I’ve been coming to Lincoln, Vermont – where I now live – since 2006.  I used to camp here in the summer.  First for 1 week, then 2, then 3 and so on until it was months.  If you’ve been reading my Daily Shot of Spiritual Espresso for a long time, then you might recall my experience with a bear when I was camping in 2017.  It was pretty funny.

I was recording the daily prayer in my tent late at night, when, as I’m praying, I hear these very heavy footsteps with twigs snapping underneath, moving towards my tent.  I stopped praying and paused the recording.

I’m listening to what I absolutely know is a bear, get closer and closer to my tent.  When you can hear a bear a few feet away, a tent isn’t any protection – after all, it’s not made of titanium.

With my heart pounding, I googled “bears in vermont” to see what kind of bears there are in vermont and what do they eat.  It turns out that they’re black bears and they really only wish to eat your food, and leave you alone.

I had grown up going camping every summer with my family, so I knew better than to keep ANY food in my tent or even to eat food in my tent.  You just don’t do it if you’d like to be in a bear-free zone.  After about 8 minutes the bear ambled away and I finished the prayer recording and went to bed and slept like a sweet baby bear all snuggled up in my bed.

Well, one year later, around 3am, I was again camping in the same spot as I was the year before at the Sunray Peace Village in Lincoln, Vermont.  I woke and heard the bear walking toward my tent again.  Those heavy footsteps were getting closer and closer – so close – too close for comfort.  I wasn’t afraid, per se, but I was concerned.  I knew I didn’t have anything the bear wanted, but I’d just as soon not have a closer encounter.

When the bear got to about 10 feet from the tent, that was it.

I called to Archangel Michael and the angels of protection and I said “I’m giving this one to you – please protect me.”

I heard one more footstep and then nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  I never heard the bear even walk away.  Just stillness.

I fell right back to sleep.  Amazing!

What I’ve learned is that if I don’t project that there’s something to be afraid of, there really isn’t.  That’s SO valuable.

Also, Love is my protector.

I love that bear, the bear is one with me and I’m one with the bear.  We’re in agreement because we share the same mind.  I know I’m safe, and so does the bear.  We’re good.

If I’m judging the bear, projecting onto the bear, or imagining the bear attacking me, then I’m contributing to a scenario I don’t want.  I’ve learned not to do that.  I’m very vigilant about not preparing for an experience I don’t wish to have.

You can apply this to anything.  Politics, weather, relationships – anything.

Can you think of something in your life that you could apply this learning to?

If you feel like you might be playing small because of your beliefs about yourself, if you think maybe those beliefs are false and could be eliminated, and if you have a willingness to do some inner work to make a real and lasting change then please consider joining me and some other folks just like you who are SO DONE WITH PLAYING SMALL and ready to let those patterns go.

For the last 10 years or so I’ve been offering my Stop Playing Small Online Retreat. During the pandemic I started offering it online and it’s been a wonderful success. I like it when we can gather together and do a lot of deep healing in a short period of time. I call it speed-healing. I’m interested in letting go of all resistance and all belief in littleness. It works, that’s why I’ve been doing it for 10 years.