Do Something Worthy

Soul Spa: A Day-Long Retreat To Feed Your Soul and Answer Its Call

Sharon Snow & Lisa Buell, certified Professional Coaches and Co-owners of Go Ahead! Do Something Worthy are honored to host and facilitate this relaxing and nourishing retreat designed to reconnect and align you to your Self and to what's important in your life.   

Give Your Inner Life The Attention It Deserves

Here's What We'll Do                                 

• Create a portrait of your authentic Self
• Savor time to reflect and connect
• Enjoy a delicious lunch and a spectacular setting at the peak of foliage
• Discover your next step in expressing your Soul purpose

When:      Saturday, September 29, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm
Where:     Dreaming Mountain Retreat Center, Johnson, Vermont
Cost:        $85, includes lunch and materials (you will be asked to bring a few special things)

To Register email lisa@dosometingworthy.com or sharon@dosomethingworthy.com

Every Thing You Need

As my granddaughter and I watched the nurse do all the things that nurses do to newborns I kept thinking that my grandson wasn’t even supposed to be here yet.  A month early and only five pounds he was a kicking, screaming, tiny ball of indignation.  He’d just been through the most critical journey he would ever make and he wasn’t happy with where he had wound up. 

When we finally got our hands on him he seemed like nothing so much as a scrawny chicken with black hair and huge eyes.  It seemed surreal that the knees and elbows we had so lovingly caressed by placing our hands on my daughter’s belly were right there in front of us waiting to be touched, kissed, and smelled.  If you’ve been present at the birth of a baby you know exactly what I’m talking about when I say it was a humbling experience. 

Here he was, our little Michael, brand new to the world and only five pounds.  He seemed so vulnerable, and of course he was, but he also had everything he needed.  This tiny little body was complete. Heart, lungs, brain, stomach; they were all there.  In a five pound package!  No need to go out and acquire anything; it was all there.  I admit that my emotions were pretty raw but this realization seemed profound.

What if I applied this awareness to me?  What if I accepted my own human perfection?  If I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that I was resourceful, intelligent, caring, brave, and competent what might I risk?   The truth is that I am all of those things and so are you.  Each of us has everything we need to pursue our dreams and to achieve our own level of greatness. 

What might we accomplish if we each honestly acknowledged our own strengths and talents and used them to make our (individual and collective) dreams come true?  As Marianne Williamson so brilliantly wrote, who are we not to be brilliant, talented, gorgeous, and fabulous?  We are each a child of God.  We have everything we need.

Celebrating Freedom: How Free Are You?

As we celebrate the 4th of July and our country's independence, it's natural to appreciate the freedom we have, relative to a large, and increasingly visible, part of the world. But what does it really mean to be free?

Freedom is defined in the dictionary as the power or right to act, speak or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. In the Conversations with God books it is defined as limitless, without restriction of any kind; and as who we are. The French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau also asserted that the condition of freedom was inherent to humanity, an inevitable facet of the possession of a soul and sapience. A state of being.

As we look around the world, it's hard to imagine this to be true, so it's useful to look at freedom in relative terms, which is why we often use the term freedom from or freedom to.
Freedom from usually refers to a negative noun, such as oppression or pain, which is also often external. Freedom to usually refers to a verb, often positive and internal, such as freedom to choose or to worship.

Many of us enjoy a relatively immense degree of external freedom yet we do not experience a corresponding level of joy and fulfillment. Conversely, there are cultures across the world that do not enjoy anywhere near the external freedoms we have, yet they seem to be happier, more at peace.
Might the true core of freedom lie in the internal realm?

This is not to minimize the value of external freedom. According to the Declaration of Independence, it is our inalienable right. And, as we see in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, it is a heck of a lot easier to give your attention to the sublime when you have food and shelter. Yet Victor Frankl, in his account of the Nazi concentration camps in Man's Search for Meaning, and countless other survivors of the world's greatest violations of external freedom have demonstrated that a state of internal freedom (the freedom to choose how one will respond to a situation) is the very thing that helped them survive.

Where in your life would you like to experience more freedom?

Freedom from:

self-judgment
shoulds
the opinions and approval of others
fear
self-doubt
guilt
others' expectations
beliefs that don't serve you
worry
reactivity
perfectionism

Freedom to:

explore your interests
follow your calling
express your heart's desire
do what you love
accept the present moment as perfect
make mistakes
love yourself
have fun often
take risks
not fit the mold, be as unique as you are
change your beliefs
choose how you want to feel
slow down

What would change for you if you freed yourself from one item on the From list, or acquired one freedom from the To list? How might you show up in the world differently? What might be possible in the world, particularly for those who are not free, if more of us lived from a place of internal freedom?

