Category: MasterKey Experience

Week 4-It’s All Good

Yes. I’m still on the train. We waited just east of Dallas for four hours for a broken freight train to get fixed and clear the tracks. We were supposed to be in St. Louis by eight this morning, but we aren’t due to reach it now for another two hours.

My only concern with the schedule was making my rental car connection. This morning, I called and changed the reservation to pick it up this evening at O’Hare. I’ll catch a cab from Union Station. I called my parents to let them know the new ETA. They’re flexible. Always have been when it mattered. They get that life happens.

The bright side? This area of Missouri we’re traveling through now is usually done in darkness, so we’re getting to see the lovely fall colors. And I get more time on the train. What’s not to like about that? I love riding the train. I’m so at peace.

I experienced much angst about the rental connection earlier this week when I learned about construction on the Illinois track.  I needn’t have worried. I figured I’d wind up at the airport, and I should have made that change the first time, then I wouldn’t have had to worry about it. Additionally, I have friends who live in Chicago who offered to let me spend the night with them if I needed to wait until tomorrow to get the car. The bonus for that was that I’d get to see their new house. Alas, it looks like I won’t have to take them up on their offer, but I achieved much peace from knowing that was an option. I could just as easily have caught a motel for the evening, too.

I tried envisioning an on-time arrival, and I got a great on-time departure from my Central Texas location. Sometimes, other things are meant to be, and we adjust.

Waiting for the Week 5 lesson materials to be posted. I’d hoped to find them when I woke up this morning (and got phone service), but, alas, that is not to be either. I’m thinking the Alliance is shaking things up again to keep us from getting too comfortable. More Semper Gumby. Not a problem.

Week 3 – Puzzles

This week’s Master Keys touch one area I’m in the course to find a solution to.

In the Master Key – Part Three, the second and last paragraph of the intro area cover this.

Eliminate, therefore, any possible tendency to complain of conditions as they have been or as they are, because it rests with you to change them and make them what you would like them to be.

and

When you realize this, you will have found a source of power which will enable you to take care of any situation in life which may develop.

My DMP is approved for now. I’m going to “sit” on it and see how it resonates. Focusing on this week’s Master Keys is going to be helpful, I believe.

 

Week 3 – Linkages

Mark J has been talking about linkages for the last couple of weeks. I’ve started to pick up on some of those linkages. Last week, we began working with our 3×5 index cards. We began adding colored symbols with each line we enter on the cards, and we look for those colors and symbols throughout the week.

We look for blue rectangles, red circles, green triangles, and yellow squares. Today, I began linking those objects with the content. In other words when I saw blue triangles, I linked to thinking about repeating “Do it now” twice a day out loud. Lots of people are linking  this with chores they know they need to do as well. I saw a yellow rectangle, and I linked that to reading the scrolls in Og Mandino’s The Greatest Salesman in the World. Then I think about some of the contents of the current scroll we’re reading.

This is kind of cool.

Week 2 – Impact

The impact of the course so far has been surprising. While an extraordinary number of things that would ordinarily go smoothly have gone…not smoothly (and I confess I’ve not been as positive about this as I would have preferred), I’ve also experienced a discernible shift in my approach and the results I’m getting in various areas of my life.

I’m getting stirrings of creativity in my dreams.  My DMP feels like it’s coming together. My Personal Pivotal Needs (PPNs) were clear – Recognition for Creative Expression and True Health. This helped focus my DMP much more clearly. I submitted the updated DMP last night, and I haven’t heard suggestions from my Guide yet. After I hear back on that, I anticipate a little more refinement. While I was comfortable with the first draft, it wasn’t as focused as this version (version 8 by my count — version 2 for my Guide’s eyes).

I like the directions this course is taking so far.

Week 2 – Firehose

I’m sure if I were at home, I’d still feel as if I were standing in front of a firehose with this course. It’s the nature of the beast. But I knew this first month would be extra challenging because of my travel schedule for October.

