The Call Of Excellence

The Call Of Excellence
by Rebbie Straubing

Whether you're building a business, baking a cake, memorizing verb
conjugations or doing just about anything else, you may encounter a call to
excellence. And if you should follow that call, the subject you are engaged
in may do something extraordinary. It may reveal its secrets to you.

There is an inner nectar to every activity. Whether it's stamp collecting or
mountain climbing, politics or poetry, you can tap into its essence (as it
lives within you) and transform your experience of that endeavor.

Here are three ways to access the living, dynamic core of any subject so
that it begins to reveal its inner life to you.

1. Ask It. This is so simple that we often skip this crucial step in our
process on any subject. You can actually ask your subject matter to instruct
you. And it will gladly comply.

There are two main ways to ask it to teach you. One is while you are engaged
in the activity. The other is when you are not. Let's start with the second
one. When you are not at all engaged in the activity, say silently, "Music
(or politics or gardening or anything else), please reveal your secrets to
me." The request floats into your consciousness unresisted because you are
not in that mode. Your usual belief systems are not engaged. Don't expect a
verbal answer. Simply assume the stance of openness on your subject. Then,
go about your business. Later, when you sit at the piano or your desk or
your tomato plants or wherever else you do what you do, focused on your
selected subject, revelations pop through more easily.

The other way to ask is while you are in the middle of your activity. While
you are in the studio or deep under water or in the museum or wherever you
do what you do, you can say, "I am open. Teach me." Even though you are
doing something and you are in the mindset of "I know this," you can stay
open to what has not yet been revealed. And it will continue to reveal more
for as long as you ask.

2. Repetition. Any piano teacher will tell you about practice. Spaced
repetition works. And there is more here than meets the eye.

Repetition is relatively mindless. It builds things like muscle memory and
beneficial habits. Everyone knows that. It also does something else. The
more automatic your repetitions become while you have an intention to
receive the mystical center of the subject, the more you engage Law of
Attraction. You become an open window facing in the direction of your
intention. The specificity of your repeated activity becomes a focusing
device but your mind stays diffuse and open. You are both focused and
unfocused at the same time. This, in combination with your asking and your
intention, creates the perfect combination of asking and allowing. The
mindlessness of the repetition dissolves the resistant patterns. Thought
forms that are more advanced than your current level of understanding on
that subject can float into your open window.

3. Simplicity. No matter how complex your subject, some deliberate periods
of intense simplicity allow you to see what has been hidden. For example:
Play three notes only. Meditate on one historical figure. Reduce your
martial art to one single move.

Become so simple that, at least for one practice session, you convince
yourself that this uncomplicated task is your entire study. When you do
this, you relax. The sense of overwhelm disappears. You feel you can master
this. You relax while staying intensely interested. The holographic nature
of your single focus vibrates within you. The whole of your study rides in
on the shoulders of your simple singular focus. Then, the next time you
engage fully with your subject, you notice you have mysteriously advanced.
You have an intimacy with your subject that you did not have before.
I invite you to experiment with these three simple pathways into the center
of what you love about what you do.

Namaste Rosalie xxoo