The Gift and the Challenge of the Coronavirus

“And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently. And the people healed.

And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal. And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed.”

Attributed to an English translation by one Kitty O’Meara, but said to have been thought and expressed by a journalist in Italy, whose elderly population is currently being decimated by the COVID/19 disease.

 

Please click on the following video for an excellent view of

The Gift and the Challenge of the Coronavirus

Thank you to my good friends, Scottie Held for the quote and to Sofia Garcia for the video

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How Are You Doing?

Dear Friend,

These are difficult times. Some of you may know of people who already have the Covid-19 and sadly, some of you may have even experienced the dreadful shock and sadness of losing someone close to you. My heart goes out to you and others who are suffering.

If you are feeling overwhelmed with anxiety and stress about the virus or anything else in your life right now, you’re not alone. Many people throughout the world are confused and afraid. Many have little or no hope, they feel alone and helpless and don’t know where to turn. If that is true for you, it’s okay. Just know you don’t have to walk this journey alone. If you feel I can be helpful, please know I am here for you. I am not a therapist, but people have found my work to be therapeutic.

Please contact me for a phone appointment: martha@marthaborst.com and I will be happy to lend you whatever support I can for no charge.

I stress there is absolutely no need for panic. We will get through this. As painful as it is, I firmly believe we will be a better world because of it. However, we must pay attention and find sources of truth. Deception at a time like this seeks the most vulnerable amongst us. Gullible people pass on harmful conspiracies. Scam artists sell fake test kits and cures to those desperate for reassurance. The misinformation coming out of the administration press conferences is just plain dangerous. Do not be duped into thinking everything is fine and under control.

The truth is . . . it isn’t.

Our hospitals and the heroic medical personnel are operating under extreme, high risk conditions. Millions of masks and protective personal equipment are not about to be delivered. Hundreds of thousands of ventilators and respirators are not ready to be shipped. Attempting to placate people by covering up the truth actually causes more anxiety in some, while in others, it promotes a false sense of security and inaction.

I have found Gov. Cuomo of New York to be a particularly reliable and trusted source. He is a powerful, credible leader, who tells it like it is. He relays the facts as he knows them and hides nothing. He believes people can handle the truth and open, honest reporting is what people need in order to make the right decisions.

One fact he reported on Saturday that I found important to share is that 54% of those infected in New York were between the ages of 18-49 yrs. of age. Most of you who receive my WoWs are in this age range. Although the elderly are more likely to die from the virus, this is not just an “old person’s” disease. So with facts in hand, please act accordingly. We need to know things like this. We need facts. Facts are reality. Facts are the truth.

We are not out of control. There are things we absolutely can do to be safe. It is up to US. We all have a social responsibility to follow the guidelines. Stay home whether your state or county has mandated it or not. If you must go out, be sure to maintain a significant distance between yourself and others. We should all act as if we and they are carriers. Wash your hands, don’t touch your face and regularly wipe down all surfaces with disinfectant. Stay conscious.

Be well my friends. Take good care of yourselves and each other and please feel free to contact me if you want to set up a good time to talk: martha@marthaborst.com .

We are all in this together and if I can help, I am here for you…always.

Thank you to my good friend, Sue Hartzell for uplifting our spirits as we people come together. Please click on this video. It will inspire you and give you hope. Nothing can stop the indomitable human spirit!

(Make sure your volume is up.)

With much love,

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It’s Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature

 

