Articles

Peace is Just a Thought Away

I would like to share a personal story of an experience I had while on my way to Egypt last month, that explains how I believe that I created a different experience on the New York Subway by consciously CHANGING MY THOUGHT.

My story actually starts in Vancouver Airport, where I had 3 hours to spend before my flight to New York. As I strolled through the departure area, looking for something to occupy my time in an interesting manner, I caught the eye of a black woman with a veil over her head working at a shoeshine outlet.

She had the most amazing blue eyes and when hers met mine, she called out to me in a beautiful voice “Come over and see me my friend” just like we had known each other forever!

I was wearing open toed sandals at the time and responded back to her jokingly "What are you planning to do, shine my toenails?"

She replied “No, but I will give you the best foot massage you’ve have ever had!”

Well, BRING IT ON!! Over I went and for the next hour Ebado Qorane from Somalia and I had the most intimate of conversations. We laughed, we cried, and she told me her life story. Seven children, two husbands both who left her for another woman and she gave me the best foot massage I think I ever had!

When I was done we hugged and handed her a crisp $20 US bill and signed her guest book which had some pretty famous people in there. As I began to walk towards my gate, I noticed that I was "slippin and a slidin" in my sandals from the copious amount of cream she had applied to my feet over the course of our hour-long conversation.  YIKES!! 

Fast-forward to me sitting on Air Canada First Class to New York. My first time flying first class and let me tell you, I’m ruined for flying steerage now!

We were scheduled to arrive in New York at 10:50pm. The plan was to get the shuttle bus for $20 to my $38 hostel on the Upper West Side.

About 10pm the stewardess (who was falling all over herself to serve me) asked if I would like a coffee to go with my chocolate bar that she had just given me. That sounded great and in mere moments a large mug of STRONG awesome hot coffee arrived. MMMM!

Just as I was finishing my coffee, the captain announced that we had begun our descent into JFK Airport and to fasten the belts etc. I complied and began to feel the familiar effects of too much coffee! I was a BUZZIN!!

Now remember this is my first time to New York, pre or post 9/11. I have heard lots about it and I have to admit, I have some apprehension about arriving late at night and myself.  I began to rub my slippery feet on the carpet of the plane, trying desperately to remove some of the cream that still had my feet sliding all over the place. "What if I have to run?" I thought "I am HOOPED!"

I try to make friends with some people as we are waiting for luggage to come through, but felt like I was quite visibly buzzing on some kind of stimulant. Oh no, the chocolate had kicked in too!

The luggage finally arrives and off I go to the curb to find my shuttle to the hostel.

A really tall black man barks are me “Where you goin??”

“103rd and Amsterdam, I am looking for the shuttle” I reply pretending to KNOW what I am doing!

Too late lady, last shuttle left 10 minutes ago!!!

"So what are my options?" I ask pleadingly…

"TAXI!!" he smacks, like I should know better. 

"How much is that going to cost?" I quiver. "About $65!! To the Upper West Side!"

I reply “Well that isn’t going to happen, are there any other options?” Knowing full well what the only other option was already. "The SUBWAY, and good luck" was his reply.

I asked him what he meant by "good luck" to which he replied that I had to take the Air Train to Jamaica Station, get on the subway to 42nd St, change again and go from 42nd to 103rd. From there I had to walk two blocks to the hostel. The trip would take a good two hours. "Like I said GOOD LUCK!!"

I asked an oriental man standing nearby if it was safe on the subway and he said I should be fine, so defiantly off I went up the stairs to the airtrain which was full of tourists, stewardesses and pilots that were all going to the large hotels along the four stops the Air Train made. It was a beautiful new train and a much different feeling than when I got to Jamaica Station. There I had to pay to get on the New York Subway. Already I had a problem figuring out the machine to buy the ticket, while people shoved past me. Finally, a woman from a booth meandered over to help me get the right combo for what I needed to do and I walked through the turnstile, still sloshing around dangerously in my sandals. If I needed to run, I was sure this was going to be the place!! Dam the Somalian woman and all that cream on my feet!!

It was at least midnight by now. Dark and kind of creepy, dirty and old. As I looked around me at the top of the stairs, about to descend,  I noticed that I was still buzzed out on coffee and not even breathing which brought be back to my senses.

When you're thinking that someone is going to attack you, you are actually helping to create that attack. HELLLOOOOO!!!!

A defensive position always invites an attack. It works like this: In my mind, this is NEW YORK-not Nanaimo Ev!

