Monthly Archives: November 2011

AWAKENING TO NEW PATHS

Posted on November 30, 2011 | 1 comment

Do you usually agree with your friends’ ideas? Do you do what they want regardless of how you feel about it? Do you always tell your boss what he or she wants to hear? Are you afraid to act differently than those around you?

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

What Values Guide Your Spiritual Path?

We all travel different paths in life even when we appear to conform to society’s values. At the deepest level each spiritual path is unique even when, on the surface, we appear to be the same. The real question is: Does the path you have chosen serve you well? Does it meet your deepest needs?

Is the path you follow based on values that serve you well? I’m thankful that when I was growing up, my parents taught me to respect others, be honest, be responsible, and care about others. In addition, we didn’t have much money and had to be creative and work for what we got. I was taught how to set priorities about what was of value. People always came first.

Individual Values Challenged By Society

But living by such values is not always easy in a society that puts materialism first. I often feel my values are at odds with the society’s and yet they serve me well. Black Friday is a perfect example of what I try to avoid—events created to manipulate mass consciousness. It is well named, for it appeals to the darkest part of human nature. It seduces by appealing to our scarcity consciousness and greed. It feeds that part of ego that fears we will not be valued if we don’t own the latest smart phone or 54” HDTV. It encourages the idea that competition, even if it involves harming others or being harmed, is good. It reduces our humanity.

Creating A New Spiritual Path for Us All

Perhaps it is time to create a new path for our society that puts the basic spiritual values of love and integrity first. Ralph Waldo Emerson was an innovative thinker in his time and his words resonate today. The path of greed our society has been following has failed to bring us what we really need. It separates us through competition rather than bringing us together with cooperation.

When we cannot afford to mask our insecurities and deeper needs with glamorous and distracting things, we may become angry and resentful or we may choose to take a positive approach and adapt to a new life. Do we really need such a large house or so many cars? Do we have to vacation in Hawaii? When our lives are simplified, we have more time for each other to develop loving relationships. We learn the value of giving and sharing.

Create a New Path

Who really matters in your life? What are the things that bring lasting joy? The greatest contribution we can each make to change our society for the better is to find the best path for our own lives. Does the path you are following bring you peace, love, and joy? Are you fulfilling your true purpose in this life? If not, what is the path you need to follow in order to bring about the change you desire? Create a new path and leave a trail for others to follow.

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Posted in Inspirational Posts

Tagged Change, Consciousness, Inner Peace, Life Path, Spiritual Awakening, Spiritual Journey

BEING GRATEFUL FOR THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

Posted on November 23, 2011 | 2 comments

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. What are you thankful for? If your life couldn’t be better, do you take the time each day to say “thanks?” If you’re having some challenges in life, can you look beyond them to see what is good? If life is a disaster right now, are you willing to hunt for one simple thing to appreciate? Maybe it’s the song of a bird or the smile of a stranger you meet on the street? That one small thought of gratitude can change your life.

“It is impossible to be negative while we are giving thanks.” Donald Curtis

Gratitude As Daily Practice

Since I’ve incorporated expressing my gratitude into my daily life, I find that this always uplifts me regardless of the specific circumstances of the day. Although I may go over my gratitude list during meditation, I have chosen to take it further than that. At the moment when something good appears, I say “Thank you.” The energy of those words seems to uplift the energy of the experience even further.

Creating a Positive From a Negative Experience

What is perhaps the most challenging for us all is to be thankful for the unpleasant experiences in life. They come into our lives to help us learn lessons although we often only see what we learned in retrospect. In the 1990s, I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I had probably had it for two years before I was diagnosed because I couldn’t remember when I hadn’t been exhausted. Most doctors knew nothing about it or discounted its existence. Fortunately, I was able to find a wonderful doctor through a friend who had it.

I had to radically change my life in terms of going to bed at 9:00 pm, eating only organic food, eating only certain food, taking dozens of supplements, and avoiding stress. In order to afford the treatment, I had to continue teaching full-time. Because I was exhausted all the time, this strict lifestyle seemed overwhelming at first, but it did heal me. Many of the changes became a part of my life even after I healed and have made me very healthy. I have none of the physical problems most people my age do and the ones I have are very minor and don’t limit my activity.

When we can learn something from a negative experience and can feel thankful for the lesson, it transforms our memory of the experience. We can focus on what is good and let go of feeling like a victim. We can be grateful that what we have learned from the challenge makes us healthier or happier or more competent or more loving.

Gratitude Uplifts Us

Do I wish I had not had to go through this experience to learn how to be healthier? Of course I do, but that’s not the point. Like so many things in life, we do the best we can until we learn better. That’s why I’m grateful for the journey. I know that if I stay open, I will continue to learn and that always improves the quality of my life.