“To know yourself as the Being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love and joy underneath the fear and pain, is freedom, salvation and enlightenment. In the stillness of your presence, you can feel your own spirit as it calls out to you to listen and to learn” Martha Borst   In recent years, we have been heading toward the extreme. Throughout the world, turmoil and chaos has exponentially increased. We have allowed fear and hatred to dominate the news and divide us as a people. The White Supremacists freely raise their voices, Nazis openly march proudly in our streets. Winning at any cost has driven political agendas. We give homage to celebrities and cast aspersions on scholars. We’ve been caught up in our own self-importance and self-righteousness. Our relationship with and the priority we give to money is warped. Cheating is rampant in our sports and voting booths. Our babies have been slaughtered in their classrooms with weapons of war. It’s almost too late to help our world that’s suffering from climate change. Our rivers are chocking with chemicals, our pristine oceans are polluted with plastics…and it’s getting worse, not better. The universe always seeks balance and it always responds to extremes. I am not surprised we now have the Coronavirus pandemic. It’s consistent with the “Butterfly Effect” (a very small change–such as a butterfly flapping its wings) can have a huge impact (like a major weather change), which in turn, aligns with the theory of chaos… which is “an interdisciplinary theory stating that within the apparent randomness of chaotic complex systems, there are underlying patterns, interconnectedness, constant feedback loops, repetition, self-similarity, and self-organization.” (Wikipedia) Because we are part of an interdependent system, the extreme energy state we have been in has triggered a counterbalance of energy. The tiny little, insignificant Coronavirus, for our survival, demands the entire world stop everything. In order to just survive, we are being forced to take time off from work. We are being forced to go home. Like a child, it’s as if Mother Nature is telling us as a global society to “Go to your room and think about what you have done.” “How many times do I have to tell you?” she asks us, “A lesson is served until it is learned. If you don’t learn it, the lesson will get louder and louder until you learn it!” We have been seriously off track and divided as a people. We haven’t listened to the warning signs, the science, the signals and the facts. We haven’t listened to our “higher consciousness” the part of us that is hungry for truth, equality and justice; the part of us that is starving for connection, kindness and love. We have been trapped in our fears and judgments. Economic disparities increase as people amass inordinate amounts of money at the expense of others. Economists have warned about a breaking point in the stock market and just as it reached an all-time high, it crashed. In the final analysis, our opinions and judgments, our ranting and raving, our whining and blaming and complaining matter not one bit. All that matters in the end is reality and how we respond to it. Reality is what is really happening, not what we wish, want or think should be happening, but rather, what is really happening. It doesn’t care what you think, or feel. It only responds to what you do – and results tell us how well we’re “doing”. The degree to which we refuse to see, to hear or to admit the result of our behaviors – what is right in front of our faces – is the degree to which we ignore the truth and the basic laws of nature. Mother Nature does not like it when we ignore her or try to fool her. Like most mothers, she will stand back and allow us to trip and fall in order to learn, but when we go too far and are near serious danger, she will step in, sometimes harshly, to protect us from ourselves. Those of us who listen and learn her basic laws of life, go on to have healthy, happy, empowered lives. Those who don’t, set themselves up for continuous struggle and pain. Let us heed the loud wake-up call that surrounds us. Let’s use this time wisely. Let’s take time to reflect on ourselves as individuals and as a society. Let’s think about our priorities, and answer some serious questions, What is the balance between money and moral values? (Seriously, is it really okay for Jeff Bezos and others like him to pay no taxes?) What is the balance between industry and climate? What does bi-partisan mean? Are we ever winning if someone else is losing? How important is the truth – to speak it and expect it? What does our internal guidance system call us to support…honesty or deception, hope or fear, connection or separation, love or hate? Find the truth that lies within yourself. Reconnect with who you are capable of being. Listen to your own spirit as it calls out to you during this time… Connect with the stillness around you and become aware of the soft voice of your heart…listen to the wisdom that lies within your soul… Mother Earth is teaching us. It’s time for us to learn…or the lesson will get even louder….   Please click on Mother Earth and take just 3 minutes to simply look and listen….     Thank you to my good friend Marsela Pecanac for sharing this remarkable video with us.

 

 

 

 

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WoW: Some of You Won’t Like This

PHOTO by Doug Mills/The New York Times

I wouldn’t believe Donald Trump if his tongue were notarized.”

Alair Townsend, Budget Director and Deputy Mayor, New York City, 1980s

Some of you might take offense at what I am going to say, but if you can get through this, perhaps you will understand the point of what I am saying. You may want to chastise me for being “political”, but that is not what I am doing.

I am, however, pointing out (based on results), how inept and inadequate Trump has been as a leader during this pandemic, which is simply a microcosm of his entire presidency. The only regret I have is that I have not spoken out every single day on behalf of the value of the truth this President has so blatantly disregarded.

Thanks to Trump, who denied the seriousness of the Coronavirus and called it “a hoax devised by the Democrats” and an insignificant problem to be “treated like the flu” that would “just wash away and float through and miraculously disappear”, there was no action taken early on, and that has led to a rapid spread of the virus with a total lack of Federal leadership. He resisted testing as it would make his numbers look bad, which gives us practically no data on which to drive our decisions. Subsequently, very little testing has been done in spite of his promise of “millions being available to anyone who wants one”…. So we are left to our own devices to figure this out.

Please take a few minutes to read this. https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca 

It is an excellent consolidation of data by a friend of mine’s son, who is a really bright, reputable guy. He’s given a TED Talk, has an MBA from Stanford, etc. This doesn’t make him an expert, but right now, we are the best we’ve got and if nothing else, his research and the way he presents it brings a lot of clarity to a plethora of information. For one, it helped me understand the urgency and imminent need for social distancing.

Up until the last few days, Trump tried to downplay the severity of the problem by bringing attention to the fact some people with the virus were even going to work and his fellow political leaders encouraged people to go to their local pubs and restaurants.

It is only now (2 ½ months late) that he has finally succumbed to the seriousness of the pandemic. It has proven to be a reality he can’t reconstruct with lies that support his personal wants and needs. It’s a force he can’t manipulate with his intimidation. The virus isn’t a “yes-man”. It doesn’t care about what Trump thinks about it, it doesn’t worry about being fired or ridiculed.

The virus is the virus – a reality he couldn’t reconstruct to make himself look like the most wonderful President that ever existed on planet earth. The truth tracked him down (it always will) and he finally had to face it.

However, his propensity for deception delayed his response to reality, (China gave us plenty of warning) and it has cost people their lives – with more coming.