We have an annual vacation we take during the first two weeks in October. So I’m driving all day, finding a way to sandwich in my mid-day readings as well as the morning and evening homework. But, frankly, that’s pretty easy. I’m disappointed I wasn’t able to get the live webinar this afternoon — there’s so much in there that I need to do my homework for this week, but I’m catching up on the Digital Connections list I missed last week (maybe I shouldn’t admit this, because I’m listening to it while typing this, and we know that, ahem, we can’t think about two things at the same time). I’m comfortable in the digital world, so I’m listening for anything that’s new to me while I type this first missive for the week.

I’ve read several people mention their Old Blueprint is causing hassles for them as they adjust to these new ways. Mine is no different. It’s hard to see how I’ll move beyond this, but I have to believe I can and will, so I take this one day, one hour, and even one instant at a time.

I’ve had lots of negative moments. I’m concentrating on catching myself and shifting thoughts to positive. I’ve been reading a little about Color Code. I tested as a Blue. I can tell my husband is obviously a Red. This explains so much, and it’s so discouraging. I hope as I read more, I’ll find a way to deal with this.

And I just read weeks run from Monday to Sunday, so I’m jumping the gun a little with this post..  Moving on.

Week 1 – Funny

I’ve noticed a few things in the Week 1 reading that have either made me smile or made odd connections in my head. I thought I’d note them here.

First, in The Greatest Salesman in the World, page 53: ” An onion plant is old at nine weeks. I have lived as an onion plant. It has not pleased me.”

For some reason, that just cracks me up every time I read it. Even after nearly a week of reading it three times a day.

Then, in the Master Keys, Part 1, my brain made the following connections (not necessarily factual):

“24. All agree that there is but one Principle or Consciousness pervading the entire Universe, occupying all space, and being essentially the same in kind at every point of its presence. It is all powerful, all wisdom and always present. All thoughts and things are within Itself. It is all in all.”

My thought? “God is in me.”

“26. As there is only one Consciousness in the Universe that is able to think it necessarily follows that your consciousness is identical with the Universal Consciousness, or, in other words, all mind is one mind. There is no dodging this conclusion.”

My thought? “The Borg.”

What struck your funny bone as you were reading? Or what thoughts popped into your head that may or may not have been irreverent?

Week 1 – Progress Report

We’re juggling schedules and preparing to head out on the annual October Trek to Hershey, Pennsylvania. I had a day procedure on my eyelid today (totally in keeping with the 2015 Left Side Makeover — knee replacement, carpal tunnel release, and eyelid growth removed), and my husband had a medical appointment in San Antonio. He’ll have a procedure on the 19th when we get back, so I changed my medical appointment in Temple originally scheduled for that day to a later date (mine was routine). For now, he’s less able to withstand the rigors of that three hour drive, so I’ll be driving him more than I have in the past, and that requires some schedule adjustments.

We’ll take the truck in then to hopefully find out why we have to remain in 4X4 to keep it from grinding. Our research tells us it’s a faulty solenoid. We’ll see what the Lincoln factory-trained technician comes up with. Before we knew putting it into 4X4 stopped the noise, they hadn’t come up with a cause.

Tomorrow, we pack the truck and take the cats to boarding school in anticipation of an early start on Wednesday.

I’ve submitted my DMP first draft (really my fourth draft, but the first draft to see another set of eyes). Two hundred and fifty-six words of a maximum of 400. I believe I’m going to need to add dates and other specifics, but I’ve written it in the present tense as if it’s already my reality, so adding dates seems tricky to me. I’m sure my Guide will provide guidance.

I’ve submitted my survey, and the blog entry is completed. Surveys and blog entries come easily for me. Other aspects of the course are likely to be more challenging, but that’s why I’m taking the course. If I would have figured it out on my own, I wouldn’t be here.

So far, the homework is going well. I can definitely feel the power of it working to kick my Old Blueprint out, and it’s only been a few days. I plan to discuss the course with my husband tonight, if he isn’t too tired after driving back from San Antonio. That will help us with various planning issues we’ll have to manage over the next month. I hope he will be supportive, because, of course, that tends to make things easier. Yes, I was silly to think I could do this course and not discuss it with him, but I feared he would be negative about it, and he may be, but I have to do it. It’s the one piece of homework for this week I haven’t done yet.

