Beyond Seeking

Many of us are drawn to seek a deeper meaning for our existence, to find a higher purpose for the things that happen.  In this world we witness an infinite number of choices and outcomes, from the most dismal acts of inhumanity to the very highest expressions of human goodness.  Circumstances can feel quite random at times.  We wonder why things happen as they do, and why we are here now in the enormous complexity of being human.

 

Like many others, I’ve spent decades seeking - in meditation, in therapy, in clairvoyant training, in teaching, and in contemplating the perspectives of others.  Finding my truth has been a long, winding road indeed.  Reality is enormously complicated and infinitely nuanced.  

 

It is said that we don’t find truth, we remember it.  Every time I remember that I Am Love it fills my awareness, and it feels impossible that I could ever forget.  But I do, usually within a few minutes.  I get busy managing my life’s stuff, always trying to get it right. 

 

It’s so easy to forget in all of life’s demands my own good intentions, my loving heart, and the perfection of this path that my soul has chosen.  Amid the noise I forget that I am already what I seek, that all that happens is done in the name of love, and that I could never get life wrong.  On a soul level the seeking is unnecessary, but in this human form it helps me find myself again and again.  

 

More often now I choose to pull my attention back from worry or doubt and simply allow Truth to be present in whatever I’m in the middle of.  I stop, take a few deep breaths, and feel myself soften.  It’s a form of surrender, and of saying yes to what is.  I allow everything in my experience to be an expression of Divine Love, and it is.  There’s no need to struggle to get back to Truth because we have never left it.  All we need do is stop, breathe, and allow.

 

What do you do when you feel disconnected from truth?  I’d love to hear from you.

 

May you know the Truth that you are, and may this tool be a blessing.

 

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff!

And it's all small stuff, or so the saying goes.  It was a favorite of my grandmother's, who used to tell me, "Don't sweat the small stuff, Sweetcheeks!"  Sometimes the simple, common sayings that we take for granted can be a source of great wisdom.

I'm not sure that it's all small stuff, but I think most of it is definitely small stuff.  It's human nature to project our what-ifs out into a future that hasn't even happened yet.  I do know that for me, most of the things I find myself concerned with on any given day I won't remember six months from now, let alone at the end of my days when I'm looking back at what made my life exceptional, worthwhile, and uniquely mine.

The small things can take a big amount of energy if we let them, so there's a balance to be found in attending to them.  Keeping my house clean, or at least clean enough, I consider small stuff, but the quality of my life would be greatly reduced if I didn't consider it at all.  And I'm really grateful that I have a house, and this particular small thing, to deal with.

I remember a message at Unity a few months ago in which Rev. Ken suggested that we ask ourselves, "What am I willing to do to create an exceptional outcome?"  It occurs to me that we can ask this of ourselves about a particular situation, the day in general, or about our lives as a whole.  Focusing our attention on how we can be our best selves in a moment or with our lives helps take the attention off of the frequent, nagging, and in-the-long-run less important issues that surface.

A common example that comes to mind is those drivers on the road who cut us off in their hurry to get where they're going.  Rude drivers don't get to me very often, but they drive my husband crazy.  (Honey, are you reading this?)  One response is to sweat it, and thereby give it more power than it deserves over the quality of my day.  Another response would be to ask what I'm willing to do to create an exceptional outcome in the situation.  I find this amusing to think about - a very lofty consideration for a very small event.   Maybe blow the driver a kiss?  Or perhaps just choose to bless and see the Christ within him (or her) and move on with the gift of what's ahead.

What am I willing to do to create an exceptional outcome in this day?  It's a bit hard to think about, because I'm accustomed to just doing what I do in the roles that I fill, and that takes up quite a bit of the creative energy that I put into my day.  But what if I took back just a little of the energy that it takes to fulfill my roles, and use it to decide what I will do that's new or different, something exceptional.  I don't think exceptional has to mean untoppable each and every day, but special in a way that will make the day more memorable.

What am I willing to do to create an exceptional outcome in my life?  I believe this is a work in progress, and is created each day, in every thought we have and each choice that we make.  The answer to this question certainly changes as we learn and grow, accomplish our goals and move on to new ones.  In each moment we can choose to create an exceptional outcome, for this very moment is the moment that we live.

My husband's aunt, who is beginning to be affected by Alzheimer's, is coming to dinner along with my father-in-law, my son and his girlfriend.  I think I'll make cupcakes for them, just because.

May your moments be every shade of exceptional, and may this tool be a blessing. . .

Resting on the Bank

Life can feel at times like we’re being pulled along by the raging waters of a mighty river, tossed about, sometimes easily floating above the water, sometimes underwater and struggling to breathe, always bumping into the many other things being carried in the surging current.

The immensely powerful forces that we encounter in this life are at times delightful and at other times terrifying, and everything in between. All of life’s intensity is a gift, as all of it provides us with one opportunity after another to choose how we want to show up. Through all of it, times of struggle and of ease, fear and faith, isolation and connection, the pain of forgetting who we really are and the joy that’s born of remembering, we are perfectly expressing God, knowing himself.

