You know the saying, “when it rains it pours.” That’s what this week (OK- last 3 weeks) felt like.  One of our assignments this week was to go on a mental diet and not have a negative thought that lasted longer than five seconds.  If we do, then the next day starts as Day ONE, again.  So, I have so far had 5 day ones this week.

The pouring down rain.  Some family drama over wills and trusts and everyone’s expectations.  This course has been a life saver through this.  I am visualizing harmony, gratitude, love, and sending it out. I haven’t had negative thoughts in terms of hateful, angry,  or vengeful thoughts.  However, I am battling worry, problem solving over what might be the next flare up. I catch these thoughts, but not within the five second rule.  Hence day 5 of day 1.  What I see positively is the process.  As I recognize the worry, let it go, and replace it with thoughts of harmony and love, I am slowly becoming more objective and less attached to the thoughts.

My day job is a high school English teacher with a straight line of 9th grade.  That’s 160 14/15 year olds every day, all day long.  There’s a no hat rule in the buildings and one day last week I found myself arguing with a wanna be gangster look kid why a “do-rag” does indeed count as head gear.  On migraine medicine and with a pinched nerve in my neck. Like I said, the Universe is giving me plenty of opportunities to really work on this challenge of a 7 day mental diet of total positivity.

More thunderstorms.  Migraines, Hashimoto’s Disease, and physical health issues.  I have been coming home from work/commute completely tuckered out. Waking up with pain from two discs in my neck that are without cushion, and can pinch a nerve more often than not, and all this throws me off track.  So I have missed a couple evening reading in lieu of passing out.  To not feel guilty, or FOMO on the compound effect is rough.

I choose to see the gains.  I am still here.  Pushing through.  Believing and with faith that I can do this, get through the thunderstorms, and rise.

The last two weeks were a challenge for me.  Life happens, day jobs don’t go away, side hustles need tending to, and family circumstances sometimes require one’s full time attention.  Even when full time isn’t there.

So, this is what I did.  I decided to put mindful mindset into practice.  I made a decision that even if I was running behind, I would do everything in my power to not give up and to keep my promises to myself.  So instead of waking up at 4 am, I got up at 2:45 am this whole last week.  Every time I found my thoughts wandering into “fix EVERYTHING” mode, I called “scrap pile,” and did a 180 in my head.  I did not let up on my daily readings, and I did not think negative thoughts about being behind on the blog.  I was kind to myself and others.

End result?  I’m on track, excited for a new week, and I have been happier than usual, even with the drama going on around me 😉

MidWeek

Local Entrepreneur visited by Michelle Obama

Christina O’Connor posted on November 8^th, 2023

I got really lucky when a friend of a friend of a friend told me Michelle Obama would be visiting a local entrepreneur while the Obamas were vacationing on Oahu.  When I asked if I might come and write a cover story about the visit – how surprised I was when they both agreed right away!!

“The more people who learn about the work to be done, the more we spread the word,” was an almost identical reply I received from both Michelle Obama and Cid Chun.

Cid Chun is a former Hawaii high school teacher who has built a gigantic organization with Ever Skincare – a network marketing company that sells clean skincare and makeup.  How might you ask does that warrant a visit from the former First Lady?  Well, Cid’s team with Ever made a decision when they were a small team five years ago to concentrate their power of giving toward a few special causes.  One of them is Michelle Obama’s Global Girls Alliance.  Cid’s team of over 50,000 women (and as Cid says “a few great men”) have donated over ONE MILLION dollars to the Global Girls Alliance.

When I arrived, the driveway was long and lined with trees as I pulled into Cid’s family compound on Oahu’s North Shore.  One thing I noticed right away was that most of the trees were fruit bearing trees.  Hedges were a mixture of flowers, herbs, and indigenous plants.  Cid was outside waiting for me with a smile and was wearing a blue sundress from local designer Maunuheali’i.  I needed to look twice to be sure, but YES, standing next to Cid was a pig getting its ears scratched.

“Hey Christina,” Cid says as I get out of my car, “this is Petunia.”

Seriously

“We’re going to sit outside; it’s such a beautiful day.”

The compound has several dwellings, and Cid leads me to the yoga studio, whose roof is a sundeck.

“When we bought this place, the yoga studio was a game room.  The first thing I did was renovate it into a yoga and meditation studio.  It’s my favorite room in the house – after the kitchen and family room.  I love Saturdays when all the family is here and gathered together for dinner and game night, so we keep the games and cards on the deck outside the kitchen of the main house.”  Cid smiles at me and adds, “But I also need time to myself, to think, to meditate, and to breathe. I hang out in the yoga studio every morning at sunrise.”

