Are,You,Pretending,Asleep,For, DIY Are You Pretending to Be Asleep?

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in When starting a new work at home business it is very easy to become consumed by it. We spend so much time trying to get the business up and running that we may end up becoming burned out and lose our motivation. There is so much to learn and

For the last year I’ve been haunted by a revealing Navajoproverb that goes:“You can’t wake a person who’s pretending to be asleep!”I’m haunted in the sense that Ebenezer Scrooge is haunted bythe Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future in CharlesDickens’ beloved parable “A Christmas Carol.”I’m haunted by the feeling that a profound realization isfloating all around me, calling out to me, hinting in thephantom mist of an insight that will set us all free!The Ghoul of Christmas Past    The “Ghost of Christmas Past” is a ghoul because its story iscreepy and disagreeable. It’s the sad story of our collectivelevel of awareness. The Ghoul of Christmas Past speaks to theprevalent understanding of what it means to say a person isasleep or unconscious.This generally held view is a cosmic Catch 22 conundrum: We’reasleep, but because we’re asleep, we’re not conscious thatwe’re asleep. So, because we don’t know that we’re asleep, wecan’t wake ourselves up. We’re not even aware that thereexists another state of consciousness that we could wake upto. Thus, we don’t wake up!This commonly held view is that most people are sleepwalkingthrough their lives in a state of perpetualunconsciousness—unable to do anything about it!Married to this “victim” view is the belief that it takes anoutside force to wake someone up: An enlightened teacher.Special techniques. Secret ceremonies. Esoteric rituals. Theright circumstances. Exact celestial timing. A miracle or anact of God!And as the popular perspective goes, even with this externalhelp, waking up is very difficult. Even with a Perfect Stormof outside forces, it takes great effort, work, desire,courage, stamina, perseverance, and raw luck to wake up!And so, most people don’t make it. They don’t wake up. Andthose people who do wake up, only awaken for a split secondfor a mere glimpse of the Oneness. And, alas, then these rarefolks unintentionally fall asleep again—forgetting they’d everawakened for a brief moment. Not a cheery prospect expressedby the Ghoul of Christmas Past!The Gift of Christmas Present But through the dark shroud of this dismal outlook of theghoul, I vaguely sense the liberating spirit of the “Ghost ofChristmas Present!”The message of the “Ghost of Christmas Present” is thepresent—gift—of the Present—the present moment. The gift ofthe present moment is the gift of the opportunity to choose tobe fully awake in each successive moment of life! Thismomentary freedom is always available to everyone—regardlessof past beliefs, wretched experiences and karmic inertia.And the Gift of Christmas (Christ Mass) Present is therealization that this momentary bliss is actually all thereis. And it is also everything one could ever pray for!The Spirit of Christmas Present informs us that there is nopast—or future—only now, the present moment. And in thepresent moment we can instantly awaken. And if we keepchoosing to be awake each moment, we can be permanently free!Let’s Play “Pretend”The Gift of Christmas Present also reminds us of what we knowin our heart and soul—that we never actually are asleep. Wesimply pretend we’re asleep—unaware, unconscious—so that wecan play on earth as a victim, buying into the adventure ofbeing buffeted by the whims of the universe. We pretend to beunaware of our true power and freedom, so that we can enjoythe human excitement of drama, trauma and karma!Because if we don’t play dumb (asleep), we’ll instantlyremember that, in truth, we’re creating our life experiencesdeliberately, by choice and free will—just for the fun of it.We choose to forget who we really are in order to explore,learn, grow and expand. But mainly in order to simply enjoythe exhilarating human ride on funky Planet Earth!In other words, if we don’t consciously choose amnesia, wewill remember who we are … eternal, omnipotent and free beingswho can create whatever reality we want.If we don’t pretend to be asleep, we’ll recall that we can getout of any predicament or problem any time we choose.We’ll notice that, in fact, we actually get ourselves into allkinds of trouble on purpose—just so we can have the excitementof getting ourselves out of trouble in new and inventive ways!We’ll realize that if we don’t forget who’s writing thescript, we won’t be able to dive into the direness of thedrama, thrill at the terror of the trauma, or cringe throughthe crisis of the karma! What fun is that?We want to enjoy life as soap opera. So, what’s a divine beingto do, but pretend to be a victim! … pummeled by all thetumultuous forces of fate, at the mercy of every the ficklegods of fortune.The Phantom of Christmas Yet to ComeThe “Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come” is, in truth, a phantom,a fiction. In other words, it need not come to pass. Just asEbenezer Scrooge decided to change his ways when he was shownhis future misery (and the prophetic death of Tiny Tim), wetoo can change the way we live our lives.The good news of the “Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come” is thatthe future is not set or fixed. It’s not inevitable. Thefuture is born from each moment—from the choices we make ineach moment.There is in reality only the Now, the gift of the Present. Wecreate our future—the next moment—with each decision we makein the Present.With each moment’s decision to pretend to be asleep(unconscious and unaware), we enter the future moment asvictim. With each choice to be awake (conscious and aware), weplay in a world in which we are the source of our own fate andjoy!Up until now, we’ve been pretending to be asleep as a strategyto stay safe in what looks like a dangerous,  precariousworld. Perhaps it’s time to realize that this strategy hasbeen brilliant and successful. Hey, you’re still alive andreading this article!But, my friend, is this pretending to be asleep really allthat enjoyable?What future will you order right now from The “Ghost ofChristmas Yet to Come?”A More Fun AlternativeNow that we’ve awaken enough to see through our own pretendingto be asleep, maybe it’s a good time to create a new morenurturing life strategy for ourselves.We could have our cake—and eat it too!We could pretend to other people that we’re still asleep—butnot pretend to ourselves!We could fully awaken to ourselves, but continue todeliberately pretend to others that we’re unaware. As manyenlightened spiritual teachers do, we could “play dumb” inorder to move safely and freely incognito through humanaffairs. We would appear to be asleep, our awakened stateundetectable to the ordinary citizen!We could consciously play “unconscious” in order to mingle,mend and mentor others.We could keep up the public pretense as a conscious charade.But in our own private universe, we could awaken to—andenjoy—our natural power, wisdom and beauty.Grab Your FreedomThis Spirit of Freedom resides in our hearts, whispering itsguidance to us to “let go and let God” … to release theagenda, to let go of the “mental maintenance project.” If wewould simply go with the flow, we could allow the present(gift) of the present moment to continue to unfold!Which Story Do You Choose?If you want to ride the rollercoaster of scarcity, sickness,struggle, strife and sorrow, you must convince yourself ofyour own story: I’m asleep and I can’t wake up!(Just like the famous TV ad: “I’ve fallen and I can’t getup!”)I Get It!Ah, now I get the message of these new Ghosts of Christmas(Christ Mass). As the Navajo know: you can’t wake someonewho’s pretending to be asleep! You can’t wake someone whoreally isn’t asleep!Your ChoiceSo, now I bow to your divine choice to play a game—the humangame. Cops and robbers. Cat and mouse. Cause and effect.I honor your freedom as a divine being—to choose to be aprince or a pauper, or a damsel in distress or a dazzlingdiva!I leave you with the wisdom of the final words of “A ChristmasStory.” As Tiny Tim observed, “God Bless Us, Every One!”***Terms for reprint:1. You must publish the article AS IS. Do not modify, alter oredit it.2. The author's resource box must accompany the article at alltimes.3. The link/s must be active or clickable.4. Notifying the author is not required, but doing so isappreciated.