I found this article really interesting and I've responded in the end. Forgive any faux pas for reprinting...

How Full is Your Cup?
By Michael Angier
"Wisdom is meaningless until our own experience has given it meaning."
Bergen Evans
I was trying to counsel a young man the other day who was less than receptive to taking advice.
He said he wanted help, but in fact he wanted someone to fix his problems. He said he wanted advice, but instead he wanted to be right.
Isn't it interesting when people have all the answers and no money?
Here was someone who was broke and had no job. His life wasn't working. You'd think he would be willing to learn, but sadly, this was not the case.
I'm reminded of the story of the young mystic who traveled a great distance to study at the feet of a revered sage. When the young man arrived, he proceeded to try and impress the master with how much he knew and how wise he was.
Instead of asking questions, the student went on about his beliefs and philosophies. The master listened quietly for a long while.
Finally, the student stopped talking for a few moments. The master asked his guest if he would like some tea. "Why, yes," the young man replied.
The old man began to pour the tea into his visitor's cup. But he didn't stop when the cup was full. He continued to pour as the tea over flowed into the saucer and then onto the table top where it began to run out on the floor.
"Stop!" the young man said. "The cup is full. Can't you see? It can hold no more."
"It's true," the wise one said. "We cannot put more into an already full cup. And you are like that cup. Until you empty yourself of yourself, your fullness will prevent you from learning."
To some extent, we're all a bit like the young man. We sometimes have to let go of what we think we know in order to embrace new ideas.
We're always free to pick up our old beliefs and "knowings" at a later time, but we need to be open in order to look at things in a new way.
We need to approach knowledge with the wonder and openness of a child. This way, we keep from missing important lessons and learning helpful life strategies.
It's not easy, but we can learn to suspend our beliefs in order to listen with a clear and open mind. If we do, we won't be one of those people referred to when people use the cliché, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks."
Where is your cup too full? In what instances do you close yourself off because you "already know that?" It's easy to finish someone's thoughts in your head when they are speaking.
But in doing so, you may very well miss what they have to offer because of the filters you've created.
Watch yourself over the next week and look for times when your cup is too full to learn something new. It may surprise you.
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Michael Angier, founder of SuccessNet.org, recently released the New SuccessNet Resource Book “Top Must-Have Tools, Products, Services and Resources for Running Your Business Effectively”
http://successnet.org
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Interesting, isn't it.

This has often been true for me, I will admit. Like when I first started hearing about EFT. People were saying how great it was, but I didn't want to hear it. There are times when I DO feel so full that I cannot take on any more. For me, what I have to do is work with what I have to determine what works and what doesn't and when I am not willing to do the work or practices, then I am not releasing anything to make room for some new stuff. BUT I recognize that about me.

I've not taken a lot of time to weed out the stuff that I don't need or use. Jeez, all those seminars and classes that I've taken and I have all this stuff inside me. I haven't dumped it all because a lot of it is good stuff, but then, I haven't really used it either. Maybe it is taking up space inside me and there's no room for anything new.

It's not like I can sit here and tell you everything I know. Gosh, I've forgotten most of everything I've ever learned. But if you started talking something similar, there would be something inside me saying, "Yeah, I know that," and a part of me would shut down to what you are telling me. My tea cup would be overflowing at the same time I would be shutting down. Does that make sense?

Hmmm, I wonder what all this means... and as I always admit, if I am unwilling to practice daily, how can I expect those I work with to develop a daily practice. I have learned some phenomenal healing techniques but if I don't practice I cannot teach and if I don't do that, then it is wasted and it stagnates inside blocking anything new that might come in.

There's this part of me, though, that fully believes I can take everything I've learned, pull up all that I really like and build it into a wonderful technique. Everything else I could let go. I'd like to use the Sedona Method with the EFT and meld it with the meditative movements of Tai Chi and the healing powers of hands on/massage. I would like to use aspects of other teachings to incorporate them into what I do... the Vulnerable Leadership Training, Art, Writing to Heal...
but if I am not actually doing the practices myself, how can I work it with other people?

And then, on the other hand, when I am so full of all THIS stuff, how can I take on anything else? Then again, I have to be comfortable when face to face with others to be able to talk... walk my talk. Hmm, guess I should be doing a lot of tapping, ha ha.

At least I do have a goal for this year... learning to walk my talk, promoting myself, getting my work out there to make money and whether I am talking of the healing or the art, for me, it's one and the same.