I’m in my caffeine  picturing someone - perhaps it's a renegade leftover 9/11 terrorist, or a drugged-out street criminal - coming to get me. This is a thought, just like all other thoughts. With enough attention put on it, it will work its way toward the surface of my experience, just like the thoughts that I’d like to go to Egypt were a month ago!!

Fortunately, I get to pick any thought I want. Thoughts that serve me and those that don't are both equally available.

The question is: What kind of world do I want to live in? If I keep envisioning the same old "us vs.them" scenarios

that are on the TV and in the news paper, then will I ever live in peace.

But, if I shed my victim mentality wherever I am and begin to picture my world in its highest light, things will change. I am creating it all, right?  It was time to walk my talk, and NOW!!

That’s exactly what I did. First, I just stood for a moment at the top of the stairs and began to breathe again. INSPIRE-to breathe life into. Connect to Source Energy. What was the experience that I wanted to create on this Subway? What was I making up? A joyful and supportive experience was possible on a New York Subway. Of course it was. Lots of people had them (even at midnight). I wasn’t going to need to run!! How absurd! GET A GRIP EV!! It’s the caffeine talking! HELLLLLLOOOOO! 

After a few moments of breathing and grounding, I had a little chuckle and then carefully tread down the two flights of stairs to the lower platform. I had shifted my vibration considerably higher even despite the caffeine jitters. 

When I got to the bottom, standing on the platform was a very black man.  Just him and I. He was quite handsome actually, and I quickly made conversation to get a "reading" on him.

“Is this the side of the tracks to 42nd  St?” "Yes" he replied. As he glanced down at my luggage and saw my Canadian flag luggage tag he asked me where I was from. I told him I was from Canada (Vancouver Island to be exact) and asked him where he was from originally. Sierra Leone he replied sheepishly. Have you heard of it?

"Yes" I replied. "I saw a movie about it not long ago" "Ooooh that bad movie called Blood Diamond?"

"Yes" I had to admit and we both laughed as we got on the train and sat together. Whew!! I was getting a good vibe from him already.

He told me he had been in New York for 8 years and was looking forward to visiting his family in the next year. He had not been back there since he left. Two of his brothers had been killed during the fighting there and he was working at one of the big hotels on the Airtrain line to make enough for the flight. He was worried recently, about losing his job, because of cutbacks that were taking place in the airline industry.

I explained to him that to worry was the worst thing he could do. He must focus on what he loved about the job and see himself even getting a promotion if that is what he wanted. If he did lose his job in the end, the trick was to just stay certain that something even better was coming for him. Then I asked him if he had ever heard of a movie called "The Secret"

His eyeballs became like saucers in his head as he reached into his work bag and pulled out a copy of the book "THE SECRET!" He told me that his friend at work had brought the book in for him just today to give him some relief from the worry he was feeling about the layoff situation. He was so grateful that he had met me to confirm that  this was the book and the movie that he must experience to help him turn his thinking mind around about his job and stop the worry.

I then got to tell him my story of worry as well, about being on the subway and how he brought me relief. Looks like we were a perfect vibrational match at the time. We were both looking for relief from worry. We laughed and at one point we even welled up on our way to 95th St. where we hugged goodbye and he got off. I just had a few stops left to go and all was well. 103rd St. was coming up.

WHAT?? 107th St? What happened to 103rd? The train missed it! It didn't stop? I jumped up and got off at 107thalong with another woman who was looking confused as well. I asked her what happened to 103rd and she didn’t know either but was going to head back on the next subway. I decided that I was done with the New York Subway and it was time for a taxi right to the door of the hostel at this point. 

107th Street was now deep in Harlem and there were some rather unsavory looking characters hovering outside the turnstiles of the subway. Having overheard my conversation with the woman on the platform one of them asked me “What you need girl? Where you goin?”  Looking straight ahead with no fear I said, "I'm just fine thanks! I need a cab which is going to be waiting for me at the top of these stairs!" As I got to the top, sure enough, there was a big yellow cab with the light on. He caught my wave pulling over to allow me to get in. I had heard about New York Cabs and how hard they were to get, but I just knew there was going to be one there for me. A $7 cab ride got me right to the door of the hostel safe and sound at 1:15AM. I did it!! 

Now some of you may say it was all just a co-incidence- and you know, maybe it was ….

But my truth is that I manifested the experience I had, because I deliberately changed my thinking.

Peace is just a thought away-I KNOW that I am guided, guarded and protected at all times!