There’s a saying out there on the internet about someone who, at the end of her life, wants to be worn out, used up, with a big smile on her face and saying, “Wow, what a ride!” What a fun and fearless sentiment! Life is nothing if not a wild ride! And as I’ve said, I’m getting better at not fearing what’s coming my way but instead moving forward with eyes open. More often, thank you God, I’m able to say “bring it on.”

Still, at times, I need a break when the waters rush too fast. When there’s a lot coming at me at once, it’s harder to stay grounded, and peaceful, and clear about my own priorities. In those times, it’s helpful to step out of the river, and rest for awhile on the bank.

Resting on the bank is something we can do in the middle of our activity. Like many spiritual tools, it’s a state of being.  In the middle of any situation, resting on the bank is a way to step out of some of  life’s tumultuous energies for a time. We can sit on the bank and watch them go by, without having to process them internally. We can notice what’s happening without having to do anything about any of it for awhile.

I actually picture this, in my imagination, that I’m sitting on the shore, and everything I’m encountering at that time is moving by me in the rolling water. I am seeing it, and will be part of it again when I choose to be, but it is not me.

I have noticed what a tremendous healing it is for me to rest on the bank. When I take time out from managing all of the energies that I bump into in a day, demands, thoughts, emotions, both mine and others’, and just let them roll on by, then when I do decide to jump back into the river and swim my own unique stroke, I am more calm, happy and connected to the voice of the God of my heart.

May you be inspired and rejuvenated on life's peaceful shore, and may this tool be a blessing. . .

In This Moment - A Meditation

In this moment, all is well. As I pause in my activity I realize that right now, I am just where I am supposed to be. My unique life experience and perspective have brought me here, expressing myself in the best way I know how.

My thoughts and actions create the unfolding of my life, but the future is not here yet. The delights and challenges of the future I will live when I get there. There is no need for worry, or regret.  What happened in the past is done. I carry it with me as I learn and grow, but it is not now.

Right now, all is well. Health and vitality course through my body, and I am happy to be alive. The world is my oyster, and I joyfully anticipate the pearls of love, wisdom and adventure waiting to be discovered. I am at once peaceful and expectant of the good that is sure to come my way.

In this moment, and in this one, and this, the worries of the world fade as I know the ease of just being. As I breathe in the light that transcends time, I am larger than life itself and creative beyond measure. In this moment, I am one with the God of my heart.

May this meditation be a blessing. . .

Letting God

I have often heard the saying “Let go and let God.” I so very much agree with this statement, and when I hear it I think, “Yep, that’s important.” It is important, and simple in theory, but not at all easy in practice. More and more I am aware of how much I hold on to worry, and fear, and trying to control the outcome of things. It doesn’t matter how much I know in my head that my fussing isn’t needed or helpful, I end up fussing anyway.

It seems that the more I intend to let go and trust the divine intelligence that drives everything in my experience, the more I notice where I’m not letting go. Life is always providing opportunities to shine some light in the darkness. I am here to remember, and I am grateful.

When I do remember, in the middle of being troubled by some situation that is out of my control, that God has all of it, things get very quiet, and much simpler, in my body. My jumbled thoughts become peaceful, and I am aware of a rightness that leaves nothing for me to fight against. All is as it should be. That awareness is a huge gift.

That we can just let go are simple words to say, but the reality behind the words is powerful beyond measure. When we seek to fully grasp the truth that there really is nothing stronger than the endless, all-encompassing love we’re born of, overcoming any concern we could ever conceive, the human mind can't contain the immensity of it.  But spirit knows, and speaks quietly to us throughout all time that nothing less is true.  We are remembering that all that happens is designed for our ultimate good, because goodness is what we are.

Things will evolve in their own perfect way, as we remember that where we are, there is always light.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Know Thyself

I think that knowing ourselves may be the most important spiritual tool. When we truly know ourselves, there can be no room for doubting our own precious value to the world. As unlimited creators made in the likeness and image of God, we could never be any less than perfect. And in fully accepting this truth, we cannot help but shine brighter in the world, living in awareness of the grace, intelligence and love that we embody.

Our existence provides much room for questioning the perfection of ourselves and our world, but that is as it should be, for we know something much more completely by first experiencing its absence. We are given anger so that we may know forgiveness, pain so that we may know peace, and fear so that we may know faith, and ultimately love. The dichotomies of our world give us divine experience in choosing a higher truth to live by. All is such that we may grow in forgiveness, peace, faith, and love for ourselves.

Know thyself doesn’t mean complete awareness of our own goodness in every moment. I believe that it means knowing just as thoroughly those parts of ourselves that are disconnected from the truth.  The less-than-perfect stuff is harder to get to know, because we tend to push it out of our awareness.  But both the darkness and the light are God within, expressing perfection through the finite, physical form that is us.

God is there, in our resistance to the parts of ourselves that get stuck and forget. God is also there watching our resistance, and knowing its temporary nature, a wave rolling by atop the vast ocean of our eternal selves.

