Stand Alone

by Rev. Doris Fochler

Most of us have, at one time or another, have felt the pain or loneliness of being the different one, the one standing alone because of a political viewpoint, or being the teenager rebelling against parental rules, or the one whose choice is different from the masses. Our ego reacts in many ways: the warrior of battle, the vulnerable deer standing on its legs for the first time, or the pioneer being the first to explore a new space. Judge none to be good or bad, simply lessons we teach to ourselves. This story is how my lesson was taught to me.

At this time in my life, I was working through accepting my own Self as a Mystic. I had done readings and had come to feel comfortable with giving messages. I'd even channeled energy which removed a ten month migraine that prescription medications failed to cure. And yet, I was still uncomfortable owning this part of myself.

One particular evening, Joe (my husband) and I decided to shop at a hardware store. While in the store, I was pulled by Spirit into the Garden Center. This is not an area of the store I ever peruse but I felt I HAD to walk through. During my stroll, I came across the "bargain" table (plants that have already past the prime of their beauty and the profitability of their selling season).

One small plant just gleamed at me. I felt such a tug at my heart to pick him up...so I did. It didn't look like the others though, its foliage was green and healthy and its flowers...such delicate tiny petals with their ragged ends in such a vibrantly deep-purple center fading to clean white tips. It just somehow touched me.

Since we weren't pressed for time, I decided to look for others like it. So I spent the next several minutes walking the floor determined to find its "group." This is really out of character for me to expend this much energy on a 79 cent plant! But Spirit pushed me on.

I did find where it belonged and I placed it on the shelf with the others like it. There were many; some with more flowers, some with larger petals, some in different colors...well, you get the idea. I had to have one. Yet, I was still pulled to that original plant. I picked up several others and judged their apparent abundances of foliage and flowers. Yet none of them reached into me as that first one I had found. I had to have it. That small purple plant touched me at my core. So I picked up my original plant and bought it. I even commented to Joe how odd it was that I felt so overwhelmed to buy this particular plant.

A week later I was getting a reading from a Native American Mystic. I was still curious as to why I was so drawn to that particular plant. I didn't understand. Well, the Native American Grandfathers' answer was profound and obvious:

It is the "stand-alone thinking - sometimes the separation. That even in the midst of many, we stand alone. And you identify with the stand alone. And then you went to try to find your own; even in the midst of your own, you stood alone. But you really don't stand alone. That's an illusion of a projection that you've built. Remember, projection is just what you have within yourself that you send out...and other people's projections of you, that you sometimes receive. You really never stand alone. Because when Creator made us, he made us in a great hoop. We are all created together not one separate from the other. So you have to break through those illusions to realize the connectedness."

My lesson was clear: that little plant was my mirror image. From my perspective, I was feeling different, alone, separated, not like everyone else. I didn't fit the "standard molds." Yet in this experience, I learned the strength and unique beauty in My Oneness.

Through this experience, I raised myself to another level. I realized very deeply that at every moment I am in the perfect place, doing the perfect thing, surrounded by the perfect people for my growth; really, that I am always okay! I need not have expectations nor accept others expectations of where or whom I "should be." I now better know that the place I stand at any given moment is my perfect place, for it is the place that affords me my greatest opportunity for growth. The little plant has taught me much in unconditional love and unconditional acceptance of myself.

I accepted the lesson of "standing alone" as a consciousness of self power, self love, and self truth—even when I am in the midst of the masses. I learned from that little plant of my own strength of standing alone; of giving myself permission to allow my lone light to shine; of simply being and accepting myself as I choose to be in that moment; of claiming, and accepting, and owning my own power . . . my own Godself.

And this lesson also taught me that we are all doing the same thing. Each of us are "connected" by the fact that we are each learning of our own power of our own individual part in this stage play. And yet so many times we are ready to judge or put restrictions on another (based on our views); the identical thing we, in our own lives, are trying to break free of.

These messages and lessons are around us. Some lessons are so subtle, we don't recognize them or the vast learning available to us! Yet all is designed so perfectly for our individual situations, if only we paid attention!

This is an example of an effortless lesson. I learned much about myself, about my perceptions of myself, and about my choices in making myself. I purposefully chose to shift my thinking about myself. And by this shift in my consciousness, through this teaching, I am changed forever.