Reinventing Yourself

Change is the only constant in life. We consciously bring in changes to achieve certain targets and goals. Sometimes change is thrust upon us though we may not desire it. The good changes bring in positive vibes and cheer and we sail along. The not so good changes – financial challenges, failure, relationships going sour, divorce, loss of loved ones, ill health, work related situations, etc., make us sit back and think of why we are in the situation we find ourselves in.

Innovation is the name of the game – the buzz word in today’s age. We read about innovation in technology, in infrastructure, in business models, in our lives. But the most challenging innovation is within oneself – what does it take to re-invent yourself? The journey of life is unique – so much so that no two individual’s paths are exactly identical. Life is made up of a fabric called experiences and these experiences are influenced not just by the situations or circumstances but also heavily by perceptions. How do I perceive the my family, my friends? My colleagues, my work, the organization I work with? How do I perceive every situation I face? How do I perceive myself? Which brings up the question of what influences perceptions. Our emotions – love, hate, fear, ego, pride to name a few and the baggage of experiences that we always carry along almost always prejudice our perceptions. Sifting through a few articles on the internet, various versions of “reinventing” yourself emerge. Some look at reinvention as a technical project broken into bits and put down in a planner preferably with a time frame. Others talk of visions and goals, having mentors and using social media to connect with others. A belief system which seems to work for me – atleast in parts – is that change is really first and foremost within yourself – it is in your mind and your soul. Once you achieve the realization and conviction of what you want to be, the Universe takes care of the rest. We often underestimate and undermine the power of our minds and thoughts. A simple thought with 100% conviction and trust in the Universal power triggers a series of actions, events and happenings that makes the impossible possible. Talk about dreams coming true – who has not experienced this or heard or read about it. Or of miracles – for all the science and technology in the world there are a billion and more things we just cannot explain or rationalize. Yes, man can attempt to create matter and perhaps anti-matter. Science will progress and grow organs from stem cells. We will create life by procreation. But can we create a soul – or infuse life into a dead person? The biggest challenge is achieving that realization or conviction of who you are. It is only when you truly understand who you are that you will know what you want to be. But then, easier said than done. I am still meandering along the tapestry of life.. searching within myself for that elusive moment of “truth”..  And when I do discover my self within, I will have the mammoth task of letting go all that is holding me back from being myself – fear of the unknown and of failure, hate, resentment, anger and ego..

“Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.” – Les Brown

Dowsing and Me

I am not a very great believer in astrology and related topics but have been slowly developing an interest in it. The interest is based more on exploring the degree of veracity in this science. Astrology is in itself pretty diverse since you have Vedic Astrology, Chinese Astrology, Mayan Astrology, etc.

Astrology is probably the most popular but there are several other widely followed belief systems which include tarot card reading, iChing, numerology, gemmology etc. One such area is dowsing.

Divining is generally associated with trying to locate a source of ground water or buried minerals etc. with the help of divining rods. Dowsing is generally a more spiritual activity and the commonly used medium is the pendulum. I again wish to reiterate once again that I am not a staunch believer or an expert in of any of these sciences but the fundamental human curiosity in me makes me want to explore the “unexplainable”.

Thanks to my habit of reading anything under the sun and of course the internet more recently, I have been reading off and on about these topics and dowsing intrigued me since it seemed like a very simple process. I remember there was this classmate in college who performed a dowsing session for all the girls in the class and she was trying to predict who would get married and how many children they would have. And she used the gold chain she generally wore around her neck as a makeshift pendulum. I do not remember any of her “predictions” and whether they came true but it piqued my curiosity sufficiently for me to do some reading on the subject. I later on managed to find an actual pendulum which was to be used in dowsing.

A simple introductory exercise:

The actual process of dowsing is fairly simple, straight forward and very interesting. Take a string maybe a foot or more in length and attach some kind of a small weight – could be a pendant, finger ring, an eraser, sharpener or even a small key chain –  to one end and it can function as a pendulum. Hold the end of the string between your thumb and index finger and allow the end with the weight attached to fall freely. Support your elbow on a table and keep your hand steady. Wait till the pendulum is completely stationary.  Command the pendulum to swing from left to right. It can either be a verbal command or in your mind but it should be firm and your focus on the command and the pendulum should be complete. Do not move your hand or your fingers and you will see the pendulum slowly beginning to swing as per your instruction. Ask it to stop and it will gradually come to a standstill. Then instruct it to rotate in a clockwise direction and then stop and ask it to reverse the direction. You will notice that the pendulum obeys your mind.

Be assured that there is no hocus pocus involved here. A thought is an energy wave and the pendulum merely acts as an antenna which receives the thoughts and vibrations travelling through the mind and body and are transferred by touch to the pendulum. In fact, the noted physicist Albert Einstein was known to experiment a lot with the pendulum and he attributed it to electromagnetism. It is also commonly believed that this form of dowsing or divining helped connect one with the a higher power or the Universal power. But again, I came across this quote of Thomas Edison on electricity where he supposedly said ” I don’t know what it is, but it is there and lets use it!”!

I shall stop at this interesting note and come back shortly with more on the same subject. Till then, have a rocking weekend folks! 🙂