In making friends with both the darkness and the light in our thinking, we find the courage to let go of the small stuff that captures our attention and holds us back. In our loving acceptance of ourselves, ripples of loving acceptance move out into the world, serving the highest good for all.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

In Nothing Be Anxious

My mind lately has been tending toward worried thoughts, for reasons not fully known to me.  I believe I'm matching the energy of fear that is so pervasive in the world today.  It's also likely that some of it is hormone-driven. . . such is life.   It's amazing how quickly my thoughts can turn to concern if I let them race by unchecked.

As I began my meditation today, I was wondering about what tool I could use for the worry that creeps in for no apparent reason.  I decided to pick up my copy of The Writings of Florence Scovel Shinn, and flipped to the back of the book looking for a table of contents.  There wasn't one, but the very next thing I flipped to was the first page of a chapter called "In Nothing Be Anxious."  Perfect!  It caused a chortle, in my delight at yet another demonstration of the unfailing truth that we always find what we seek.

I was reminded that I just need to change my mind.  For as many years as I've been practicing meditation, and learning about the truth of myself as the creator of my experience, my mind still runs amok at times.  That is the nature of the mind, and I'm learning not to get too stuck on where it goes.  Rather than resisting the unbidden thoughts, or even trying to understand them, it's much easier to acknowledge them and then just let them go.  Holding on just gives them more control over my experience.

Scovel Shinn adds another important piece to this in her book when she says that "Infinite Intelligence will express through (us) as success, happiness, abundance, health and perfect self-expression, unless fear and anxiety make a short circuit."  She goes on to say that it is more than just a matter of visualizing, or making a mental picture of Infinite Intelligence expressing freely through us, but "it must be a spiritual realization, a feeling that you are already there; . . . in its vibration."

For me, this spiritual realization is faith, in life, in myself and the process, and in the God who made me.  Faith creates within us the vibration of being open to our good.  When we have our eyes open to the perfect creative intelligence that we're part of, we'll always find the right chapter, and exactly what we need on our own divine path.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Seeking Out Your Blessings

I was inspired to write today by a piece of chocolate – specifically by one of the Dove dark chocolate promises that have the little messages on the inside of the wrapper. I’ve always wondered why they’re called “promises,” but to me it implies that I will be receiving some type of special gift, and dark chocolate is definitely that! I would buy it even without the inspirational messages, but the spiritual tool that came with today’s after-lunch bite was (chocolate) icing on the cake!

My chocolate promise reminded me today that “Blessings only come to those who notice.” Such profound words of wisdom from a snack food! It is very easy to allow our blessings to go by unnoticed, especially when we are distracted by what we need to accomplish in a day. If we are too busy to take heed of the little things, we miss out on that delicious feeling of receiving gifts for no reason other than just being here.

I’ve noticed many blessings already today, both large and small. The alarm was set an hour early for some reason this morning, so when it went off, I had an extra hour to sleep! A man I didn't know held the door for me after lunch with a big, bright smile. I also got a very clear answer today from the God of my heart about an issue I’ve been pondering, and that was an even bigger blessing.

I had originally thought to title this post “Receiving Your Blessings,” but I changed it because I think the real spiritual tool here is the “seeking out” part. It isn’t that our blessings are lacking; they are ours for the taking. Spiritual “law” tells us that what we seek, we shall find. What we expect, we will receive. And what we focus on, we will create more of in our lives. Actively searching for the blessing inherent in each moment allows us to live more fully in well-justified gratitude, and honors the glory of our being.

May you find all of the sweet blessings your heart can hold, and may this tool be a blessing. . .

Saying Yes

Saying yes is that magical state where we accept what is happening in any given moment without resistance.  Saying yes to the present moment is an even more vitalizing tool than acceptance, which is a very powerful tool in and of itself.  But saying yes can elevate our experience from acceptance to enthusiasm.

It is inherent in the dualistic nature of our existence that in our minds we label our experiences as good or bad, or the people we encounter as right or wrong; our thinking tends to be very black and white.  This is part of divine intelligence at work, and serves us in our coming to know ourselves.  But we tend to oppose the "bad" things, and the "wrong" things, and that opposition shuts down the joy of just being here, alive in this moment and open to all that is good and right.

Work has been very busy lately.  Yesterday I counseled 15 patients, which is alot for one day.  By yesterday afternoon I was starting to feel like "enough, already."  When I get into that kind of resistance, I'm just trying to get through, and not doing my best for myself or the patients.  I'm definitely not enjoying my moments.

By God's grace I remembered to change my mind, and say yes.  Yes, I am here in this moment.  Yes, I'm doing my best, and that is good enough.  Yes, this job that I have loved for many years makes me crazy sometimes.  Yes, I am an ongoing contradiction of wants and fears and perfect knowing and peace.  And yes, it is all here for me to express myself within.

