Embracing Not Knowing - Dissecting The Wisdom Of Shaltazar

This week’s conversation centers around change. At this time of year when resolutions to “start anew” are plentiful, Jeffrey reminds us that resolutions rarely work because the mind’s anticipation of the change rarely equates to the change which ultimately occurs. Better perhaps to form intentions whereby we are open to everything and attached to nothing, giving ourselves permission to accept that we don’t know how the future will play out, only that we will get through whatever comes our way.

Transcript

And welcome back to another edition of Dissecting the Wisdom of Shaltazar with my good friend and co-collaborator,

Mark Lane.

Welcome back,

Mark.

Hi,

Jeffrey.

Thank you.

Good to be here.

Yeah,

It is.

It is.

We're winding down to the end of another year,

A year that has been interesting to say the least.

Shaltazar would say a year of opportunity.

You feeling a bit nostalgic as we wind down 2020?

Yeah,

Geez,

I'm really going to miss this year.

He says tongue-in-cheek.

Yeah.

It's a difficult question to answer just because I'm not a nostalgic person to begin with.

But yeah,

This year it's kind of like the gum you want to scrape off the bottom of your shoe,

I think,

Right?

We are recording this on December 22nd.

Yesterday was the winter solstice when all that stuff was supposed to happen.

The convergence was cloudy here,

So we didn't get to see the planets.

But even people who I don't think are necessarily spiritually inclined or certainly not astrologically inclined are kind of looking at this transition from Capricorn into Aquarius as kind of the new hope that everything is going to be better in the coming year,

I think.

It's interesting you say that because as you're saying it,

A couple of memories come up.

One was 2012,

Which was supposed to be a big giant shift and it seemed to fade away.

Some people believe that what we're going through now is that 2012.

I'm one of the believers that in the higher realms there is no time,

There is no space.

So although we think there's this timetable that change has to happen in a particular year,

On a particular day,

At a particular period of time,

I think our free choice has something to do with that.

And the other one I'm sure you remember was,

I think they dubbed it Y2K,

When all of the computers were going to crash because we weren't able to handle the century part of a lot of the coding that was in our computers.

And in 2012,

I think life seemed to move on without much of a hiccup.

And in the year 2000,

Also we seem to get over the Y2K and life seemed to go on.

And so one of the things that I've come to realize is that the mind's expectation of change is very,

Very different than what that change actually feels like.

And so I would kind of encourage listeners to realize that whatever you're predicting as change,

It's not going to be the way it is.

And I think in one of our previous episodes,

We talked about the New Year's resolution and how I'm not a big fan of it.

Because in that resolution,

You're really kind of thinking that you can control change.

And I don't think you can.

I think one of the big lessons for me from Shaltazar is learning to become more comfortable with the unknown.

And so I would prefer to look at 2021 as a big question mark,

Realizing that I have a certain part in what I'm going to be creating as my reality and not give that power away to,

You know,

The Aquarian age or stars being aligned.

I think a lot of the change that happens in our life comes down to the choices we make every day.

True,

Yeah,

It's an interesting question mark,

I guess,

Right?

What does all this mean?

I mean,

I do a lot of reading.

There's a lot of conversation about us moving from a,

As a planet,

Moving from a 3D to a 5D grid.

I'm not really sure what that means.

There's lots of talk of entering this new age of Aquarius.

I'm not really sure what that means either.

So I'm kind of in the same boat,

I guess,

As you are in probably many people where,

You know,

I'm like,

Yeah,

I see that this change is occurring and I understand that there's,

You know,

I mean,

You're kind of a numerology guy.

There's a lot of numbers here that kind of match up.

There's 20s and 21s and now 12s,

You know,

They're kind of the inverse of each other.

So there's a bunch of things going on.

We've got a celestial event that hasn't happened in 800 years.

So there's definitely things afoot,

But what do they mean and how is that going to impact us?

I really don't know.

And so,

You know,

From my point of view,

All I can do is just sit back and watch and wait and see what comes out of it,

I guess.

Right,

Right.

There's that surrender and control piece again,

Because no matter what,

I believe you would agree with me,

If you look at all of the changes that have happened in your life,

They don't really go off as predicted.

I know when I got married,

I expected something wasn't that way.

When we had kids,

I expected something wasn't that way.

When things happened at work,

It wasn't that way.

And so,

And I think the reason for that is that the mind is definitely more linear,

More logical,

Less multidimensional,

And we experience change as a feeling.

And yet the mind is trying to predict it without the feelings.

And so I think that that's an important thing,

You know,

For people to be cognizant of is that this change is going to be experienced in your feeling consciousness.

And therefore your mind doesn't have the breadth and depth of feelings.

And it's going to predict things like,

Oh,

Things are going to be busy,

Things are going to be slow.

I'm going to make lots of money.

I'm going to lose weight.

But you discount the feelings of what is happening throughout that process of change.

And so I continue to get proven over and over again how change doesn't turn out the way I think it will.

