{"id":462,"date":"2010-11-11T12:01:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-11T12:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/2010\/11\/listening-to-your-spiritual-gps.html"},"modified":"2010-11-11T12:01:00","modified_gmt":"2010-11-11T12:01:00","slug":"listening-to-your-spiritual-gps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/2010\/11\/listening-to-your-spiritual-gps.html","title":{"rendered":"Listening to Your Spiritual GPS"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"leonard<\/a><\/form>\n

I’m delighted to have Leonard Szymczak<\/a> MSW, LCSW, a psychotherapist and educator for over 35 years, as my guest today. He was director of The Family Therapy Program at the Marriage and Family Centre in Sydney, Australia, and later served as a senior affiliate therapist with the Family Institute at Northwestern University. He writes, conducts seminars, and maintains a therapy practice in Southern California. He’s also the author of The Roadmap Home: Your GPS to Inner Peace<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Leonard says that wake-up calls appear in unexpected forms and provide opportunities to connect with the Guiding Power of Spirit. When we ask for assistance and listen with an open mind, we receive miracles on the road Home to love and inner peace. And in the process, we get spiritually buffed and fluffed. If your life has taken a detour, or lost its way, or screeched to a grinding halt, Leonard invites you to plug into your inner GPS and find your way “Home.” He draws on his personal challenges and professional experience to map out a route of conscious living and steer you through the stages of spiritual awakening to show how to connect with the ever-present GPS, Guiding Power of Spirit, which illuminates the road to love and inner peace. <\/p>\n

The Rumbling Snore – A Miracle Wake-Up Call<\/b>
By Leonard Szymcza<\/b>k<\/div>\n

I recently attended a week-long spiritual conference on California’s Monterrey peninsula overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Deer roamed freely among the pine trees in this rustic setting – an idyllic place to get spiritually buffed and fluffed. Little did I realize the buffing would begin the first evening when I discovered that my roommate snored. The idea of sharing a room initially seemed like a good way to reduce costs and establish a friendship with a spiritual buddy. However, when my buddy fell fast asleep on his bed, he began inhaling as if his nose was snorting jello. <\/p>\n

To lull myself to sleep, I tried imagining a gentle brook in a peaceful pasture but my visualization kept morphing into the roar of Niagara Falls. I pondered the notion of six tortuous sleepless nights as I listened to a nasal rumba. Spiritual awakenings can occur from sleep deprivation but, frankly, I preferred a blissful night’s rest to catapult me into the Divine. Since I was wide awake, I asked the Guiding Power of Spirit, “Show me what you want me to do.” <\/p>\n

Sometimes we may not know immediately what Spirit wants us to do but we can quickly discern what we’re NOT meant to do.<\/b> Like smack my buddy’s head with a pillow. Or tie string around his toe and yank it every time his nasal cavity rumbled.<\/p>\n\"Roadmap<\/a><\/form>\n

At 1 A.M., I plodded to the balcony with my journal. I shivered in my pajamas and sweatshirt and wrote about the incident, imagining the glass door quivering with every snore. I wanted to understand this unusual wake-up call. Asking for help places the key of intention into the door of the Divine. So I asked, “God, what do you want me to do?” <\/p>\n

Listening requires a quiet mind. In the still of the night the answer arrived that I was doing it – writing in my journal. So I wrote with a stream of consciousness and reflected about being awake. I completed my journal entry with the following words:<\/p>\n

“This is all about waking up from the dream time. To know that we are in a dream when we are not conscious of the Divine in all of us and that we are connected to one another.”<\/p>\n

Once we ask and listen, we are ready to receive<\/b>. I didn’t expect to receive a miracle so quickly. After I had finished writing, the snoring ceased! The silence was unbelievable. I clamored back to my bed but couldn’t sleep. I stayed awake awestruck by the miracle. In the morning I shared my experience with my roommate who was deeply apologetic. I told him that Spirit will help us resolve the problem – if only we ask, listen and receive. <\/p>\n

If you’re wondering how we resolved the problem, the solution came easy. My buddy used a pillow to elevate his head and opened the patio door for fresh air. I obtained ear plugs from the front desk and received more miracles – no snoring during the rest of the conference. Wake-up calls appear in unexpected forms. They provide opportunities to connect with the Guiding Power of Spirit.<\/b> <\/p>\n

When we ask for assistance and listen with an open mind, we receive miracles on the road Home to love and inner peace.<\/b> And in the process, we get spiritually buffed and fluffed.
?
Check out Leonard Szymczak<\/a> and his wonderful book, The Roadmap Home: Your GPS to Inner Peace<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Please leave comments under my posts so we can stay connected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m delighted to have Leonard Szymczak MSW, LCSW, a psychotherapist and educator for over 35 years, as my guest today. He was director of The Family Therapy Program at the Marriage and Family Centre in Sydney, Australia, and later served as a senior affiliate therapist with the Family Institute at Northwestern University. 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