A BEAUTIFUL SPRING MORNING

The sun rises in a pale sky. The crescent moon now hides. Birds chirp their happy songs… the harmony broken by the discordant squawk of a blue jay. Frost lies on the field grasses and the water in the bird bath is frozen. Soon, though, the sun’s warmth will transform the day.
Early flowers are blossoming in others’ gardens while here it is slow. With my yard surrounded by trees, the sun only penetrates for a few hours. I’ve been raking and my body is suffering the strain of unusual activity. The results are worth it and the discoveries found after removing leaves and debris are exciting.
I was never much of a gardener and since moving here, my attempts are sporadic. This property is too big for me to maintain alone and I have to rely on help from good friends. Still, I love the plants and flowers. I am amazed how the growth can change day to day and I try to walk around every day taking note of the colors bursting forth.
The lawn isn’t as green and vibrant as when we first moved in three years ago but yesterday’s raking has given it new life. I was surprised that a short time after clearing the area, the ground looked more green.
There’s holes… tunnels… Does this mean something will be getting to my flowers? I know we have grubs and the soil probably needs some good fertilizer.
Yes, I like my gardens and enjoy the colors and fragrances of flowers, but most the time, I’d rather be inside. Since living here, I have been making a gardening journal. Each year it has evolved, as has the garden. Every week or two, I take pictures and notes then put them together in an album. It’s quite interesting to mark the growth from shoots first bursting from the ground til the plant goes to seed.
Some of the gardens are old and overrun by day lilies, lilacs, and vinca. Division is definitely needed. I’ve done a little but get distracted easily. Then there are new flowers to buy and plant and another garden area to develop. One of my goals is to turn areas where the grass doesn’t grow well into flower gardens. I’d much rather have flowers than areas to mow.
And right now, the beauty of the morning is calling. Perhaps I’ll go against norm of writing and picture work and head outside early.

HEALING AND HONORING THE SELF


My mind has been jumping trying to decide how to proceed, who to call, and do we drop everything when someone needs a healing. It's funny how things seem to happen at once. One minute I feel I don't have much of a life, then the next minute I am feeling bogged down with so much going on.

I've been getting some feedback from all of you and what is coming to me this morning is that we are all on a learning curve. These past couple months, few weeks, have brought us different and not so different concepts. We are having our... selves... challenged and tossed around. Some of it excites us, some of it makes us uncomfortable, some it scares the whey out of us, and some of it makes us angry. Some of it we believe and some of it we don't.

This is spring, a place of new beginnings, and we are discovering better understandings of who we are as women and individuals. These latest teachings are having an impact on our lives and the biggest thing that is coming out for me right now is in HONORING THE SELF. This is where we make the decision of what we want to believe and what to leave behind. We know that we don't have to believe everything that is said to us and that what is true for me might not be so for you. And that is okay! We still love and respect one another.

Another thing that is coming up for me is that our Tuesday nights are VERY IMPORTANT... for us and I agree that we need to keep our time special. We need that opportunity to be and to let down and be able to have a little chance where we don't have to be totally responsible and we can cry and grieve or rant and rave. We need that time so that we can go back to family and clients with a whole heart.

One of the hardest lessons in life to learn is to set boundaries and learn to say no... then again, some of us need to learn to speak up, ha ha. (My next goal is to approach printing places to get a cheaper printing for my book--- and I have to be able to talk to them.) And even though we are a group, we don't do things the same and we don't have to. That's what's so amazing about us. I love our individual styles! I love that we have such diversity and yet come together in peace, love, and respect.

Now, in doing group healings... I said from the beginning that we don't all have to participate. It's up to each one of us to decide when she wants to and when she's able to. Sometimes too, there are people we cannot work on and we respect ourselves for that. However, I do think we should set a time when, as a group, we would be available to do a group healing--- and that's not saying you'd have to come. For Tuesday night, I'd like to come up with one or two days/evenings a month that would be set aside for group healings. That way we'd all know that there might be something coming up.

This doesn't mean that another time or instance might happen. We set our own boundaries and we have to honor ourselves for our choices. This isn't always easy because sometimes we want to do something and just cannot...
and we have to honor that, too. I know from personal experience that it's hard not to beat yourself up.

So, in closing, I just want to remind everyone to be true to yourselves. When new teachings resonate with you, take it in. If something doesn't, then it doesn't. You know what works for you and what doesn't. Honor yourself.
We are growing and getting better all the time.