And having said that,

I just want to point out to the listeners,

Often we are our worst enemy because we are afraid of that change because we don't think it'll be what we want.

And as a consequence,

We keep it away from us.

And so if you can be more open,

If you can be more accepting of the unknown,

I think life will be much different.

Life will be much different.

And I think that's important.

You know,

COVID keeps moving along.

We now have vaccines.

How is it going to unfold in 2021?

I don't know.

It was kind of interesting.

You know,

Growing up,

I was in the family business.

And when I was young,

My father would go home for a nap and I would come out to the plant after school.

And at the dinner table,

He would always quiz me on what happened to what did this person do.

You know,

I developed that obligation that I needed to have the answer.

And I always felt extremely inadequate if I didn't have the right answer for him.

And he was kind of an intimidating guy.

And,

You know,

He was my father.

I wanted to please him.

And so when I went on my journey of self-discovery,

It took a lot of years for me to become comfortable with my favorite saying when my wife asked me a question.

And that is,

I don't know.

And I have to tell you,

I don't know is really very liberating.

You know,

When you get rid of the obligation of thinking you have to have the answer.

And so,

You know,

That open openness to everything and attachment to nothing,

I think is kind of important.

Yeah,

It's an empowering statement.

I don't know.

I think,

You know,

I noticed raising kids,

They look to you as the person who knows everything in their world.

Right.

And so you always have the answers.

And you know,

Just being able to say that,

You know,

I don't know.

I don't know the answer to that question.

You know,

I don't know what's going to happen.

I don't know what the right thing to do is here.

It's honest and it's true.

And I think that,

I mean,

My parents were different.

You know,

My parents always wanted to provide that front that,

You know,

That they did know everything and if they didn't know,

They made something up that sounded plausible and sent me off into the world thinking something that probably wasn't true.

And so,

I mean,

I think that that honesty of being able to say,

I don't know is a very important thing and an important trait to embody because more often than not,

That's the case.

We just don't know.

We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow.

And going into 2021,

Once again,

I'm going to put in that plug for giving up the New Year's resolutions.

I am not a big fan of goals or resolutions.

I am of intentions.

And so I don't,

You know,

I highly encourage people to set some intentions for 2021.

I highly,

You know,

Suggest that people look at changes in their life.

Shalt desire is saying that no change is not an option.

So we'd better get used to that change.

We might as well be the captain of our own ship.

But you know,

When someone says to you,

Well,

Are you going to be able to accomplish that?

Are you going to be able to manifest that intention?

I would highly recommend people practice,

I don't know,

I'm just going to give it the old college try.

I'm going to do the best I can.

And as you said,

It feels quite liberating,

Right?

It's sort of like,

Whatever we're going through,

Say you're going through some issues right now,

You know,

You might be going through some health issues in your family.

Just close your eyes for a minute,

Take a deep breath,

And be okay with I don't know how this is going to work out.

But I know I'll be fine.

Right.

Yeah,

Try.

Right.

Okay.

So,

Yes,

You're right.

It's like when you do that,

It's like almost like a warm blanket wraps itself around you.

And you feel,

Yeah,

I do feel that.

Right.

Right.

Sense of calm,

Sense of security.

And you and I have talked about it so many times before that control versus surrender thing.

And the beautiful part about that surrender of I don't know is that it allows that warm blanket,

The love of Source to swaddle you,

To reassure you.

And if you're trying to control the situation,

I don't think you're letting that warm blanket in.

Right.

Yeah,

You're rejecting the warm blanket of Source in favor of one of your own creation,

Which is never going to be as powerful and effective.

Right.

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Because you're too busy trying to figure it out and get it done and coddle yourself in the blanket and it's just not going to work.

So there is something,

As we are moving through these turbulent times,

To consider practicing that philosophy of I just don't know.

And again,

It reminds me of that Reinhold Niebuhrt poem,

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And the wisdom to know the difference.

And there is so much,

It's kind of interesting,

You talked about your parents.

I think my parents went to the same school.

They really try to pretend they know when they don't know.

And I don't think they did their kids a disservice and that's something for our listeners to consider if you've got young kids,

Be vulnerable,

Be open,

Try not to pretend that you know something you don't know.

I personally think I don't know is a show of strength,

Not a show of weakness.

Right.

I agree.

It's interesting you say that.

I listened to a meditation this morning that talked about,

I think it was kind of focused on the new year and that whole idea of resolutions.

But the little affirmation was about setting intentions,

But not being attached to the outcomes.

And that's kind of what you were just saying.

It's sure you can have ideas and thoughts and plans,

But let's be willing to accept the universe's version of it or source's version of it when it comes.

Right.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

I love that.

I love that phrase that you often,

That you coined always comes to mind,

The loosely crafted plan.

The more you try to control the plan,

The less wiggle room you give the universe.

So I really think it's important to be okay with the not knowing,

To be okay with the unknown.

I really think that during this period of change,

There's no way anyone can predict it.

