Self Mastery - Meeting Or Matching

Meeting: acknowledgment, acceptance, spiritual hello,Match that with current world events and we have a
individuationmaster challenge on our hands, yet we are the first
Matching: becoming or absorbing surrounding energies,generation of Westerners en mass who've been
emotions, thoughts or state of a person nearby;graced with the capacity to actualize a more
enmeshment.integrated existence. How do we find and sustain our
Personal Story:natural vibration in this milieu?
Several years ago I ran into an acquaintance I hadn'tOne of the keys is discernment, knowing the
seen for quite a while. She asked me, "how is yourdifference between meeting someone where they are
anger lately?" Velvety smooth and easy, it was as ifand matching their energy, desperately trying to
she'd said "hi, how've you been, beautiful?" I laughedcommunicate and connect. One person pulls another
and said, "I'm much better, and, I still get angry aboutout of a hole and the next shoves them in even
traffic around town."deeper.
Her response to me was, "Why don't you feel gratefulWhen someone speaks in limitations, do you climb
that we're so in the flow? It's amazing we don't haveaboard just to be kind or sympathetic? Or, do you
more accidents."differentiate yourself, sustaining your own personal
What an interesting thought, one I've never forgotten,vibration? Maybe you're someone who can help
and each day I recall that comment while drivinganother shift up just by being present. Maybe you're
around in a town where unconscious drivers outweighsomeone who runs away hiding from the game
the conscious, 10-1! And even though I don't alwaysentirely. And maybe, you feel obligated or just want to
hold a perfectly high vibration of driving gratitude, Ilook helpful.
always remember to shift, just like my transmission, asI know people whose financial troubles have seeped
smoothly as possible into a higher gear, particularlyinto future generations, and then they attract mates
when leaping out to call someone a weenie during rushwho somehow match that programming. They say
hour!things like, "oh, she's just like her Mother!" And they say
All that old anger was my responsibility because Iit like they're looking at a baby, "Isn't she cute!" It's a
expressed it, sometimes unnecessarily, and I continuedsubtle yet very profound enticement to remain
to make momentary choices to react in anger. And,disempowered.
what I'm really talking about here, is the choice toIt takes no effort to match a lower vibration, whereas
resonate with the collective consciousness rather thanthe road to fully meet someone is not well-traveled. In
the collective unconsciousness.meeting others there is nothing to gain, no grounds
Back then, no matter how much I tried, I couldn't breakfrom which to compare. It's about full presence,
the pattern I'd created long, long ago, and instead ofacceptance and equality.
meeting and observing the anger out in the world, ISomehow along the way we either resist and lose
matched it because it was part of my unconscioussight of this potentiality, or we buy into the warp of
reactivity.loneliness. We put on our blinders, follow the well-worn
Choosing to Meet or Match:path home, like a barn-sour old horse, rarely reaching
You too have probably found yourself open heartedout to truly meet a person.
and relaxed when you're home alone, and the minuteWe're trapped inside our own stories and overlays,
you step into the world, you quickly becomegenerally distracted. We don't know how to disengage
overwhelmed with emotions that didn't exist behind theappropriately, staying present, therefore we're often
doors of your sanctuary. This is often a case oftrying to rescue someone or acting aloof and distant.
matching the collective emotional currents and lack ofThe alternatives are brand new territory. Whether we
differentiation and individuation.disengage from someone's suffering, offering that
Sit in a meeting and observe how one defensivehand-up out of the trench, or let them wallow right
person pulls everyone else into a state of conflict.where they are, it's risky business because it's not
Notice how our vibrant new President has lost somenecessarily how we were programmed to respond.
of his luster. It's not that these people want to dropStill, it's only the beginning, yet these are much healthier
down, they are simply vibrating at the level of all thechoices for both parties. When will you decide?
heavy agendas and expectations surrounding them.When people around you are either sweeping the
What an incredible feat it would be to rise above allnews of the Gulf oil spill under the carpet or are
that!outraged and dramatically engaging in expanding the
Next time you listen to a dramatic story, watch hownegativity of this event, do you match, or do you meet
quickly you begin to feel ill-at-ease, maybe someplacethem?
deep inside or even after the fact. Walk into a funeralWhen a man falls overboard, it's really difficult to pull
home noticing how everyone drops down to matchhim out of the water, if you can even find him. He's
death, feelings of mortality and grief for the loss ofsoggy and twice as heavy, disappearing into the
corporeality, or turns external pain inward.troughs or bobbing around at the will of the currents.
Notice families, how one person's vibration becomesHe's weak and hopeless, nearly unconscious from the
the norm. It's great when everyone's enthusiastic, yetcold. This makes his body all the more unwieldy. You
when there's a disgruntled and inherent lack ofare his only bridge to life, and as you bend over trying
abundance at the elder level, it often finds its way intoto haul him up, you slip on the wet deck, already off
the offspring. An angry parent often begets an angrybalance from the rolling motion of the waves. You
child; an abuser at the head of household penetratescould easily fall into the fathoms of the deep blue sea,
the children, and everyone gathers at the easiest,lost forever. Do you keep reaching, dive in, or do you
often the lowest, common denominator out of survival.let him go?