I felt my body take a deep breath, expressing its own perfect knowing.  And in that second I smiled, as I was filled with gratitude for all of it.  I am repeatedly impressed by how instantaneously and completely changing my mind changes my experience.  Changing my mind is a prayer answered.

The best part is that I finished my work day feeling alot of enthusiasm about having the opportunity to be doing what I love, interacting with interesting people, and making a difference in my own way.  It really is amazing what happens when I stop fighting what is.

I love how Eckhart Tolle puts it in his book, Stillness Speaks.  "How often each day, if you were to verbalize your inner reality at that moment, would you have to say, 'I don't want to be where I am'? What does it feel like when you don't want to be where you are -- the traffic jam, your place of work, the airport lounge, the people you are with? . . . Acceptance of the unacceptable is the greatest source of grace in this world."

We can't change what comes to us; people will do what they do and situations will come up as they must.  That really doesn't have anything to do with us.  But we can bring ourselves fully to where we are, and know that within everything is a seed of grace.

Here's to being here, and all that comes with it:  yes, yes, a thousand times yes!

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Don't Take Anything Personally

The second agreement in Don Miguel Ruiz' book, The Four Agreements, which I introduced in a post a few weeks ago, is to never take things personally.  I found the ideas in this book to be simple, and I can very much see the value in them.  None of them are easy to maintain, though.

It is important to remember that what people do really has nothing to do with us.  People come in to their encounters with others with a combination of assumptions, expectations and beliefs about the world that are theirs alone.  Each of us interacts with the world and with each other based on the reality that we see, and for each of us it is different.  That each of us holds a unique perspective is obvious, but I think it is sometimes easy to forget when we don't understand another's motivations.   It's pretty natural to make assumptions based on what we hold true, but that may not be true for the other person at all.

In his book, Ruiz says that, "Nothing other people do is because of you.  It is because of themselves.  All people live in their own dream, in their own mind. . . Even when a situation seems so personal, even if others insult you directly, it has nothing to do with you.  What they say, what they do, and the opinions they give are according to the agreements they have in their own minds.  Their point of view comes from all the programming they received during (their life)."  I can imagine how much misunderstanding could be avoided if people could make this simple, but challenging, agreement with themselves.

He goes on to explain that it is best to not take personally even positive things that people say or do, because those are really not about us, either.  "Whatever people do, feel, think, or say, don't take it personally.  If they tell you how wonderful you are, they are not saying that because of you.  You know you are wonderful."

This really is powerful stuff, couched in simple language.  For me, it is another way to hear my own truth, and create my own outcome as I allow others to create theirs.

Finally, Ruiz says that, "As you make a habit of not taking anything personally, you won't need to place your trust in what others do or say.  You will only need to trust yourself and make responsible choices.  You are never responsible for the actions of others; you are only responsible for you."

For me, this is one of the most important truths.  As unique expressions of God, each of us lives and breathes intelligence beyond measure.  Each of us is choosing our steps along our own perfect path to remembering fully who we are.  They are our steps.  People won't always agree or understand, just as we won't always understand others.  But there is a sacred place for all of life, in its infinitely varied expression, and for its own sake alone.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Patience

My husband tells me that I am impatient. I don’t know where he gets that idea from. (I’m kidding about that.) When I get something in my head I can be pretty single-minded until I’ve made it happen. That ability to focus has served me well many times, but it can also limit my ability to create good things if I get too intent on one single outcome.

The more years I spend on this earth, the more I realize the importance of letting go, to allow space for the as-yet-unseen possibilities that are part of perfect and divine order to come in to my life. I appreciate the value of being single-minded in envisioning that my life is created for good, but I can be more flexible about just how that good is going to come about. Surely I have some ideas about how I’d like to experience my life, but the quiet voice of the God within me whispers of truths that I just don’t hear when I’m heaven-bent on trying to control my path.

I love the writings of Jon Kabat-Zinn on mindfulness. In his book, “Wherever You Go There You Are,” in a chapter on patience, he says that “patience is remembering that things unfold in their own time. The seasons cannot be hurried. Spring comes, the grass grows by itself.” The seasons of our lives will also come, and we will grow toward the light as we must.

Ultimately, I know that there is no need to hurry things. One of my favorite sayings to remember is that the outcome is never in question. We are going to end up where we need to be. I have found that whether I choose to spend my time striving and wanting, or in deciding and then letting it be, the outcome is the same either way. How I feel getting there is very different, though. I’d rather let the “getting there” be done in an energy of peace, and in openness to the miracles that spirit can create when I get out of my own way.

I came upon Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, which was quoted in Kabat-Zinn’s book:

“I exist as I am, that is enough,
If no other in the world be aware I sit content,
And if each and all be aware I sit content.
One world is aware, and by far the largest to me, and that
is myself,
And whether I come to my own today or in ten thousand
or ten million years,
I can cheerfully take it now, or with equal cheerfulness,
I can wait.”