On this Thanksgiving holiday, may you be blessed by the gratitude you give and receive. May your spiritual journey enrich your life. From all the lessons you’ve learned, what is the lesson you are most grateful for?

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Posted in Inspirational Posts

Tagged Balancing Mind, Gratitude, Positive thinking, Self-Compassion, Spiritual Journey, thanksgiving

ACCEPTING THE RHYTHMS OF LIFE

Posted on November 16, 2011 | Leave a comment

“Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.” James Baldwin

Accepting Divine Order

When I first heard the term divine order, I latched onto it as way of describing the fluctuations in life that I didn’t always understand. If a wonderful synchronistic event occurred, I labeled it divine order. If something thoroughly unpleasant or tragic occurred, I labeled it divine order. Divine order became the way I described all the mysteries in life. It explained the unexplainable and helped me to accept what I couldn’t understand.

Learning to accept what is, whether we like what is happening or not, helps us to find peace and erases the resistance that may prevent us from understanding what is occurring. At times, it may not be clear if what is occurring is a good or bad thing, but by accepting that it is in divine order, we acknowledge it is part of our reality.

Denial Undermines Our Power

People have a tendency to deny the negative experiences of life. By doing so, we prevent ourselves from growing. We need to acknowledge all experiences so that, if we are able to improve a situation, we don’t let the opportunity pass by. Some things can’t be changed, but ignoring the ones that can only makes us feel less empowered or victimized.

The recent events at Penn State are a perfect example. Many who were aware of the child abuse there chose to do nothing. They denied and hid what they knew. They refused to face the horrific effect their lack of action had on many young children. Being unwilling to face their responsibility to stop this abuse, in the end, led to their disgrace. Denial only delays the day we have to face the thing we fear.

Accepting What We Cannot Change

Unlike the Penn State disaster, there are events that occur over which we have no control. The only thing we can control is our response. A loved one becomes addicted to drugs. Time after time they make foolish and dangerous choices, and time after time, we talk to them, and love them. We may pay for them to see a counselor or go through a drug rehab program, but nothing we do changes their behavior. We have faced the situation and are unable to change it, so we must accept it as it is.

Is the self-destruction of our loved one in divine order? It is very difficult to believe it is, yet it may be the very experience that will eventually transform this person in a truly positive way. In the middle of it, we have no way to know. We can only accept what is and have faith that there is a karmic or spiritual reason for our loved one’s behavior.

Our society has encouraged us not to express negative feelings. We’re supposed to be positive all the time, and in one sense, our society has encouraged us to deny what we really feel. There’s nothing healthy about this although it is best for us to be aware of expressing those feelings appropriately. But denying that we feel what we feel makes it impossible for us to resolve those problems and the issues around them. We have to face it, if we want to change it.

The Divine Gift of Acceptance

Every year in January, a spiritual group to which I belong has a gift exchange. We each bring an item that has meant a great deal to us, but one that we are ready to release. The items are placed on a table and each person gets to choose. Then, that person explains why they have chosen the gift and the person to whom it belonged explains what it meant to them. Several years ago, I chose a stone a friend had originally bought at a Deepak Chopra seminar. Across the stone is written “Acceptance,” and it lies on a table in my family room where I see it often to remind me that I need to accept what I cannot change. Every year, I think, “I’m ready to let go of this. I’ve learned about acceptance,” but inevitably life presents me with another lesson to illustrate that I still have more to learn. I guess I have to accept the fact that I need to keep the stone for at least one more year. How do you find acceptance with the difficult areas of your life?

AWAKENING TO HAPPINESS

Posted on November 9, 2011 | Leave a comment

“Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them.” Count Leo Tolstoy

It seems to me that the fall leaves are more brilliant than in past years. Their colors vibrate with an intensity that feels like nature is joyfully expressing its aliveness. Or is it just me? Is the vibration of my energy higher than usual? Am I the one that is more alive?

Something significant has transformed my life. Most of the time I am happy. This was not the case in the past. Today, many sources tell us that the vibration of the Universe is speeding up to lead us into a new age of peace, love, and community. This change affects us all, and if we are in alignment with ourselves, we will flow with this new energy. Not everything will be perfect and joyous, but our expanded awareness will allow us to make better choices and these choices will help us to be happier.

Thoughts Create Emotions

Despite the fact that this energy may be helping me to feel happier more often, I think there’s more to it than that. Our thoughts create our emotions, and I choose to monitor my thoughts. Reading certain books has reinforced the idea that how I think about a situation will determine how I experience it. Any of the Abraham books by Esther and Jerry Hicks use this thinking as their basis as does Science of Mind. At the bottom of the blog, I have recommended an Abraham video that does an excellent job of describing how to move from negative to positive emotions.