TAKE ACTION

This Independence Day, celebrate FREEDOM by eliminating one form of internal oppression or adding a freedom to your life. Share that new freedom in the world and help another do the same.

To your light,

Lisa

Virginia Tech

The first thing I felt when I heard the news of this senseless and horrible tragedy was a wave of heartbreaking sadness. Sadness for all of us because what we all share in common is life, and when life is ripped away from one of us, it is felt by all. And great sadness for all the incredible beauty in this world that is so inaccessible to the people who find themselves in so much pain and isolation that they are capable of an act as horrific as this.

And I realized how very, very important it is that we stop, think and choose how we want to respond to this moment.

Many will find it difficult not to become more fearful and isolated ourselves, as the violence against each other and nature seems to increase around the world. But what is it we really want? Ghandi said, “ We must be the change we want to see”. He was talking about the law of attraction. Fear does not create love, violence does not attract peace, isolation does not invite caring and connection.

If we want an end to acts of violence we must flood the corners of the earth with all the compassion and love we have inside of us. It is a choice we can make. And not as hard as you think. If you bring a candle into a dark room, it simply causes the darkness to disappear. You don't have to struggle with the darkness, you don't have to withhold some of the light because the room shouldn't be dark or doesn't deserve to be light. If you want light, you hold out the candle and the darkness disappears. Because you can't have both in the same room.

You have more power than you can imagine to effect what is happening in the world today. YOU ARE THE ONES YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR. You simply have to choose how you are going to respond, to every moment, person or event around you.

If you want love, compassion and peace in the world, be that. Send that to everyone at Virginia Tech – all the families, the community, everyone who has been touched by this tragedy. But don't stop there. Keep sending it. To the perpetrators, to the people, leaders, governments that may have caused them to experience that fear and isolation. Send it out to every dark corner of the earth that you can imagine.

Our world needs your love and compassion to survive. Don't hold back.

To your light,

Lisa

Spring

In my native Texas the sun is shining, the grass is green, the trees are putting out, people are wearing shorts, and the Blue Bonnets and Indian Paintbrush will soon be in full bloom.

I spent my first March in Vermont six years ago lamenting the absence of these familiar signs of spring. I thought spring would never come and indeed using my yardstick it didn’t get here until May, a full two months after my timetable said it was supposed to arrive.

Now, having adjusted to the much more subtle signs of a Vermont Spring, I see promise everywhere. The daylight is lasting longer, even without the early onset of daylight savings time, and we are occasionally getting daytime highs in the 40s. A little of the snow has melted and the two-foot-long icicles are gone from the eves of my house. Sugar season is in full swing and the first robin is surely only weeks away.

For us Vermonters this is a hopeful time when spring seems just around the corner. We begin to dream of daffodils, lilacs, and crab-apple blossoms. We look forward to jackets and sweaters instead of down coats and start thinking about our toes peeking out of sandals instead of wrapped in wool inside our winter boots. In May when we are still longing for sweaters and naked toes we can become a little grumpy but for now we are filled with the delicious possibility of abandon.

Along with the still buried flower bulbs that will eventually make their way to the surface love is sprouting all around me. I am surrounded by people who are using their time, energy, knowledge, and heart to do something for our human community. Every day brings the possibility of a new email or phone call telling me about an amazing endeavor of loving kindness. The world is literally raining blessings.

Spring is a time when things are wanting and waiting to happen. Sue Monk Kidd said, “Inside each of us is a place where our dreams go and wait their turn.” What inside you is waiting and wanting its turn?

Sharon
April, 2007

Daffodil Principle

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come see the daffodils before they're over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. "I'll come next Tuesday," I promised reluctantly on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I'd promised and so I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there's nothing in the world except you and these children I want to see bad enough to drive another inch!" My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother." "Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her. "I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car." "How far will we have to drive?" "Just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this." After several minutes, I had to ask, "Where are we going? This isn't the way to the garage!" "We're going to my garage the long way," Carolyn smiled. "By way of the daffodils." "Carolyn," I said sternly, "please turn around." "It's all right, Mother, I promise. You'll never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign that read, "Daffodil Garden."

We got out of the car and each took a child's hand. I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, we turned a corner of the path. I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow. Each different colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers. "But who has done this?" I asked Carolyn. "It's just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory.

We walked up to the house. On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking" was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and very little brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958."

There it was, The Daffodil Principle. For me, that moment was a life changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I'd never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun one bulb at a time-to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top. Still, just planting one bulb at a time, year after year, had changed the world.

This unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of indescribable magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration. That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time - often just one baby step at a time - and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.

"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said. "It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to ask only, "How can I put this to use today?"

***Author Unknown

Audio Files of People Who Have Done Something Worthy

Ward Powers is a middle age attorney from Detroit with no film making experience who awoke one morning and decided to make a film about oneness.

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