Miles To Go Before I Sleep (42 page)

Letting go of our biases, preconceptions, and prejudices to truly love and accept someone who thinks or looks differently than us is never easy. It takes a willingness and spiritual maturity that many of us lack. But if we could only move toward love and peace, and stop insisting that other people think, speak, and act as we do, the world would be a much better place.

I've lived in countries with sizable Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, and Christian populations. No single religion or creed has cornered the market on truth. It's available to anyone, anywhere. It can be found in the great religions and spiritual teachings of many different societies, cultures, and traditions. It can be found in the core principles taught by enlightened psychologists, philosophers, teachers, and wise parents and grandparents. Truth is equally available to the wise and the foolish, the rich and the poor, people of all shapes, sizes, and colors. I believe that the differences between us matter less than our common humanity and identity as children of God.

About a year ago, I attended a traditional worship service at a church near my home. This particular Sunday, the minister was talking about the need for Christians to patiently wait for Christ's return to earth, for the Second Coming.

My interpretation of the Bible is different. When I heard the minister's sermon, I kept thinking,
He's already come. The kingdom is already here.

Through the hijacking and years of recovery, I pulled God out of Heaven. I no longer believe God is up in Heaven and the devil is down in hell—that good and evil are “out there” somewhere. God gives us the free will to choose to live in Heaven or hell. I believe Heaven and hell are not actual physical places, but states of mind, attitude, and being we can all experience here on earth. As Jesus said, “I have come to bring the kingdom. The kingdom is here now.”

I also believe God is inside us all, that our souls are connected to the very essence of God—the creator and sustainer of the universe. When I think of God, I think of a light flowing down from the heavens. I visualize that light before each of my speeches. I see the light flowing through my body and shining out from me to my audience.

I can touch the power of that light every day. Prayer, meditation, reading, getting in touch with nature are just a few ways I stay in touch with the light. By choosing to reconnect myself with God every day, I actually can have Heaven here on earth. I can also choose to have hell on earth. But God never forces Himself on us; we always have to open our hearts and ask God to come in.

“Letting go, and letting God” doesn't come naturally or easily to many of us. In our culture, we are taught to control situations and people. There is so much emphasis on material things that few of us are encouraged to develop or nurture our inner life or spiritual core. It's almost as if we didn't exist as spiritual beings. We learn to behave like machines stamped out on an assembly line. We learn to judge ourselves as “functional” or “dysfunctional” units, instead of seeing ourselves as the unique, exceptional people we are.

I believe we're all born with an Inner Voice, that that's what it means when the Bible says we are created in the image of God. Our Inner Voice is constantly leading us to health, wholeness, and fulfillment.

People call our Inner Voice by a number of different names: God, the Intuitive Self, a Higher Power, or the Christ Within. What you call it is up to you. At different points in your journey, you may use different names.
That
you call on this Inner Voice matters more than
what
you call it.

Our Inner Voice is directly connected to God and is, therefore, the truest expression of our deepest selves. Our Inner Voice usually signals us in quick flashes. It speaks to us in dreams, in sudden bursts of insight, in intuitive hunches which guide us toward our destiny.

Many of us are not aware of our Inner Voice. There may be so much chatter and static in our lives that messages from our Inner Voice are drowned out or ignored. We may dismiss what we hear because it sounds silly or too risky. Are we willing to stop and listen? Do we dare not to?

Listening to our Inner Voice is the key to unlocking our creative potential, to find purpose and meaning in our lives and to enjoy fulfilling relationships with ourselves and others. Our Inner Voice is constantly providing clues to our values, goals, mission, talents, and passions. The challenge we all face is how to unleash the love, energy, motivation, and creativity inside us. Tuning in is a discipline that anyone can develop.

To grow and develop into the people we were meant to be, we need to listen very carefully to our Inner Voice. It knows us better than we do. It knows the lessons our spirits need to learn. That's what our life on earth is about, listening and learning what we need to learn. That's why our Inner Voice is so important. Only by paying close attention can we learn what we need to learn, and thereby fulfill our purpose on earth.

