I’m in the midst of reading Tosha Silver’s “Outrageous Openness”. As you can surmise from the title, it’s all about being radically open – to divine order.
What’s divine order you might ask? Well – it’s letting God/Universe/Spirit lead the way in your life. It’s about letting go of your worry, fear and anxiety and to trust that God does have a higher plan for you; a plan that you’ll actually like a lot more than the plan you have in your mind right now.
I hopped on my Kindle the other night to read Florence Scovel Shinn. When I swiped over to her book I saw Tosha’s book at the bottom. “Hmm…”, I thought, “That’s interesting that the two are linked.” I always thought of Tosha as more of spiritual practitioner and Florence as spiritual success coach. Yes, both spiritual, but somehow different, right?
Tosha’s book caught my eye on several occasions. This time I decided to dive in. No water off Florence’s back because I’d already read and listened to her book, “The Game of Life and How to Play It,” multiple times.
Turns out that Florence’s book deeply inspired Tosha. The message is one and the same. Tosha breaks it down into modern day stories where Florence’s stories are a bit dated.
It pleased me to see the connection between the two. And it was certainly a lead in the right direction. A beautiful reminder to surrender my plans to God no matter the situation. Certainly a perfect moment to be receiving this message as I’d just shared it with a someone a few days earlier.
It’s not new content, right? You probably have heard it yourself again and again and again, “Just let it go!” It can kind of be hum drum to a degree after a while. Yet – something in these books speaks of a more palpable faith and persistent attention to one’s desires.
I’m learning the difference between manifesting at one’s personal will versus actually releasing it to the divine and allowing the divine to lead the charge. For instance, you may desire that a certain thing come into your life by a certain date and through a certain avenue, but what if that thing, date, or avenue (one or all aspects) isn’t the divine choice for you? What if it isn’t for your highest good to receive it or in that way or by that time?
What I’ve learned is that we are each powerful and capable beings. We are capable of calling into existence most of which we desire, yet we must watch ourselves because calling in things that are not in the divine plan can bring negative karmic repercussions. If it’s not meant to be yours at this time, through this means, or at all, then you risk receiving all the negative repercussions of taking what does not belong to you.
This puts a whole new spin on manifestation! Yes – we manifest! Yet – are we manifesting for the highest good of ourselves as well as those around us? What harm could we be causing to ourselves and others?
Practicing radical openness or, as Tosha puts it, “outrageous openness,” we learn to trust that what is truly meant to be ours will be ours. Whenever it’s meant to arrive it will arrive. If we have a desire for something, we release that desire to the Universe and allow It to handle the order for us. We release all worry and anxiety and relax into allowing the manifestation to come to us.
This still means we take right action in the right direction whenever we receive the call to do so. But, we release all fear about whether we will or will not receive what we desire. Even if we don’t actually receive the exact thing we specifically intended, we can have faith that something better will come along. This we can trust.
It’s our worries, fears, anxieties or lack of forgiveness of others or ourselves that may hinder the manifestation process and block the channels between ourselves and the Universe. That’s where we practice “casting [our] burdens to the Christ within.” By doing so we release all fear that anything could turn out other than for our highest and best good.
And I don’t know about you, but I’m all down for receiving my highest and best good. As much as I like to think I know what’s best for me, I ain’t go nothin’ on God! I’d like to think she’s got the better view!
What a timely message to hear from Tosha as I had initially returned to Florence’s message. There’s something so relieving about letting go of my desires and having faith that the Universe will indeed supply. As long as I stay open to all possibility, keep with my faith in the Universe, and forgive when needed, I know that I’ll be provided for in the most wondrous ways. I can trust that all that I desire will arrive right on time.
Everyday I’m learning to trust this guidance even more. These are learnings and teachings that never end. I’ll always return to these books and teachers for guidance and reminders to let go and literally let God. What about yourself?
