Conversation between Ebenezer Scrooge and the ghost of Jacob Marley in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol….

“I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost. “I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it…”

I believe our challenge in life’s expansion toward our own dreams, is to become Aware. How much of my day, how much of that mental chatter is serving me, how much of it is just heavy metal that weighs me down?

Life’s desire to move forward, to want, naturally and endlessly fuels our fires.

Today- am I a blacksmith casting what later holds me down? Does it bind me in the chains of a habit?

OR, am I a blacksmith smelting and constantly keeping the molten iron in life malleable and flowing? Creating New everyday?

I want to ask myself, ” What do I do with Life’s Momentum and Magma?

You’re enjoying the incredibly peaceful Flow of Oxygen into your snorkel as you easily float on the surface of the warm, safe waters. Aaaahh. You just feel a natural connection to your own Pure Source Energy (use whatever Label you like for it). You feel Clarity, Inspiration, Love, and Appreciation there at the surface of the waters.

But then, a Problem Fish swims by.

Something seems to have roughed up against your outer protection, your Ego wet suit. You’d like to ignore it, but with enough chaffing of the wet suit, you’ll get a hole and will be exposed. You’d better catch and teach that little fish NOT to do that again!

They are readily known for their habit of rubbing up against Ego wet suits, no matter what ocean you swim in. If you’ve got an Ego-suit, beware the Problem Fish! You could just let it swim on by, but you want to “school” that nasty fish! (ouch, sorry.)

As you stare at it and try to understand it, you’re amazed at the shifting and complicated patterns on it. It seemed so simple at first, but the more attention you give it, you see it really has some deviously drawn angles and quickness about it. Stealing your attention from the peaceful and serene floating you were enjoying, the Problem Fish captures your attention downward.

You take a huge gulp and hold your breath as you dive down. As you dive down, you increase your distance from your flow of Oxygen, and instantly feel worse. Remember the the Doppler Effect? Like a porpoise or a whale using frequency to find food or mates, your frequency and feelings change as you distance yourself from the Surface.

You no longer feel in the Flow. You now separate yourself from the Pure Breathing Source of Goodness up top as you change your gaze to stare down this Problem fish. Your lungs feel constricted and tighter. You’ve gone from Freedom and Happy to now like you’re chasing something and running out of air and directions. Oh, you REALLY want to fillet that thing now! Get the tartar sauce ready!

As you follow it, you start to recognize it’s pattern of swimming and begin to see how it reacts, and how you might put an end to this fish. Yet you’re still following it downward. Your lungs and heart and body just don’t feel so great. As you give it more attention, it continues to swim just a little faster than you and remains elusively out of your reach.

Feel the power of that litte fish! It may be ugly and only a few inches long, but it seems to have the strength of the mightiest sea Kraken of yore. Rather than just letting it go, it now seems to be dragging you down into the depths.

You’ve almost forgotten by now how Easy it felt up top. How Free and Clear and Fun it was. Now, down here, focused on catching and killing that little fish, you just feel worse as you chase it.

The Surface calls to you, but you don’t even hear it. Your attention has shifted.