Eternity is a very long time.  The divine intelligence that lives as us calls forth our best, at the perfect time and in the perfect way.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Seeing Ourselves in Others

I believe that many problems between people could be averted in remembering that others mirror back to us those qualities that we ourselves possess.  We are not able to recognize a favorable attribute in another if it is something that we do not already own ourselves.  This can be a very empowering realization - acknowledging that those people who seem to manifest great things with ease are part of the same creative consciousness that we all embody.

Anything that we admire in another lives in us as well, whether it be the ability to create happiness, peace, joy, healthy relationships, a good job or a shiny new car!  Not only the people we encounter every day, but Jesus, the Buddha, the Dalai Lama, and all of the greatest teachers of the world share with us the very same intelligence that brought our collective existence into being. 

That we possess the same attributes we witness in others also helps us locate the parts of ourselves that are still in darkness.  I remember a teacher at the Aesclepion Healing Institute saying that the people we have the most difficulty with are our biggest teachers.  That was really helpful information at the time, because it caused me to begin searching in my own life to see if it was true.  And I found that it was. 

It’s difficult to accept, in the middle of being very upset with someone else, that they are here to help me learn something valuable about myself that I may have been avoiding.    But if I choose to be completely honest with myself, I realize that what I resist in others is usually something I am resisting acknowledging in myself.  

It might be that we have been needing to practice compassion or forgiveness, or to be less reactive.  Maybe we exhibit the same behavior but haven’t been aware of it.  Or it might be that we’ve been involved in a relationship that we’ve needed to walk away from, but out of fear have stayed longer than is healthy.  

In the perfect and divine order in which we exist, everyone is our teacher - those we might not see as worthy of that honor, and also those who seem so far beyond us that we could never hope to be where they are.  There is no need to hold on to judgment, or envy, because all that we see in others we already possess.  Instead, we are provided with the opportunity to choose what we want to do with the information.

I am always grateful for the teachers who come into my life in countless different ways.  Some I have welcomed, and some have presented lessons that left me kicking and screaming.  But all continue to help me choose how to be the best and highest me.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Let There Be. . .

My life works best when I step back from all of my trying and worrying, and rest in the truth that it will evolve just as I envision, gently, beautifully and perfectly.

In the graceful, quiet days when everything around me is in peace, I joyfully affirm that divine order is at work in my life and in the world.  In the hectic, questioning days when I’m feeling like I’ll never get it right, my memories of infinite peace and trust in the process seem very far away indeed.  Creating a conscious life feels like a pretty big undertaking, like it should somehow require a great deal of thought, or study, or . . . ., something. 

By this time I’ve learned some tricks and tools for navigating my life’s course with intention.  I’ve practiced meditation for many years, enjoyed creating treasure maps and doing affirmations.  I love all of the many wonderful tools we have for experiencing truth.  They are all great, proactive things in creating a life with purpose. 

But how amazingly powerful that space is where we can allow the God within to express fully through us, where we can simply let there be, and it is done.  In just allowing something, there is no effort, no trying, no need even for being proactive.  Just an acknowledgement that all we need do is choose, and our experience reflects our decision.

There’s an amount of faith and trust needed in creating this way.  When I remember that I don’t need to try at all, but can simply allow whatever I need or want to be, my body calms down.  There is more space for me to be present in my body and in my experience.  I can express more of who I want to be because I’m not struggling against anything. 

It’s a peaceful place, in those moments.  But inevitably I’ll move on in my day, and some other detail will capture my attention, and I’ll forget about whatever I had decided to just allow to be.

It’s all part of the process.  Once I turn it over to the God within, it is done.  It may take some time for me to realize it, but my prayer has been answered.  I just need to have faith in the process.  Situations may arise that cause me to doubt that what I have allowed into being is real, but that is part of the process, too.  Faith really can move mountains. 

Tonight, in my quiet writing space, I choose to let there be perfect expression of the song in my heart.  And it is done.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Self-Acceptance

The divine purpose of having our wondrous physical bodies is to know ourselves as unique expressions of God.  In order to expand into our awareness of the truth of our God nature, we must first experience ourselves as less.  Being human is rife with opportunities to forget who we really are.

Throughout life we face situations that challenge our ability to see ourselves as whole and perfect.  We are always striving to "get it right."  The trick is to remember that it's always right, even when it's all messed up.  In all of our struggling and striving, it helps to remember that it is meant to be this way.  Without knowing doubt we would never have the certainty to grow into our best selves.

I was reminded of this today talking with my son, Eric, who is a very talented 20 year-old musician.  He has been feeling alot of joy in expanding his musical abilities, and feeling confident about his path.  About a month ago, he hit a wall.  A few things happened that shook his confidence.  Instead of  feeling joy in his music, he began to doubt his decision to pursue that course of study.  He couldn't stop the voice in his head that kept telling him he wasn't good enough, and actually found himself playing worse than he had in a long time.

He spoke to my husband and me about it, and I like to think that our gentle reminder that the voice is not the truth, and to just acknowledge it and let it go, helped a little.  I know that he didn't really need any advice.  But in the middle of things like that, it's hard to keep our heads up, let alone know ourselves as anything even close to God-like!

