Soul Food-How to Make God Laugh/July Starr Scopes
TELL HER YOUR PLANS!
Today’s subject isn’t anything new; it IS, however, something that we need to remind ourselves frequently, just in case we think for a split second we’re in charge of our lives. Don’t get me wrong, yes, we still need to make our to-do lists and keep our social, business, and grand-children (in my case) calendars up-to-date and in order. Then we let it all go. YES, you heard me; if you want fewer crises and more solutions, you might want to heed this advice.
Let me tell you a story: last year, on June 23rd (the actual date of my Solar Return birthday), I had the day all planned out. I knew my Solar Return was happening around 12:57 pm, and I planned to head to Vermillion, a quaint little beach town on the shores of Lake Erie, about a 40-minute drive from here. I was going to bring my journal, my assorted decks of tarot/Louise Hay/Ester Hicks/Animal Totem, and what have you with me. I would meditate looking at the beach and the waters of Lake Erie, soaking up the Sun, journal my intentions for the upcoming birthday year of turning 68 years young, and then treat myself to a nice little lunch at this elite restaurant right there on the beach and bring in my 68th birthday year in a most peaceful, spiritual delightful way. WRONG!!!
God had other plans as she was laughing her ass off upstairs in the Celestial Heavens. Instead, what would happen is I ended up taking emergency temporary custody of my 12-year-old granddaughter, whom I hadn’t seen or heard from in the last eight years. The details aren’t necessary. Just know it involved a situation that no child should endure. I did the only thing I knew how to do and took her into my home. Fast forward one year, and I once again was looking forward to celebrating my Solar Return 69th birthday year. I had to work this time, bartending for a high school graduation, and I didn’t get out of work until almost Midnight.
Now, we’re moving toward permanent adoption. The last year was filled with more twists and turns than I could write about. Yes, there were lots of tears, both joy-filled and the other. There were lots of lows and highs. I want to say there were more highs than lows, but I didn’t keep a running tally. I will say this: if you had told me a year ago my life was going to be filled with raising a soon-to-be teenage girl and everything that comes with it, I would’ve asked you, “What are you smoking?”
Don’t get me wrong; I wouldn’t have done it any other way. I left California eight years ago (now it’s almost nine years) to move back for that little girl, only to be told after I up-rooted my entire life and drove back across the country that I was forbidden to see her or step foot in their home. Well, God has a strange sense of humor. She needed me back here alright, but not until my birthday in June 2023, and probably for the rest of my life.
You see, “MY” plans for my life were to be semi-retired, start dating again, travel the world, and start my studies at the University of Metaphysics. None of that happened! What did I learn from all of this?
- don’t tell God your plans
- don’t make plans
- surrender to “what if”
- be adaptable to “whatever.”
- SURRENDER
- SURRENDER
- SURRENDER
Years ago, when I lived in California, I read metaphysical books as if they were going out of style. One book that stuck with me was Michael Singer’s The Untethered Soul. I raved about that book. Yesterday, I got some quite unsettling, disturbing news and spent most of the day in tears and anxiety-ridden. I was in bed by 7 pm (highly unusual for me), and my granddaughter came home at about 9 pm and asked me if I wanted a hug. I said no and tried to go back to sleep. Of course, I couldn’t sleep, but I noticed a book on my nightstand that I had started reading quite a few years back but never finished. I picked it up and decided to read for the next hour or so until I fell asleep. The book is another of Michael Singer’s books entitled The Surrender Experiment.
Life has thrown me more than my share of curve balls, and after last year’s combination of a fast ball-slider with a curve, I decided to quit planning life. Don’t get me wrong, I still plan things with tongue-in-cheek because I know better. Now I look at life like the game of baseball: sometimes you strike out, sometimes you’re not even in the line-up, but sometimes you hit that Grand Slam, and the whole stadium stands up and cheers you on. Just play the game of life and see how you fare at the end of the season.
I have a few tips for the Game of Surrender:
- meditate every morning
- be grateful & write it in your gratitude book every evening
- don’t make iron-clad plans
- be ready for anything
- know that God has your back
July Starr Scopes are out.
Rosie & I send our love & blessings,