From the deck, we had a view of the ocean.  Cid had refreshments ready for us, and as we helped ourselves to herbal plantation tea, she invited me to ask her questions as we waited for the First Lady’s arrival.

I was curious if Cid and her organization had other causes they rallied behind, especially any local ones.

Cid’s smile with this question lit up her face.  I could see how passionate she was with the sparkle in her eye.

“Totally.”  Cid replied.  “Slow Money Hawaii, Center for Food Safety Hawaii, and Sustainable Coastlines are my big three.” Cid’s passion for healthy living and local sustainability goes back to 2006, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Surviving cancer and, as Cid says, surviving chemo, put her on a journey of holistic health and self-discovery.

While we discussed the work these three organizations do, time flew by,  and soon I heard an unfamiliar sound announcing our special guest.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“That’s India,” Cid smiled, “the compound’s peacock.  He’s a great watchman.”

Seriously

We met Michelle Obama as she walking up to the studio, and she was even more stunning in person than a picture could ever capture. She was in a bright yellow floral dress that worked like a piece of art against the backdrop of the Chun’s landscaping.

During the interview I learned the impact of educating girls globally, while I also learned of Cid’s experience as a 20+ year veteran teacher here in Hawaii.  I learned that Cid was planning a trip to Africa, to visit in person some of the community programs that have benefited from the Global Girl’s Alliance. And that Michelle Obama herself is helping with the details of Cid’s visit!

My last question for Cid was “how did you realize your dreams; how did you make them happen?

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a moment, then looked at us and smiled.

“I always had big dreams.  But for a very long time, my thoughts and actions were scattered.  Five years ago I enrolled in a class that changed my life.  The Master Key Experience. I learned how to control my thoughts, focus my thoughts, and concentrate my thoughts, into actions.  Everything you see here, everything I contribute, I thought it first.”

This week I found myself looking forward to the daily readings more than anything else.  I’m fixated on changing my habits.  Enthusiastic readings in my living room are my favorite.

4.9  “If you cannot do these things it is because you have thus far not made the necessary effort.  Now is the time to make the effort. The result will be exactly in proportion to the effort expended.  One of the strongest affirmations which you can use for the purpose of strengthening the will and realizing your power to accomplish is, ‘ I can be what I will to be.”

You know that week when the shit is hitting the fan, when drama and conflict and humans who are stuck in their stuff are flinging their stuff around at others? Well I had a bit of a week like that.  What I notice is, since beginning the Master Key Experience I am hyper aware of the thoughts in my head. My bad habit is dwelling on “fixing” things.  The way my thoughts have done this for decades is I have conversations in my head with the people in the conflict. Over and over and over and over.  Now that I am aware of it, releasing these thoughts and replacing them with other thoughts has been my mission.  It’s taking a lot of practice.

So, on my hour long commute each way to work, when I catch that conversation pop up, I say out loud and ENTHUSIASTICALLY, “clear me, clear me, clear me; do it now do it now do it now, I can be what I will to be….. (several times), I AM a constructive thinker.  Then I work on visualizing details of my DMP.  It’s usually less than five minutes before I am back to a problem based conversation.

It’s kept me busy and my throat is hoarse from the shouting going on during my commutes.

Week 3 feels somewhat like a bit of a break through week.  The daily activities are becoming both routine, and I also forward to them; and instead of feeling overwhelmed and like I don’t really have the time, I feel energized both going into the daily readings and coming out of them.  Reading aloud with enthusiasm is fun.  Uplifting. It’s like putting a stick in the wheel of time and stopping it to pay attention in a moment.  In that moment of reading aloud and feeling the enthusiasm and all the other feelings, I’m on a stage in an empty theatre and I have the space and freedom to live loud and break out of my “cement.”

My DMP is eluding me still.  But I think I’m almost there. I am on revision 4 or 5.  It’s the PPN’s that have been tipping me up  So, I’ve been trying several on, each like a  new outfit and walking around in it for a day or two to see how it feels.  Then it’s like, well this one feels good, like something I could wear to work everyday.  But will it allow me to open up new doors in my life?  Doors that I’ve been nudging at (OK, sometimes pounding on without much luck), for what feel like forever.  So I try on another PPN.

We had a tribe zoom this week on PPN’s, and I had a couple very inspiring marco polos with my guide.  There was a suggestion to really get to know the words we were considering.  Look up the roots, origins…  And a very helpful handout.

I haven’t finished my revision.  But I feel good about where the week has taken me.  The path has led me to…… Legacy and Liberty.