My son told us that everyone hits times in their lives when they don't feel good enough.  He wasn't sure exactly how to restore his shaken confidence, but he knew that he would.  He said he was glad it happened early in his life so that he can get past it, and then next time he'll know that he can.  What wisdom from a very capable young man, recognizing the gift in a very unwelcome situation.

I recently bumped into a prayer on self-acceptance, written by Robert and Janet Ellsworth, which spoke to my heart:
"Help me to admit mistakes without feeling shame, and to recognize that they come to teach me.
Help me to find my own voice, to say what I mean and mean what I say.
Help me to see the good and laugh at myself and my life more.
Help me to discover my gifts and honor the uniqueness of others.
Help me to accept who I am, a beloved and special being in Your eyes.
And above all, help me to remain patient and gentle with myself."

I think Eric did a good job of that!

May we all be gentle with ourselves as we compose our life's melodies, and may this tool be a blessing. . .

Looking For the Good

It's a test of faith, or at least a very big stretch, to embrace the idea that there is a positive way to view everything.  I'm not talking about the more everyday things that we by habit react to.  I'm talking about the huge, life-changing, don't-know-if-I-can-make-it-through-this stuff that we all face at times in our lives.  I am a heartfelt believer that all is for good.  But sometimes, when we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of the big things, it's hard to see how.

In my work as a clinical health educator at a large HMO, I don't teach spiritual ideas because that wouldn't be appropriate.  But it's interesting to me how they slip in, because truth is truth.  Teaching the stress management program is one place where I notice that this happens quite a bit.  I mention in that program how our outlook is shaped by how we label things, and the physiological effects of positive thinking.  I touch on the practice of cognitive restructuring, which is really just a clinical term for becoming more aware of what your automatic thoughts are and choosing to replace negative ones with more productive ones.  And as I've noticed time and time again in classes, choosing to look for the good can work for people who are experiencing an overload of normal daily stressors. 

But what about handling the real crises, such as loss of livelihood, marital separation, or illness or death of a loved one?  Can we somehow find good in that?  In my own life, when I've hit those times, I most definitely have not been able to see anything positive about what was happening.  But looking back, I realize that I was able to accept that I would get through, and some day be able to recognize the gift in the experience.  Maybe even when we can't find the good in the moment, we can look instead for that place of knowing that the best and highest is taking place, even if we can't see how just then.  I got through one very difficult point in my life quite a few years back, with the very frequent prayer, "Let the best happen for all of us."  At the time I didn't know how it could, but it did.

I love the Unity belief that everything that happens to us is an answer to a prayer.  Everything.  All that we call to ourselves is an answered prayer, or will help us release something that keeps us from manifesting a prayer.  In either case, our heart's desire can never be thwarted.  The soul's purpose is to always be moving us to the light.

In the worst of times, loss of a job can mean finding inner resources or outward support that we never dreamed existed.  The separation of a couple can mean an opportunity to recreate a more joyful and healthy relationship, or to move beyond one that no longer serves both people's highest expression.  And love never dies, but changes, and then finds itself again.

In every moment of our lives, the perfection that we embody is working to illuminate our path.  All we need do is trust that it is there for us.  When we look for the good in what we experience, we affirm the limitless creative power of the God within.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Loving the Body

I realized in beginning to write about validating the amazing miracle of our bodies, that one post wouldn't be nearly enough!  I'll begin with some thoughts today, and add more at a later time.

These wonderful vehicles that our souls have created to have their human experience are worthy beyond measure.  Our society is so body conscious, but in a way that actually harms the relationship that the soul has with the body.  We are taught to focus on the body as a way to conform to the norm, and to judge our value based on its size and shape.  We all know that the incredible expectation for our bodies to fit within a narrow range of appearance is unrealistic and unhealthy, but most of us are driven to conform to that expectation nevertheless.  It's amazing how powerful that influence is on us.

When we are trying to fit a mold, communication between spirit and body is diminished.  Spirit becomes much less able to hear the messages that the body is sending out, and the body becomes unable to hear the soul's validation of its creation.  I believe that learning to listen to the body is a lifelong process, and not something that we always do easily.  We need to be present to hear our body's gentle messages.  With our thoughts in the past or in the future, we will not be aware of our bodies at all.  When our minds are very busy, we usually take our bodies for granted.

There are many downsides to taking the body for granted.  One very big disadvantage is that when we are not present and choosing to sense and feel what is happening in the body, we miss so much of the delicious experience of living.  Some of those feelings are wonderful beyond words, and some are very difficult, but they all create the depth and texture of our experience.

We are not present when we are caught up in thought.  I really believe that thinking is overrated!  We think too much.  We could accomplish just as much, probably more, if we consciously chose to review data, make decisions, and then put thinking aside and experience!  There are for me no moments in my life more exquisite than the ones spent squarely in the present, using my senses, feeling my emotions, aware of my body's being.