Balancing Our Energetic Alignment

We all need to pay attention to our thoughts. The thought comes up, “I have so much to do today. I’ll never get it done.” If we accept this thought and attach to it, we set ourselves up to fail or feel stressed. Instead, I think, “I have so much to do today. It will be fun and satisfying to get it all done. I look forward to today.” As I reconfigure the thought, I feel excited and know that all is well. I start by making a list of what I want to do and set priorities. That gives me a guide for the day that makes it easier to flow from one task to another. I also love to check off each item as it is completed and this reinforces my sense of accomplishment.

Laughing at Your Face in the Mirror

Whenever possible I choose to spend my time with people who, for the most part, focus on the positive. It is often difficult to maintain a positive point of view when we are around people who constantly irritate us. However, the people who irritate us the most may be here to serve as triggers for us or we are here to serve as triggers for them. Our conflicted interaction is an opportunity to learn major lessons. At times, they are mirroring something in us that we need to see.

Recently, as listened to a speaker, I became very irritated, thinking, “She’s too dramatic. What an ego. She needs to tone it down.” Then she announced that her topic that day was judgment. I couldn’t help laughing at myself. Not only have I been accused of being too emotional and dramatic, I immediately saw how she mirrored me. Letting go of my judgment of her presentation allowed me to really hear what she said, and it was powerful. Laughing at our foibles is an excellent way to raise our vibration.

Choice Empowers Us

When we consciously choose our responses to life’s challenges, we can begin to create the life we want. If we see life as always happening to us, we have no power. We can only empower ourselves by knowing that we can change our negative thoughts to more positive ones. We can choose to find the best in each day, each person and each experience and this will lift our vibration. Happiness is a choice. Everything in our lives doesn’t have to be perfect in order for us to be happy. Frankly, in this changing world, having at least one thing a day for which to be happy seems like a great gift to me. What makes you happy today? Please comment.

A DANCE OF SPIRITUAL FORGIVENESS

Posted on November 2, 2011 | 1 comment

When we have been deeply hurt by someone, especially someone we love, reaching a point where we can truly forgive can be a challenge. It is easy enough to say we forgive the person, and we often say that because we know that is what good people do. But to truly feel that forgiveness on an ongoing daily basis, to be unattached to the painful feelings we experienced as a result of another person’s words or actions, we must go much deeper.

Awakening to Detachment as Forgiveness

What often blocks our desire for true forgiveness is the feeling that in order to forgive we must accept the fact that the other person is not to blame for their unkindness. By saying we forgive them, we feel we are saying that they weren’t responsible for their actions when we know what they chose to do was a free choice.

Oneness describes those feelings this way: We give “lip service to releasing the blame for a past action.” It could be ours or someone else’s. “While in theory this effort appears to be well-directed…it rarely produces the desired result. The key to completing these patterns is not to forgive the other party their transgression, which keeps the energy polarized, but rather, to release in total detachment, any care one may still be carrying, whatsoever, about the outcome of any drama revolving around that issue. The gesture then becomes…one of total transcendence of one’s attachment to the outcome.” (Page 62)

Understanding Attachment

So how do we come to this place of harmony and detachment? I have often found that if I can understand why a person has done what she or he has done and see the situation from his or her point of view, I find it easier to let go of my resentment. Sometimes that is all I need to know, and I can feel enough compassion to release my anger or hurt. This may apply when I need to forgive myself as well. But when the negative energy around an issue is more powerful, releasing my attachment is not so easy.

One of the things we need to remember is that some people come into our lives in order to act as adversaries or “triggers.” The most infuriating interactions may be the very dramas from which we learn the most significant lessons. The more powerful these experiences are, the more likely they are to be karmic. They may be part of the agreements we made prior to coming into this life. (Oneness, p. 59-61) These situations are the most challenging to detach.

Being in the Moment Beyond Past and Future Fears

Beyond finding empathy for our adversary’s motivation, we must learn to release the fear that attaches us to the past and the future. We are often caught up in the fear that what has happened is a repetition of old patterns and we wonder how many more times must we go through this pain. Or we fear that what has happened is a pattern we cannot break. As Eckhart Tolle suggests, we are concentrating on the content of the situation. What will liberate us from our past and future fears and pain is to be in the moment.

When we are truly in the moment, meditating or walking by the shore or through the forest, we are able to experience that beautiful, peaceful energy at our core. In this place we are beyond the drama and content. We do not need to label an experience “good” or “bad.” At this moment, we do not need to understand. We understand that what is, just is. When we have practiced this enough, we are able to move back into the situations of our lives without resistance and attachment. And maybe when the next challenge appears, we will be able to stop, observe what is happening and choose not to lose ourselves in the drama. As I learned when I studied Science of Mind, forgiveness is not about the person who hurt you, it is about you learning to let go.

What are your greatest challenges with forgiveness?