<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

"You pay for what you don't know."

-- Niena's Mom...

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Jill, Vicki, Jessica, Kath, Joe, Shirley, Tom, Julie, Seowa and Mike opened the space with a round of introductions and posting discussion topics.

• Fear vers. Possibility
  Are some of us experiencing a sort of "post trauma shock" heading into the Christmas holiday? (Mike)
• Authenticity - how do you become more of who you really are? (Vicki)
• Travel - any ideas for getting the most of your dollar when traveling through Europe? (Kath)

On the far south side, Mike & Linda Lenich are coordinating a one day workshop on the audio tape series, Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence (the forerunner to the book, Your Money Or Your Life). The workshop will be at the Unity Church of Christ, 740 River Drive, Hammond, Indiana (just south of Interstate 80 at the Calumet Ave Exit => about two miles east of the Illinois/Indiana border). The date is February 5, 2005, from 9:00am to 3:00pm. Cost is $11 for the course workbook plus a love offering for the Church. Phone the Church for registration at 219-931-5284. For further information, contact Mike at VSChicago@juno.com.

To continue his plan on biking to work during the Chicago winter, Joe recently bought a great mountain bike at the Chicago Police Department Auction. The next auction is February 19th, at 2800 S. Western. Viewing is from 8:30am to 10:00am, bidding immediately following.

Lenny commented R.D. Lang talked about this in the "Divided Self", where shock often occurs when we have a loss of a job or loss of a spouse or some other great tragedy. With so many tragedies occurring today in the external world, it is not hard to find one that would shake us to our core. Could fear, arising from these events, have taken the place of hope and possibility?

Jill mentioned a friend of hers said "...you can feel a cosmic relief now that Christmas is over". Linda thought perhaps this "quiet Christmas/stay at home thing" might be a sort of push back on hard Christian symbolism - a subtle protest to election or war results. Mike didn't feel like singing or performing any traditional Christmas songs this year. Others mentioned having wonderful Christmas events with family and friends, no different then in years past. Discussion continued...

So... was this Christmas season unusual, or just the way things have always been? Not sure yet.

(*) AUTHENTICITY - BECOMING MORE OF WHO YOU REALLY ARE (Vicki)
A great discussion on learning how to weed through the tons of information hurled at us each day, so we might be able to make contact with who we really are, and become more of that 'person'.

Vicki said, the real issue is being able to listen to your inner voice, "When I tune in to this voice, things are better."
What are some tools folks use to tune into the inner voice, to connect with that inner voice?

• Ask yourself, "How do I feel about this?"…
  Jill said if she doesn't get a feeling about something, she keeps asking until she does. Do you feel a sense of pressure or anxiety over something you're thinking of doing? If so, maybe that's a clue to step back, get real quiet and listen for your inner voice. What is it saying? You might try using Meditation, Relaxation or Prayer to quiet external noise and experience the subtlety of the inner voice. Check out the book, The Relaxation Response. Sit in silence for twenty minutes. You're body will feel relaxed and your mind settled - something you will continue to feel throughout the reminder of your day.

• Pretend you've already made the decision...
  How does it feel? Do you feel a sense of relief?

• Have a conversation with yourself...
  a self that is 20 years older, 20 years wiser. What is your older, wiser self saying?

• You can ask friends and family...
  But you'll still need to find a way to listen to your inner voice for the definitive answer. Advice is when you already know the answer but don't want to hear it. JR always says, "The answer is in your question."

• Ask yourself, "What's the worst thing that could happen?"
  If you can live with the consequences of the worst that can happen, you might have a clearer idea of what to do next.

• If you still don't know what to do, stop...
  Wait. Listen. If a decision MUST be made now, choose a response that creates the least amount of anxiety. And remember, there are at least 5 solutions to every problem.

• From Emilie Cady's book, "Lessons in Truth"...
  There is a core to us that never changes, that has never changed since we were born. That core always is the most trusted source. There is an external self - 'personality' - that develops over time from our external experiences. 'Personality' is the least trusted source. The more we can learn to shift back to our core, the less proportionally our external personality influences our decisions.

• It's like a friend who comes over and you don't listen to them...
  Joe said they eventually stop coming over. If you started listening to your inner voice, this friend might come over more often.

• Lessons from Tsunami disaster survivors...
  A very primitive tribe survived by noting the subtle changes in the wind and ground. When the animals suddenly began taking to higher ground, all the tribe's people followed.

What is common to the suggestions above? Reflection - taking a moment to stop and listen to yourself. When you do, you make contact with your inner self, your inner voice.

(*) TRAVEL - ANY IDEAS FOR GETTING THE MOST FROM YOUR DOLLAR WHEN TRAVELING
THROUGH EUROPE? (Kath)
Kath and Jim will be celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary this year and thought a trip to Europe would be a great way to celebrate. With current exchange rates, Europe is more expensive this year. Any ideas on having a great time without needing to spend a lot of money?

Be open to destinations, accommodations, food, travel time and sightseeing. Round trip air to Amsterdam recently has been as low as $200. Eat what locals eat. Travel groups may be an option - if you like hiking, biking, music... there may be a group you could accompany. Hosted tours might be expensive. Foreign travel offices have a lot of useful information and guides => Linda and Mike stopped at the French travel office in Chicago and got a wonderful walking tour map of Paris. They spent five days taking the map's tours, seeing almost the entire city.