Transformation and The Christmas Tree

I moved to New York City seven years ago from my home state of Colorado. When I first arrived, I was excited and also scared out of my mind. I didn't have a job and I didn't know how I was going to pay $1100 in rent for a tiny apartment in Chelsea. I was hitting the subways every day in a suit going around on job interviews. Within two weeks I had a job working at a small PR firm in the city. I'm still very proud of how quickly I found a job, I must admit. But needless to say I was a Rocky Mountain boy in the Big Apple, everything was confusing, strange and it was pretty lonely, as I didn't have any friends here.

But come a year later, I was starting to set into a groove. I got a new job working in the technology department at a law firm in Rockefeller Center, moved to a bigger and more affordable place in Astoria, started having girlfriends again and found a group of friends to hang out with. Things went from me almost moving back to Colorado to going very well. But then "normal" life set in again. A life filled with complaint and self-made hardship. Have you ever noticed how when things get good, you find ways to make them not so good? And it usually appears via complaining about the "difficulties" in life and how the world sucks. It's like a self-sabotage.

What I’ve learned from Ariel & Shya Kane is that this sabotaging-type behavior is purely a survival mechanism. Our family lines are based on survival, overcoming hardships through the ages. It's in our blood and wired in our genetics. But we don't need to survive like that anymore, and it can be unwired. Food is easily accessible, as is shelter, transportation, you name it. But since the mechanism of survival is automatic and mechanical, we slot situations in our lives into this natural but old mechanism. That's not to say that difficult situations don't arise, but by living mechanically we often make things much more challenging and complicated than they have to be...we resist what is in our lives. So how do you free yourself from the survival mechanism when it's not appropriate? Well, that's where Transformation comes in and alleviates the automatic nature of the survival mechanism. By seeing and examining what's happening in your life, without judgment, those survival behaviors can be unwired in an instant. You can be free from those behaviors in the moment you see them and step into enlightenment. You can enjoy where you are at, and what you have without trying to enjoy it. It brings things into thriving rather than bouncing in and out of surviving.

So after several years of living in New York, I found myself becoming a New Yorker. Or rather my idea of what a New Yorker should be like. I started to become jaded. I'd see slow-moving, wide-eyed tourists and quickly walk by them, scoffing and rolling my eyes because they were "in my way". After all it's the New York thing to do, and what I thought was the cool thing to do. It became a set groove in the recording of my life at the time. I'd even go back to Colorado and brag about how big, cool and metropolitan New York was. Yeah, I'm sure my friends really loved that. Back then, whenever Christmas time arrived in New York, it was the most annoying time of year for me. All I could see was all of the marketing of Christmas in the area, and those "annoying" tourists who swarm about to see the great Christmas tree in front of Rockefeller plaza. I was a real Scrooge, or imagine Scrooge at 27 years old. I'm laughing at myself just thinking about it. Of course, this was all prior to finding Transformation.

I've been attending Transformation workshops for about a year and a half now. One day this past year I was walking around at lunch one day by myself. Suddenly, I saw the mechanics of my jaded mood. It just hit me like a ton of bricks. I wasn't even trying to change anything or do anything with my mood. I was simply present and engaged, checking out all the beautiful architecture of the buildings of Rockefeller Center. I saw all these tourists, people from all over the world, who came to see right where I worked! How awesome, I thought. People come from the four corners of Earth to see this place I go to everyday, to enjoy it, and here I was complaining about it all the time. I spent all those years and years complaining, being bitter and jaded, and all of a sudden it was all gone. Bye, bye. It was truly a transformational moment in my life and still is. Instead of a huge having a complaint festival everyday, I now look up and around every day, really breathe in the air outside. I see how wonderful it is to work in my area, and I really enjoy all those people who are enjoying it with me.

So tonight before going to help with the Monday Night Alive setup team, I walked out of where I work at Rockefeller Plaza and saw the lovely Christmas tree right in front of the ice skating rink. As I looked up I slowed and looked around at all the people. There were groups of smiling and happy tourists. And lots of fast walking, hard-faced New Yorkers, too. I smiled as those New Yorkers now reminded me of me. Actually I'm more of a New Yorker than ever. and I'm more myself than ever, too. I looked up at the tree and noticed how piercingly radiant the lights were on the tree, especially the cobalt blue colored bulbs. I took a few minutes to just enjoy the tree, the air, and all the people from all over the world visiting Rockefeller and the Christmas tree. It’s just more icing on the cake of Transformation and enlightenment.

With Transformation, you can always be a tourist in your life, looking with wonder and awe every day at whatever life brings your way. It's magic. And if it's not for you then hey, I guess it just isn't. But if you're interested in attending a workshop, I highly recommend the upcoming Passion: Revitalize Your Life workshop in January. It will be nothing less than spectacular.