We are also much better able to care for ourselves when we pay attention to our body's needs.  In our performance-driven world, it becomes easy to focus on completing tasks and completely ignore our bodies' gentle urgings.  If we do that for too long, our bodies may need a more forceful way to communicate, which sometimes happens though illness.  Our bodies always let us know what they need, we have only to listen.

If we take the time to allow the gentle communion between body and spirit to take place, we find truth.  In hearing the soul's infinite regard, the body knows its own sacred nature and is healed.  Without that space, our bodies are disconnected from the truth and we feel invalidated.

Creating a space for body and spirit to connect can happen in many different ways.  It can be something we choose to do quickly, or a practice that we dedicated more time to.  A really simple way to find connection with the body is to breathe, consciously and into the body.  Breathing grounds our awareness into the body.  Another thing I will practice is to consciously pull all of my energy into my body, so that none of my awareness is spilling out, and I am aware of the physical space that I occupy.  (I will write more about being in the body in another blog.)  Another thing I have done, when I notice that I am caught up in some judgment of my body, is to just quiet my mind for a moment and ask my spirit it's opinion.  This is a great tool!  There is no media-driven demand for thinness strong enough to budge my spirit's infinite love of my body, just as it is, in all of its perfect ability to walk me though the days of my life, as a light-filled expression of God.

When you find yourself having a hard time appreciating your body, remember that that opinion does not originate with you, and then let your body listen to the eloquent wisdom of your soul.  Love is there.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Declaring Yourself

When I was studying spiritual hands-on healing and clairvoyance at the Aesclepion Healing Institute, we practiced a technique called declaring yourself.  I was aware that this exercise creates more space to validate our unique expressions of being.  It is in effect a way to claim the space in creation to be our own extraordinary selves.

From that place where we are aware of being all that is, but also aware of being a unique person inhabiting a finite body, we declare ourselves using our names.  For me, it is "I AM, Sherry."  After spending some time quieting your thoughts and bringing your attention within, breathe deeply, and declare yourself to creation as many times as you feel comfortable with.  In this way, we bring our awareness of the vastness of our spirit into our human experience.

Eric Butterworth in The Creative Life explains a similar exercise of declaring our intention for ourselves in ongoing creation.  This exercise focuses on consciously denying our automatic negative thinking about who we are, and aligning with the truth of us, as expressions of all that is.  Habits of negative thinking are never the truth of us.  They come from ideas we've accepted throughout our lives, from various sources, all stemming from fear.  We can recognize our truth, though, because it always contains our highest thought.  When we are aware of a thought that comes from a lesser place, we can choose love, for the thought's source, and for ourselves for our forgetting.  In that moment we consciously create heaven on Earth.

Declaring yourself, from The Creative Life, is as follows:  "Take an inventory of negative or limiting declarations you have claimed for yourself.  You know your own list.  Recognize this is the conscious mind (the intellect) that judges by appearances and is not in tune with the creative flow.  Now turn them around using the words 'I AM.'  Identify yourself by the name of the Lord, I AM:

'I AM Life, vibrating as perfect health in every cell, organ and function of my body.'
'I AM the radiant Light of pure knowing.'
'I AM established in the divine flow of substance.'
'I AM protected.  I live under the shadow of the almighty.'
'I AM Love, and I AM secure in the energy of all true relationships.'

This is your creative genius, which knows its oneness with the Source (Infinite Mind, or God), and the words are powerful -- they are the spoken word of creation."

We always have a choice in the expression of ourselves that we paint onto the canvas of ongoing creation.  What picture of yourself do you want to bestow upon eternity?  Some of my declarations are that I am safe and protected as a blessed child of God, that I am a perfect and beautiful expression of light, and that the power of God the creator expresses in and through me.

Declaring yourself is claiming your best and highest as a being of light created in the image of God.  May your declarations always be worthy of you, and may this tool be a blessing. . .

God Is, I Am

We are blessed to live in a world filled with such light-filled people.  They have graced my life as amazing teachers, the authors of the many life-changing books I've read, enlightened souls I've encountered through this blog, all of my spiritual brothers and sisters.  I am deeply grateful, and acknowledge the profound joy of our collective being.

I was reminded again yesterday of a favorite author of mine, Eric Butterworth, and a simple and healing tool for focusing the light that is ever present in us.  As he explains in this book "The Creative Life,"  we can affirm and breathe, God Is, I Am. 

"Take a few moments with this breathing exercise:  On the inbreath, speak the words 'God is.'  Hold it . . . then, on the outbreath, affirm, 'I am.'  Hold it.  Repeat this several times.  Get the sense that you are vitally coupled with the energy of God's light.  With this centering in the light, you see with light.  And your seeing actually becomes a "light treatment" of all that you see.  . . .  (You) become synchronized with and in the stream of light that is everywhere present.  Now make a survey of your schedule for the day:  your appointments . . . contacts, projects and relationships.  As you hold them in the light one by one, you give to each one a 'light treatment.'  . . . The whole of Infinite Mind is within you -- and you have access to the wisdom of the ages."