As the American Protector in Chief, he has been more focused on himself and avoiding the virus because it wasn’t good for “his numbers” or the Market, both of which would hurt his chances for re-election. Until just two days ago, he has blatantly and irresponsibly disregarded the #1 rule for safety and shaken the hands of everyone around him, increasing the possibility of spreading the disease to others.

Trump supporters always hate it when anyone points out his gross inadequacies. They put their heads in the sand, and like children, they cover both ears and yell, “la-la-la”. In fact, most of them probably stopped reading this after the first few sentences.

Like Trump, his base absolutely refuses to admit the facts and they are delusional about his behaviors. “Yeh, yeh, yeh– that’s just Trump being Trump” they say. Well, I will not overlook the yadda-yadda-yaddas. I will not be silent about his inadequacy as a leader. “This is not the time for politics,” they say (right after Trump denies any responsibility and blames Obama).

I disagree. I think this is the absolute right time to draw attention to his irresponsible actions, reactions and inactions, because if I don’t, his supporters will let them drift off into thin air along with all the other yadda-yadda-yaddas. I don’t write this to be political. I write this so you won’t forget the last 2 ½ months and the dire consequences of Trump’s inept leadership.

I have stepped over to the GOP side and looked. I have listened to Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and read Breitbart news and repeatedly, the facts keep getting in the way of their words having any viability. The Trump administration’s basic incompetence and the damage caused by GOP policies of cutting the CDC’s funding aside, the truth is, partisanship and rhetoric coming from the Republican Party and their biased media sources, have had dire consequences. They include slowing down the process of getting emergency funding and dragging down the speed and efficacy of testing and diagnosing the true nature of the problem.

But the biggest problem has been the disinformation that resulted in turning medical experts’ fears and sound advice into political footballs. Words matter. People listen. People follow. Polls indicate that as a result of Trump’s downplaying the seriousness of the virus and his subsequent inactions, up until very recently, over 40% of Republicans did not believe the Coronavirus even existed!

The facts, the pure simple reality I can see and hear with my own eyes and ears, defy every word being spoken. Trump denies having said something he said the day before, (even though it’s recorded on video). He lies continuously about everything. His presidential address to the nation on Coronavirus was riddled with so many errors, it triggered an economic panic. And let’s not forget his words:…“As of right now and yesterday, anybody that needs a test [can have one], that’s the thing, and the tests are all perfect, like the letter was perfect, the transcription was perfect.”

Really??? As of today, here in the USA, we have (finally) conducted a total of 33,000 tests. In the tiny country of South Korea, they conduct 15,000 tests DAILY! My internal moral code is continuously repulsed. Trump cannot be trusted. It’s up to us.

It all comes down to personal responsibility.

We must use our common sense, wash our hands, don’t touch our faces, get good sleep, eat healthy foods and maintain social distance. Even though you may not have symptoms, you could be a carrier, so stay at home if you can.

And remember, there is a reality. It’s called truth and it’s bigger than any of us…bigger than our political opinions and judgments, bigger than our egos, fears, wants and needs. Regardless of our views, or how it makes us look, we must seek the truth, speak the truth and trust the truth even when it is uncomfortable. The degree to which we are in alignment with reality (truth) is the degree to which we can make decisions that are in alignment with life!

Take care of yourselves and each other. Be well my friends.

Self Mastery Update:

I am doing one-on-one coaching, but I have cancelled all my personal and professional courses. The next public Basic course is scheduled for May 22-24/ follow-up June 1 evening and the next Advanced will be June 24-26/follow-up July 6 evening.

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WoW: Phenomenal Woman

In honor of International Woman’s Day, I salute the magnificent Maya Angelou

 

Maya Angelou embraced all of who she was. People listened when she spoke, but she didn’t gain authority by sounding like a man. She protected her space, but didn’t need to act tough to maintain her impenetrable boundaries. She was self-confident and clear, but didn’t need to overpower others to establish respect. She was an extraordinarily powerful person who never abandoned her femininity to have that power. She didn’t need to. She knew who she was. She was a woman.

 

Phenomenal Woman

by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.

I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size

But when I start to tell them,

They think I’m telling lies.

I say,

It’s in the reach of my arms,

The span of my hips,

The stride of my step,

The curl of my lips.

I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

I walk into a room

Just as cool as you please,

And to a man,

The fellows stand or

Fall down on their knees.

Then they swarm around me,

A hive of honey bees.

I say,

It’s the fire in my eyes,

And the flash of my teeth,

The swing in my waist,

And the joy in my feet.

I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

Men themselves have wondered

What they see in me.

They try so much

but they can’t touch

My inner mystery.

When I try to show them,

they say they still can’t see.

I say

It’s in the arch of my back

The sun of my smile

The ride of my breasts

The grace of my style.

I’m a women,

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

Now you understand why my head’s not bowed.

I don’t just shout or jump about,

Or have to talk real loud.

When you see me passing,

It ought to make you proud.

I say

It’s in the click of my heels,

The bend of my hair,

The palm of my hand,

The need of my care.

Cause I’m a woman,

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman.

That’s me.

 

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