A-Muse-Ing Inspirations: — by Jeanette M. Pintar
Lesson 9
Chapter 5 of The Artist’s Way teaches us to rely on a higher power, take a leap of faith, and have the confidence to know God is there to help out. As author Julia Cameron says, “Pray to catch the bus then run as fast as you can. For this to happen, first of all we must believe that we are allowed to catch the bus.”
She brings up a good point about the limits we place on ourselves… and we all do limit ourselves in some way or another. It’s often so subtle we don’t even realize it but the impact can be tremendous.
I was recently talking with someone very near and dear to me. He’s been a tremendous influence on my life as I’ve always admired the courage he had to make it through just about anything. Things are not easy for him now, plagued with some major health problems, and not being able to afford health insurance due to being self employed has presented quite a few challenges… Especially being unable to work due to the illness. It’s easy to feel stuck in such circumstances, and often difficult to see beyond those circumstances.
But not letting ourselves see beyond the present challenges truly limits us to being stuck right where we are. I spoke to my Loved One, I asked him if he’d considered changing businesses. He said he had but didn’t know what he would do, he owed a lot of money and couldn’t really sell his business as is. So I asked him, “What if money weren’t an issue, what would you want to do if you could do anything in the world?” His response? “Well, I wouldn’t work at McDonald’s!”
So I pressed a little further and he said he’d downsize his company, and keep some existing accounts, but all their expenses would have to be paid off first before this could happen. I reminded him that money wasn’t an issue in this scenario, and that he could do anything he wanted. But he couldn’t think of anything because all he could see was how much he currently owed.
Here I had offered an unlimited income, no restraints, anything was possible. But he just couldn’t visualize it. Not being able to see beyond our current circumstances and limiting the amount of goodness and abundance we think can come our way happens to the best of us. Some of the major differences between people who succeed and those who just dream about it are being able to look beyond what we have and where we are right now in life, envision where we’d like to be, and have the courage to find out what will take us from here to there. And then, of course, do it!
Think about the limits you place on yourself. If you can’t think of any off hand, pay close attention to yourself in the coming days and notice when you say “no thank you” to an offered gift, an opportunity, or something that seems impossible. Once you realize the ways you limit yourself subconsciously, you can then consciously make the choice to break through those self-imposed limitations!
I used to say, “The sky’s the limit!” But I gave it up when I started my life long dream of flying. I’m no longer limited by the sky – I have free reign! Talk about a shift in perception. There are no limits to our possibilities… unless we create them. Start looking for your unlimited potential and believe dreams can come true.
After all, you’re well on your way to making your own dreams come true already. Look at how far you’ve come in the past 9 weeks! If you’ve kept up with the A-Muse-Ing Inspirations plan, you’ve taken at least 9 steps in the direction of your dreams. That’s a lot further than just thinking about it!
Congratulations, my friend, you’re well on your way to transforming your dreams into reality! Now let’s get on to this week’s assignment!
Week 9 Assignment
Use your day planner! Begin by scheduling the following:
Read The Artist’s Way—Chapter 6: Recovering A Sense of Abundance, Pgs 105 - 115
As you read, look for the main points and underline anything that speaks to you or sounds like it would make a good quote. (If you’re afraid to mess up your book, use pencil, you can erase it later.)
Do the Counting Exercise on Page 112 and the Money Madness Exercise on
Page 113.
Pick and do at least 3 of the 10 exercises at the end of the chapter. You can do more! The more you put into doing this, the more of
yourself – and your dreams — you will get out of it. Have fun.
Do the Check-In on Pages 114-115.
Schedule, plan and take a date with yourself. Make it something entertaining, fun, relaxing. Make it something you look forward to. Guard your date, make it sacred. You deserve it. Your dreams deserve it.
If something prevents you fro
Last week it was too cold to go hiking in the mountains as anticipated, so I plugged in the microphone, put on my favorite CDs, (made sure no one was around to hear me) and let myself sing into the mic! Singing is something I’ve always loved to do and have dreamed of doing since I was a kid but I’ve never been “encouraged” to do so. LOL. Let’s just say I won’t be making a living with my singing voice, but for an hour I had a ton of fun belting it out with no one around but me and the kitties. (Tiger even joins me at the microphone and keyboard sometimes.)
Write 3 pages of long-hand in your journal daily. Just sit down and let the pen flow across the page. Don’t edit. Don’t fix it. Just write and write and write until you have 3 full pages. It’s best to write in the mornings, but if you can’t do it then, do it whenever you can. The importance of doing these “Morning Pages” is explained in the book.
Pick a task from your Master Plan and do it! Just one little thing will take you that much closer to your dreams. (And yes, it’s OK if you decide to do more than one task per week!)
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—- © Jeanette M. Pintar
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