This is good stuff!  When I practice this, I become aware of the light that is always within me and everywhere present.  The texture of everything in my awareness changes as I recognize the perfection in all of it.  I release concerns or considerations that are not my own, and there is no need to struggle over anything.  God is, and I am, in this moment of light.  I am an active participant in creation - an ongoing design of perfection.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Letting the Day Come to You

I am sure there are people in the world who live in constant awareness of divine order.  I am not one of them!  As I'm sure you've noticed in my writing, I often forget.  I get caught up in worrying about people, or anxious about how things will turn out.  Thankfully I get back to remembering that I have a choice about the reality I create through my thinking.   I write and teach to reaffirm this for myself.

This morning, I found myself swept up into my most common fear du jour, that I don't have enough time to do it all.  Oh, how enticing this false belief is!  When I'm not aware of myself beginning to slide down that slippery slope, before I realize what's hit me I am caught up in all kinds of negative thinking.  I get very focused on all that needs to get done, instead of just enjoying my moments.

One real benefit of life experience is that we are able to notice when we end up in places that we've been before.  Our stuck places are more familiar, and we gain more ability to navigate them.  We can acknowledge that the thoughts we are having are habitual, but not reality.  

I noticed this morning that the to-do list in my head was taking way too much energy.  I had the whole beautiful Sunday in front of me, and I was spinning about things like grocery shopping and laundry and writing bills.  The funny thing was, the list in my head wasn't just of chores; I was also worrying about how to fit in my get-to-do things like working on my stained glass, meditating, walking, writing, all of the things I do to nurture my spirit.  The programming to get it all done can cause even the nurturing things I do for myself to start to feel like too much to accomplish.

Thankfully, I remembered to let the day come to me, instead of the other way around.  I decided to stop grasping the possibilities for this day and controlling them, and stand still, and see what happens.  I decided to just stop.  Stopping is a great spiritual tool, and I'll write more about it in another blog.  It is a small leap of faith to turn my attention away from the voice that warns that the sky will fall if everything doesn't get done.  It did try to advise me about the dire consequences of starting my week with piles of folded laundry on the living room sofa!  The voices of fear and lack always seem so much bigger in the moment.  But I persevered.  My commitment for today was to just see what the day brought.

What my day brought to me was peace, and alot of color.  I immediately noticed the vibrant spring green in my backyard, and the joy that comes from remembering that all I ever have to do is be.  That happens often; when I get back into present time the world is much more brightly colored.  It is not the world, but I who has changed.  When I affirm that things will happen in divine order, it is so.  My day was not really different from what it would have been had I struggled with the to-do list in my head, but it was much more gentle.  I really enjoyed the message at Unity this morning.  The grocery shopping got done, and that was colorful, too, not only the people I watched, but also the whole isle full of hokey pinatas that I don't think I've ever noticed before.  My day was blessed with so many delightful details and experiences that I miss when my thoughts are out in the future, or back in the past.

How the rest of today unfolds is left to be seen.  Tomorrow at work I plan to keep myself squarely in the present moment, by letting the day come to me, and I will sit back and enjoy the show.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Raising the Veil

There is a song by this title that we sing at Unity; it is one of my favorites . . . "I'm raising the veil, between me and my God, no separation, no distance at all; God is right here in my heart, I'm raising the veil."  I believe that within each of us is a deep yearning to know ourselves and each other as the magnificent children of light that we are.  Even when we are lost in forgetting, even when we are identifying very strongly with that which is not the highest we or the world have to offer, that need still burns. 

Our dreams of lack, the veil of forgetting who we are, create the perfect stage for recognizing what is not true of us.  In that sense all that comes to us is an answer to a prayer.  I love the idea of carrying God in my heart; God expresses through me when my soul is having a dark night, and when I know the light of her presence living as me.  Without darkness, we couldn't know light, and so both the veil, and its lifting, are answers to a prayer.

We can choose to experience that veil as an almost physical thing.  It is solid in its ability to separate us from our totality, but also very sheer fabric, easily pushed aside by changing our thinking.  I have viewed situations in this way before, where an instance of fear or pain is playing out on a small stage, and at its edge a curtain hides a much bigger, brighter creation.  The drama occurring on the small stage has immense value as an integral part of the sacred production unfolding.

We are meant to get caught up in believing that the drama developing on the small stage is our life, and defines who we are.  But we are not our struggles; we are pure spirit, able to step back and see ourselves as experiencing something, but at the same time acknowledging that the experience is not who we are.  Raising the veil and stepping out onto the grander stage of living as an unlimited creator made in God's image is a brave act.  When we stand up and claim that truth about ourselves and others, in their fear and forgetting many will say no, you are not.  We stand anyway.

My husband and I have a print on our living room wall that some may have seen; it is entitled "Fra Giovanni - Letter to a Friend - 1513."  It says, in part, ". . . The gloom of the world is but a shadow.  Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy.  TAKE JOY!  Life is so full of meaning and purpose, so full of beauty . . . that you will find earth but cloaks your heaven.  Courage to claim it, that is all!"

May this tool be a blessing. . .