Week 1 – Definite Major Purpose (DMP)

While waiting for our first webinar session this afternoon, I did my mid-day reading and worked on my Definite Major Purpose. I had just made notes Friday and Saturday. This afternoon, I found some words I was drawn to in the Scroll. Coupled with the notes I already had, I constructed a first draft of my DMP.  One hundred and fifty-one words. We have a four hundred word limit. Not so fast. I have a few areas to address yet, so that will add a few words. I need to had some specifics. And, of course, I don’t have the best choice of words yet, but I am pleased with this beginning.

I believe I’ll get a better feel for what is expected after today’s session. I still have to find the best time and approach for discussing this class with my husband. I’m getting some ideas. I just hope he’s receptive. He surprises me sometimes. And he’s always offended when I doubt him, so that’s something I will get fixed via this course.

Last night’s SIT was a little more challenging. Since I’d been around poison ivy earlier in the day, I took a shower before bed. I must have gotten water in my ears, because while I was sitting there, it felt like some insect had gotten into my ear and was buzzing. I had to clear my ears, and I started over. I finished the second time, but only if I don’t count the two time I peeked at the timer. I will do better. I also found thoughts were not moving through my mind, which did seem to make the time go more slowly.

The course tasks are feeling a little more routine after a couple of days. I expected this to be the case, but it’s encouraging to feel things falling into place.

Week 1 – First Impressions

We have the materials for the first week. Here are my first impressions. As expected, a fire hose effect, but that’s a factor of the newness and the desire to do it right. I’m going to do my best, but some of the honor tasks might not get done right. I’m going to do them one way or another, but it’s going to be strange.

At least blogging is comfortable for me. I was able to SIT last night before bed for the required 15 minutes. I was more still than in my previous meditation attempts, but I read a member’s blog from last year who had some troubles with it because of swallowing? Well, if I have to sit that still, I’m going to have some work to do, but last night was a beginning, and I know there’s much more to this journey.

I’m encountering resistance in the form of technology. My printer is giving me a hard time. All the color cartridges are replaced, but even though the drum has 13% life left, I suspect I will need to replace it, too. I have one. Not a problem. I’ll take care of it next time I go upstairs.

I like the idea of reading Scroll 1 three times a day for 30 days. My initial struggle is going to be reading aloud in the evenings for the next two weeks. We’ll be traveling, and I haven’t told my husband I’m doing this class yet. I see one of the requirements is we discuss this with our family, so I’m going to have to figure out a way to do that. In the past, he’s been quite negative about things similar to this class, but since one reason I’m taking the class is to get my Definite Major Purpose (DMP) right, and he’s part of my DMP, I realize I was silly to think I could do the class and not discuss it with him.

That’s one strong resistance area for me, and that’s a part of my Old Blueprint I’m here to change. See, I’m quite fortunate that many of the reasons other people want this course are not a factor in my life. Money isn’t a problem. Material things are only a problem in that I have too many. I had a comfortable career and was able to retire at 47 — something I never imaged doing in my wildest of dreams until it became closer to reality. My husband and I can and do travel when and where we want. Our homes and vehicles are paid in full.

My relationships with other people are superficial, and I’ve withdrawn from most in person relationships, largely because I retired to a small town where we didn’t know anyone, and all my friends and family are at least 500 miles away. I’m not too concerned about that except where it affects my husband and my parents. Perhaps my siblings. My husband and I have been married 21 years (October 15), and we’ve known one another for 30 years. For the first 14 years of our marriage, we were geographically separated. Learning to live together for the last seven years has been one of the more challenging things I’ve ever done. I don’t think I’ve done a good job. My husband wants to keep me, and I want to keep him, so I need to learn to communicate better with him and be a better wife.

Additionally, I have some health issues that would be improved all the way around if I lost a significant amount of weight — almost half of me.

Finally, I want to write competent fiction to at least self-publish.

The one thing I’ve been passionate about these last five years or so is my cats. I’ve been doing a one person rescue and have eight indoor and four outdoor cats I take care of. I want to expand those passions to my husband, my health, and my fiction.

I’m obsessing a little about the scheduling challenges of Week 2, 3, and 5 for the course due to required travel, but I suspect, as someone says, taking it one day and week at a time, and things will work out.