. We'd have to place them somewhere in our life so we could avoid them. That puts them in our life.

Yep - the very thing we don't want.

That's because Distrust is as much a State of Mind and a Way of Life as Love is. Distrust is as everywhere as Love is or Blue is.

Going back to the color Blue, here's another interesting thing I've noticed: anything and everything can be Blue. No matter what form Blue comes in, it's always Blue. Blue cars, homes, clothing - the common denominator is Blue. The same with Love or Distrust - we'll never run out of ways to express or experience them.

I'm happy about this because that means I can experience Love in any and every way possible. Heck - I can even Love people, if I want to. I find it quite enjoyable, personally.

I can Love people who do not Love me, who treat me poorly, who give me a hard time - I don't even need to know who they are to Love them.

That's because Love just IS.

One last thing: we're never running out of Love any more than we're going to run out of Blue. It's never going to disappear. We may choose to experience some other way of being like fear, anger, distrust or guilt but Love will be waiting for us when we're ready. All we have to do is look for it.

Just like all the Blue cars we'd immediately notice after we bought our new Blue car, Love will be all around us like it's been there the whole time.

Because it has.

The Context is Decisive

"It's not what you look like, when you're doin' what you doin'
It's what you're doin',
when you're doin', what you look like you're doin'
Express Yourself!"

Lyrics from the 1970 R&B Hit, "Express Yourself " by Charles Wright and the 103rd Street Band

A few years ago I worked as a Facilities Manager for an international corporation. The job was very difficult for me, mainly because I was the sloppiest, most disorganized person I knew - by a lot!

Since I didn't know what I was doing it was no surprise my supervisor was constantly upset with me, I was tired and people complained about the place all the doggone time. I was beating myself up and making everything and everyone wrong all at the same time.

Other than that, everything was great.

One Friday night my supervisor called me over to one of our 3 kitchen areas and said, "Get in that @#%${&* kitchen and don't come out until you know I won't be able to find anything wrong!"

Well! Hmmmff!! Who does she think she is, talking to me like that?

Of course, I didn't say any of that to her.

I took it on the chin because I trusted her. She was a great trainer and manager, she was as compassionate as she could be with me and her patience was much deeper and stronger than was mine. So I did as I was told.

Around 8pm, I began by washing dishes, which was stacked 2 feet above the rim of the sink. (disgusting!)

As I washed them, I noticed the drainer was getting full from the dishes I just washed so I put those dishes in the cabinets. Then I noticed the cabinets were overflowing and totally disorganized so I began rearranging the dishes in the cabinets. As I rearranged the dishes I noticed there were too many dishes in that cabinet so I began moving the dishes to another kitchen. Then, I began thinking it may be a good idea to match dishes and glassware. Then I noticed the flatware drawer was just as disorganized so I did the same thing with that. Then I noticed, then I noticed, then I noticed.....

After I washed the walls, placed the pens and pencils in one drawer and the menus in another and all the other stuff I now forgot I did, I finally finished cleaning that kitchen at 2am.

It took 6 hours to clean and organize a 8'x8' space!

During that time, something happened to me: I learned that I liked things clean and organized more than I hate doing the work to make it that way. I found that if I don't like doing something but I want the result, all I have to do is think about the result as I do it and the process that gets me my result becomes easier and can even be a joy because of the anxiously awaited outcome that's on the way.

To me, that means if I'm in a difficult situation with someone and I don't like what's happening, I can think about what I want to happen, be patient and loving with them (and myself) long enough and allow the Law of Attraction to create what I'm focusing on: creating a Loving interaction.

Or more.

I understood - for the first time - the phrase, "The Context is Decisive" because as soon as I shifted my attention, the chore became a joy. It became all about how can I do this better. I stopped complaining. I became generous by looking for how what I did would benefit others. I even thought that a sparkling environment would help people be in a better mood because they'd take on the characteristics of the kitchen - like how walking into a peaceful space helps us feel peaceful.

I saw that I could Love the process as well as the outcome of anything I choose.

I saw that Life is a series of processes and if I'm only looking for the end result I miss most of Life and by the time I get the outcome, it's already in the past.

In fact, the outcome is only as great as the process that led to it. We've all had results we've wanted and felt like, "Is that all there is to it?"

Now, all there is for me to do is to inspect myself around my context for doing anything.

If I can enjoy the process and enjoy the result, all I experience is enjoyment. That places me in complete control of my life, my relationships and my entire world.

I Love that!