I think part of people's frustration is they expect the governments,

The institutions,

Medical science to know exactly how we're going to get out of the quandary we're in.

The economists,

Like,

Forget it,

Forget it.

The sooner you realize that nobody has this figured out that we're all in this quagmire together,

Then you can sort of gather your strength,

Gather your courage and start making some changes.

So to me,

My recommendation for the new year is just make changes.

Just make changes.

And some of them,

You're not going to know how they turn out.

You and I have talked about it before,

One of my favorite philosophies is ready,

Fire,

Aim.

And of course,

The old saying was ready,

Aim,

Fire.

And I say it the way I say it because I think sometimes you just got to take action and then recalibrate and take action and recalibrate.

One of the best things that ever happened to me is I made peace with the things I considered failures in my life.

I would buy something,

I would plan something.

I would want to do a project and I would get so mad if it didn't go according to plan.

And now that I've made peace with the faux pas,

The mistakes,

The failures,

I'm having so much fun and projects are coming together because I'm not beating myself up with guilt that this didn't work out.

Right,

Right.

Well,

And you are like you always say,

You know,

Look for the learning,

Right?

So okay,

You know,

I always point back to my basement remodeling projects,

You know.

There's lots of times that I think I'm going to try something one way and I try it and it doesn't work.

And I'm like,

Okay,

Well now I know that that way doesn't work.

So this way must be the way to do it.

And spending a year working on this thing,

I've become rather skilled in knowing how to do stuff that when I started,

I didn't know.

But it was all based on failures and mistakes.

Right,

Right,

Right,

Right,

Right.

Yeah.

I mean,

Shaltazar says that we learn by comparison.

And of course there's that old quote,

Whether it's true or not,

When someone asked Thomas Edison how it felt to fail 10,

000 times at inventing the light bulb,

He said,

I didn't fail 10,

000 times.

I found 10,

000 times that didn't work.

And I have to tell you,

There's been a real big shift for me because I'm a technology buff and I'm always,

Always buying technology things.

And the technology things that didn't work,

I used to stuff away in the cupboard and sort of lock up,

You know what I mean?

They were still too valuable.

I didn't want to throw them out,

But I hid them.

And every once in a while I'd sort of look in the cupboard and there was one of those things that didn't work.

And it was so much guilt and shame.

And it's like,

Hurry up,

Close the cupboard before your wife sees it.

I now look at those things with admiration.

I look at them from a perspective of my courage to try something new because for all of the things that didn't work,

There was a whole bunch that did.

And I love being on the edge of technology.

I love doing the things that I do,

Trying to find an easier and better way to do things.

So just that shift in what I considered a failure and being ashamed of it has helped me move forward in projects like I've never done before.

Yeah,

That's remarkable.

It's again,

Surrendering and accepting all those buzzwords.

At some point,

I think they may sound a bit cliche,

But they really do work.

If you really are willing to practice them and put them into place in your life,

They do lead you along to a new level by doing that.

We're at the holiday season,

And I don't think anybody's holiday season is quote unquote normal anywhere in the world,

No matter what religion,

No matter what culture you're in.

Instead of whining and complaining about it,

Say,

Okay,

What can I change?

What can I adapt?

I mean,

I really believe that the universe doing what it's doing at this time of year is that it's more than a nudge,

It's a kick in the butt to say it's time to change.

It's time to change.

So if we can not focus on what we've lost,

But instead focus on what we can change,

I think you're going to see a tremendous outpouring of creativity,

Being able to greet us in 2021.

I think it's really amazing the possibilities that are out there when we stop whining and complaining about what we lost and start focusing on what we can recreate.

Right.

I agree.

That's great advice.

It seems like there's that kind of corporate buzzword thinking out of the box.

It seems like this is kind of back enough people into enough corners that everybody is starting to think out of the box and letting go of some of the old paradigms and old ways of doing things and coming up with some new creative and clever ways of doing things.

And that kind of bodes for an exciting future.

I think so.

And we're just about out of time.

I forgot to ask if you had a topic today,

But I guess we didn't need one,

Right?

Which is really kind of interesting because we didn't know.

We didn't know what we were going to talk about.

And I guess we're getting pretty good at it because we just filled the time with,

I hope,

A meaningful conversation.

It was certainly meaningful to me.

And I want to thank you,

Mark,

For being my co-collaborator.

And as you call us co-conspirators,

I think our conversations not only help me,

Hopefully they help you,

But more so hopefully they help the listeners.

So it is our pleasure,

Certainly my pleasure,

To share our conversations with the listeners.

So thank you so much,

Mark.

I greatly appreciate it.

Oh,

You're welcome.

I enjoyed it as well.

And best to all the listeners.

Happy holidays.

And thanks for tuning in and listening to a couple of old guys chatter on.

Right.

And we will be back in 2021.

What our podcast will be about,

What our discussions will be about,

Who knows,

Fasten your seatbelt and join in.

Thank you all.

Happy holidays.

Love and light to everyone.