When confronted by challenges or problems, it's important to get a sense of what resources you can draw upon to deal with them. The Inner Voice is directly connected to our Higher Power. When we tune in, we can access the supernatural strength, serenity, healing, and insight our Higher Power wants to give us. Our Higher Power is always looking out for our best interests and the best interests of those we love. But we have to do our part. Our part is to listen to our Inner Voice and follow where it leads. We need to obey our Inner Voice in the truest sense. The root of the Latin word
obedience
means “to listen.”

Slowing down and listening to my Inner Voice didn't come naturally to me. I was always in a rush to get from one thing to the next, never stopping to reflect on the experience I just had before rushing headlong into the next one. I was a
do
er. My life was always filled with activities and people, but I didn't make conscious choices about how I spent my time. Much of my energy was focused on doing things for the wrong reasons—on doing things to please others, not me. I was afraid of displeasing my mother, or a teacher, or a supervisor, or a friend, or, when I was married, my husband. My life was defined by external expectations—not by what my heart wanted. I was often out of balance.

I could also be very impatient. I always wanted things to happen on my timetable. I cared deeply about my learning disabled students, but I expected them to learn as fast as I could teach.

Fear is the biggest reason many of us don't slow down and listen. We're afraid to feel the pain inside us, afraid to make changes in our lives. It seems safer to stuff down our feelings and awareness. When we don't listen to our bodies and spirits, however, we build up resentment and anger. We push people away and isolate ourselves from others, stifle the Inner Voice and our own true selves.

When I speak of the need to slow down, I recognize that many of us are very busy. Yet we don't have to radically change our lifestyle to gain the benefits of slowing down. It could mean something as simple as taking a few minutes during the day to breathe deeply or listen to some relaxing music. I have to consciously stop and think before I do anything. Because of my head injury, I can't take simple things for granted.

After the hijacking, I started slowing down. I started to become more aware of my thoughts. I noticed that I would often say things to myself like, “I'm no good at that” or “I don't look good” or “If only it weren't raining.” As I became more aware of these thoughts and beliefs, I started to change what I said and thought about myself.

People and situations had been sending me signals to do that long before the hijacking. But, because of all my distractions, I never paid attention. I just kept doing things the way I was programmed, never stopping to pause or reflect on the why's or wherefore's. The only way life was going to get Jackie Pflug's attention was by hitting her over the head. That's what I think happened. The hijacking forced me to deal with a reality that I would have postponed until my dying day.

Yet we don't need to be in a hijacking or suffer some other huge tragedy to change our ways. We can tune in to the many messages our Inner Voice is sending us every day. Today, if I get a headache, I don't run to get some aspirin. The first thing I try to do is sit down, close my eyes, and relax. Usually, the headache is trying to tell me something. Most of the time, it's telling me I'm stressed. It's a signal I need to do something good to take care of myself.

We live in an increasingly violent world. How do we respond to that violence? With more violence? More hatred? With more rounds of retaliation and revictimization? What are the alternatives?

I believe there is a way, through reconciliation, love, acceptance, and understanding that each of us—individually and collectively—can truly make a difference in the world. We can reach out and stop the cycle of violence, hatred, and more violence.

We are really powerless over many of the forces that shape our lives. Yet we do have power over how we respond to those situations and events.

Listening to one another is such an important part of that reconciliation process—really seeking to understand, instead of seeking to be understood. This would help so much in resolving the conflicts we have with others. If we could just pay close enough attention to really hear what another person is saying—to work through all the feelings that may stir up in us. Because when we really listen, we're going to hear anger and pain. To be present to that takes hard work.

What difference would it make if we listened and were present to our loved ones and to other human beings? What difference would it make if we committed ourselves to forgiving others and to healing the hurts in our relationships? What difference would it make in our lives and in our children's lives if we all prayed for, expected, and gave thanks for the everyday miracles we see all around us?

I often wonder.

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——.
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——.
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Jackie Nink Pflug was born and raised in Pasadena, Texas. She received a B.S. in education from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas; and an M.S. in education and diagnostics from the University of Houston at Clear Lake. Jackie is a full-time motivational speaker, traveling throughout the United States and Canada. She lives in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Peter Kizilos received a B.A. in psychology and philosophy from Yale University; and an M.A. in Russian and East European studies from the University of Michigan. Peter is an award-winning freelance writer and communications consultant. He lives in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota.