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New Sister Blog!

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Hi all Gratitude Experiment readers!  I wanted you to know that I now have a sister blog where I am writing ideas, tips, sharing video and guided exercises all based on the concept of conscious co-creating — how to work with the creative laws of universe to create our lives consciously!  Click here for the sister blog. The Gratitude Experiment will house blogs based solely on the idea that practicing proactive gratitude transforms our experience in life.

Aren’t these concepts closely related?  Yes, they absolutely are!  In fact, one of the most important practices in conscious co-creating is gratitude.  When we practice proactive gratitude (in other words, not waiting for something wonderful to happen, then expressing our gratitude about it, but rather actively searching for the good in our lives and celebrating it) we raise our vibration to a higher level that, in turn, attracts to us more and more blessings.

However, the art of conscious co-creating takes a more wholistic approach as we listen for a Divinely inspired vision of our lives and then learn to work with ALL the Laws of the Universe to bring that vision to fruition.  Another important component in the process is to fully embrace our true self-worth…deeply accepting the joyous, fulfilling, successful, love-filled and abundant life we were meant to life.

So again, check out our sister site and join in the conversation there and here at the Gratitude Experiment!  I am grateful for all of you!

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Your Divine Design Emerging

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As I write this it is March 1st, but here on the East Coast it feels like we are in the depths of winter.  And even so, we are actually at the turning point of the winter season.  Even though everything outside appears frozen and barren, under the surface, there are millions of miracles occurring…millions of seeds are actively germinating.  In ancient Celtic traditions, and other “Earth-based” traditions this time is revered.  It’s sometimes called Imbolc, and sometimes called St. Briget’s Day. And it has a definite feminine, womb-like feel to it.

If we follow nature’s cue, for us it can be a time of of preparation.  A time of new beginnings.  A time to begin to break out of the hardness of winter and to open to the increasing light…and allow it to encourage the emergence of our true essence.

I’ve always felt that all we need to know about how to live a joyful, fulfilling life and to reach our full Divine potential we can find by looking to nurture.  Thoreau taught us this.  He wrote: Nature is full of genius, full of divinity; so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand.

Looking at nature, we can see that within an acorn there is the perfect Divine Design Angel Oak Treethat…giving the right conditions…will emerge into a magnificent oak tree.  The oak tree is all already there, complete, in the seed.  The only thing it needs is to break out of the hard shell that encases and protects it. Thanks to the magic of time-lapse photography, you can see the process happen right now in just a few minutes.  Click here to watch this miraculous video now:

The thing about an acorn is that is has a really hard shell.  How acorndo squirrels do it?  Really sharp teeth I guess.  But, on its own, it is the will of the life inside the acorn needing to grow and become what it is meant to be.  The will of that life needing to express it full potential. That’s what pushes against and breaks through that hard shell and casts it aside. And it can really do that only when is it sufficiently nurtured.  In other words, when the seed is deep within moist, nurturing soil.  Only then does it feel safe enough to burst out of its hard, protective shell and emerge as the oak tree it was designed to become.

You can probably see where I’m going with this…

The same is true for us.  At the core of our being – since the moment we were born (and probably even before) there is a beautiful and perfect pattern for a glorious, successful life where we are expressing our unique talents and abilities, where we are loving and giving, where we are loved and nurtured, where we are abundantly provided for, where we are expressing our beauty and wholeness. That’s in our “acorn”.  It’s coded in our DNA.  And everything we need to live a fulfilling, joyful life is within us right there at the beginning…day one.

But, in order for us to experience this glorious life, we must break out of the hard, protective shell that is trapping our magnificence.  Because we can’t experience any of it while we’re encased in the shell. So, here’s how to break free:

A moment ago I mentioned “will”…that it’s the will of the life inside the acorn to become what it is meant to be. Will is one of the Power Centers located in our energetic body.  Will is located in the forehead and is our power to choose, decide, direct, and determine.  Now, the power of Will used by the ego creates someone who is bossy, obstinate, inflexible, selfish, etc.  But Will in the hands of our Authentic Self is our power of intention inspired by the Divine; and our power to move forward.   It’s the activating power!

So the first thing we need in order to do break through that hard shell and to fully blossom into a more expansive experience of life is to draw from the inspiration of our innate Divine pattern and decide to activate it!  That’s Step 1. I’ve written about and talked about this process quite a bit, so I’m not going to focus on this step today.  Instead…I want to focus on the shell.

Each of us has a “shell” that takes a different form for each person. However there are common themes.

For some, the shell is a defense mechanism…the ego that tries to protect us and keep us safe (and by doing so prevents our true self from emerging.)  Perhaps we’ve been profoundly hurt before when we tried to break free and love with abandon.  So our defensive shell insures that doesn’t happen again!

For others this shell is an unwillingness to try something new, to break out of old habits…old ways of doing things…old routines.  Or it’s something we’ve been holding onto for far too long.

For some of us this shell is our fear….our fear, based on ignorance or a false belief…an old story we’ve told ourselves that we don’t have anything to offer, or we’re not good enough. We might have a lack of belief in ourselves overall, or a lack of trust that we’ll be okay. Or, we have a false belief that the world does not value what we have to offer, or that the world won’t accept us in some way.

That shell is different for all of us.  But one thing is for sure…it’s gotta go if we want to grow!  If we want to express our potential and have a full, love-filled, joyous life. It’s gotta go.

That’s Step Two.  Identifying what that shell is for you.

Step Three is the process by which we break of out of that hard shell.  New Thought pioneer, Ernest Holmes, points us toward this one in the following statement:

“[One’s] entire “treatment” (which is what he called affirmative prayer) is based on the assumption that there is a spiritual pattern at the center of everything.  The perfect was always there, it was implanted by the Spirit.  The imperfect has been added by the human mind.  What the human mind has put there, it can take away.  What the Divine has implanted cannot be uprooted; it can only appear to be covered up.  Spiritual practice is an uncovering of the Divine Nature.”

The Divine didn’t put the shell of fear, defense, unwillingness there.  We did. What we put there, we can remove.  It’s simply covering up our innate Divine Nature, preventing our “oak tree” from fully emerging.  And we do that with Spiritual Practice.

Here us another time lapse photography of seeds germinating which can give us another clue.  https://vimeo.com/30074251

You see how the first thing this seed has to do before it can fully emerge from the shell is to send down roots deep into the soil.   That’s where its strength comes from and where it is sufficiently nurtured.  The same is true for us.  We need to send our roots deep into a nurturing environment.  That nurturing environment takes two different forms for us — one interior and the other exterior.

The first, interior, is about regular, daily connecting deeply with Spirit.  Meditation is how many of us achieve that.  For other’s it’s walking a Labyrinth, or chanting, or some other meditative practice. But it’s where we connect with Source…and are nurtured by that Source.  Having a regular, daily proactive gratitude process is another very important part of this.

The Exterior form of a nurturing environment is about immersing ourselves into, and being nurtured by, spiritual community.  That spiritual community may be for you a church, synagogue or a temple.  For others it may be a study group, spiritual reading group or service group. Whatever it is…dive in.  Send your roots deeply in.  Participate. Take classes. Be of service.  And let yourself be nurtured by that environment. Surround yourself with positive, heart-centered, life affirming people. Open yourself to the spiritual support that’s available in your community.

These two practices…interior and exterior…are how we immerse ourselves in a nurturing environment, build strength, get nurtured — which eventually allows us to break free of the old shell much more easily and quickly.

If you look, you will begin to see that there is a direct connection between individuals who are experiencing their Divine Potential emerging and regular spiritual practice combined with immersing themselves in a nurturing supportive environment.  And if you have been doing regular daily spiritual practice and participating in your spiritual community but you haven’t seen “results” yet – then just trust that you will see it soon.  Like the seed germinating – there’s an amazing miracle happening just under the surface.  On the surface you may not be able to see anything yet.  But it’s happening. Trust the process. Connect with the energy of this season and trust.  And get ready for some amazing blossoming in your life soon!

If you want to get a jump start on this, I’ve recorded a guided meditation to help get your roots firmly planted in nurturing soil.  Leave reply below with your email address and I’ll be happy to send it to you free of charge.

Gratitude is the Language of the Authentic Self

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One of the first things we are asked to do in any personal growth or New Thought teaching is to take our minds off autopilot and start paying attention to the thoughts that run through our minds all day…what we are saying about ourselves, about others, and about the world.   And when we do this…if we’re honest about it…we are often shocked at how much of the time is consumed by egoic thinking, critical, judgmental, fearful, negative thinking.   And how little time we spend actually thinking from our heart.

That egoic, critical fearful voice is the voice of, what I like to call the the false self, or the shadow self. This is the self that feels separate…separate from Source and separate from each other.  It’s the self that sometimes causes us to feel we are a victim, and other times tries to control others and manipulate situations.  It judges others and our self…harshly. And it often sabotages our well-intentioned efforts.

This self is unfortunately the one most people are familiar with because this is the world in which we were raised. We’re raised with the predominate belief in separation…that we’re separate from God, separate from each other and separate from our good.  Our world tells us that our good is outside of us, and we must struggle and compete to get ahead and there’s not enough to go around.  It also tell us that we’re not good enough…unless we buy whatever product they’re selling.  It’s how the world is set up.

There is another self – our Higher Self, or our Authentic Self that speaks a whole different language.  This is our true self and it’s always with us, but its voice has been drowned out for so long it’s not easy to hear it anymore.  but this is the self we start to get familiar with as we step onto a spiritual path…any spiritual path really.  Most religious paths…particularly the more mystical aspect of them…have, as an overall goal, the awakening to our higher self.  Everyone calls it something different, but it’s more of less the same thing.  Whether it’s called our soul, or our compassionate nature, or the spirit within, or the Christ within, the Oversoul, our God-self, or our angelic nature…the point is to call upon it, to connect with it!

The first step in the process of connecting with it is to become very aware of when we’re not.  We want to become really conscious of what voice we’re allowing to “run our program” because most the time it’s unconscious. And if we allow the voice of the false self to run our program for too long it will cause a whole host of problems.  It can rob us of our health and wellbeing, ruin friendships, undermine our self-worth and sabotage the fulfillment of our vision.  In short, causing us a great amount of unhappiness.

So it would behoove us to catch the false self as soon as possible and stop it in its tracks.   And the best way to do that is to become aware…not just your thoughts, but also begin to notice how you feel…and how you behave…when you are “under the influence of your false self.”

So if you notice you are feeling confused, or you are worrying a lot, or are feeling anxious, that might be a clue the false self is running your program.  If you notice you are judging yourself harshly or you are comparing yourself to others or maybe even questioning your own worth, you can be certain your false self is in charge. And if the vision that came from your heart which you were in the process of joyously bringing forth is suddenly brought into question…if you get easily side-tracked, or you hear yourself saying, “What was I thinking, I can’t do that?” you might be under the influence of the false self.

So the more familiar you are with your thoughts, feelings and behaviors when you are being influenced by the false self, the easier it will be to shift your energy and bring yourself back into alignment with your true Authentic Self.

And one of the best ways I know to make this shift into the Authentic Self is to focus on something…anything…for which you are grateful.  Bring to your mind something in your life you consider a blessing. Generate some enthusiasm and excitement for that particular thing or experience and let to vibrate within your being.

Or, perhaps you could focus on the beauty of nature and let the gratitude for that amazing expression of the Divine to sink deep into your heart.

Either way there is no quicker way to completely shift your thinking, your energy and your level of happiness than to implement the proven technique of gratitude.

Our higher Authentic Self is the place of real power within us.  It knows how to bring forth our vision easily and harmoniously.  It is in alignment with the flow of Divine Life Energy.  It is where we are connected with Divine wisdom and guidance and it can guide us in moving us forward on purpose and in the direction of our dreams…where synchronous events are commonplace.   This is the place where we realize we are blessed and we see everyone else the same way.  It is powerfully loving, confident, creative, inspired and inspiring.

The more we consciously align ourselves with this Higher Self the more we live, “with the license of a higher order of beings” as Thoreau wrote about.

For more tips on how to shift into the living from the awareness of our Authentic Self download my complete transformational program, Conscious Co-Creating. Click here to learn more about that. 

 

Living From the Inside Out

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My guess is that if you have found your way to this blogsite and are reading this post, then you are on a spiritual path of some sort.   Perhaps you’ve been on that path for some time now.

The interesting thing about a spiritual path is that it has lots of twists and turns…some clear open lovely spaces, and some long, dark, narrow passages.

And very often, the realizations we had yesterday that were so clear, so true, today we’ve completely forgotten.  We wake up, and then fall back to sleep.  Wake up again and fall back to sleep….and dream.

We dream a dream of separation…separation from our wholeness.  Maybe we’ve fallen asleep and have dreamt that, if we can just manipulate the world in the right way we’ll be happy.  If we can just make a lot of money we’ll be safe.  If we can just find the right mate, our life will be complete.  Or, if that “certain person” disappeared from our life, we’d finally be okay.  Or we dream that if “they” would just give us a chance, give us a break, or if our career happened the way we think it should, our lives would transform;  We’re dreaming of a world works from the outside it, rather than inside out.

Why can’t we seem to stay awake, and live the life we know in our heart is true? Here’s why: Because the voice of the world is so loud!  The voice of the ego is so insistent. The voice of illusion is so damn hypnotizing.  And the voice of the inner presence…that still, small voice is so still and so small.  Why can’t it be the other way around, right? Humanity would have woken up long ago if that were the case.  It seems to be the nature of things that the most important things in life are subtle…not always easy to grasp, but the unimportant things are in our face daily.

So our focus today is on adjusting our hearing, as it were, so that we can better hear that still, small voice and be able to distinguish it from the voice of the ego…and the voice of the world.  

We also need to learn to develop an ear for the Universe…which is constantly providing feedback through our relationships, the circumstances in our lives, and our bodies.  We listen to the feedback and we make adjustments as we go.  Listen and adjust.  We must, however do this with as much compassion, and self-love as possible. That is key!

When we can do this, we will be truly living our lives from the inside out …and as a result…experience living successfully in all areas of our lives.

In working from the inside out we are not trying to force a change to our behavior or to “be good” to even to “improve” our lives. NO.  We are seeking to transform our understanding of who and what we are, and our relationship to the whole.  We are seeking to allow for a fuller expression of our Authentic Self…where our actions are naturally in alignment with Divine Love.

The good news is that the Universe always supports our efforts to awaken and evolve our understanding.  It is where we are all headed anyway.  And we…who are already on a spiritual path…have already gotten the call.  We’re just supporting each other in remembering that.

A good place to start is to think about the times in your life when you have been able to hear that still, small voice.  When have you sensed God’s presence guiding you or supporting you?  What practices have you done, or do you do now that engages that presence…that allows you to hear the Divine within?  As Leonard Felder (The Ten Challenges) says, “Each of us has to find our own individual way of opening up to our particular spark of the Divine Presence.”

And there might be two categories here that can help you think about that.  One place to look might be practices you may do by yourself…usually in the silence.  The other place to look is activities you may do with others, or in community, that opens you up to that Divine Presence.  Very often we experience it both ways.

Below is a sample of activities or practices that you do on your own in the silence.  Make a note of which one of these things helps you hear that still, small voice.

  • Meditation
  • Contemplative Prayer
  • Affirmative prayer
  • Journaling
  • Proactive Gratitude Pratice
  • Yoga
  • Heart Math
  • Present moment awareness/ working with the breath.
  • Walking or being in nature.
  • Walking the labyrinth or Medicine wheel
  • Listening to “Spirit-filled” music
  • Or, __________________________________________(fill in the blank)

 

The section below lists a sample of activities you may do with others, or in community, that connect you with that still, small voice:

  • Attending service at your spiritual community.
  • Participating in a Healing Service
  • Serving others in some capacity.  (Name one or two ways you serve_________________________)
  • Group ecstatic experience (dances, drumming, chanting)
  • Ritual or ceremonial experience
  • A class on some aspect of spirituality
  • Spending time with someone with whom you have a deep connection.
  • Group meditation or channeling
  • Or, __________________________________________(fill in the blank)

 

I invite you to share your list with us here at The Gratitude Experiment…particularly if there are spiritual practices you do that I haven’t listed here.

Now that you have your list, the question becomes, how do we stay committed to doing these activities on a regular basis so that we don’t fall back to sleep?  So that we stay awake more often to that place where “God’s Spirit dwells and the great encounter takes place?”

And making a commitment to daily practice takes a certain amount of discipline. We don’t always feel like doing it, or feel that we don’t have time to do it. So we want to acknowledge our feelings, embrace them, and at the same time love ourselves into remembering that we’ve made a commitment to connect with and reveal our Divine Self.

We all know how sometimes even the idea of discipline can cause a certain amount of resistance in us.  It can bring out our rebellious inner teenager. We may also associate discipline with punishment…or some sort of self-control we think we don’t have. That’s why l love Rev. Michael Beckwith’s interpretation of it.  He calls discipline, “blissipline.” And it’s true that after practicing for a while, it gives us such deep satisfaction and peace we find we don’t want to miss it…we don’t want to go a day without it.  He says, “Discipline is a practice of self-love, self-respect and surrender that results in freedom.”

So I invite you to look at this list this week and make a commitment to doing something every day.  And we’re going to love ourselves into daily practice.  We’re going to support each other in daily practice…and we’re going to remind ourselves what we are really doing is nurturing that still, small voice which helps us stay awake to the Divine Presence within…thereby living our lives from the inside out.

Here’s a good affirmation to repeat daily:

Affirmation:
“I open my heart daily to hear the still, small voice within.  With intention I free myself from the voice of the ego, and of illusion, and I make space for the Divine to shine Its light through and as me.”  And so it is!

Sunday Morning Series: Building a New Awareness Pt. 2

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In my last post I talked about how powerful our false core beliefs can be in choking off our good.  So, now what?  How do we effectively eliminate them so that our highest vision for our lives can be realized?

Well, there are some good methods which include one I always recommend: journaling  which helps to get at the root of the belief — where did that belief originate?  Another good way is to just be a witness to the belief as it shows up in your speech, your feelings, and your behaviors.  A method I do with clients in Spiritual Coaching takes it a little more deeply and we do a ritual together that is completed with a burning ceremony.

However, the way that David Owen Ritz (the author of Keys to the Kingdom program on which this talk was based) assert that it is not necessary to do anything with false beliefs, but simply to build our realization of our unity and oneness with God.  The idea here is that a larger idea –an idea of Truth — is more powerful than any limited idea.  Ritz says, “Every circumstance or condition in your life that has been created by a false belief can be healed and transformed by an awareness of Truth – often instantaneously.”  I still maintain that our deeply embedded core beliefs must be address and healed first.  Only then can ideas of Truth take root in our subconscious.

However, we can begin now to build an awareness that we are Divine beings already whole, complete, beloved, abundant and worthy of all good.  There is indeed a part of us that has never been fooled by our false or limited beliefs.  Our higher self knows our full potential.  That’s the place where the highest vision for our lives resides.  And that’s why it’s important to be working with your vision – writing it out, meditating on it and affirming it daily.

Ritz says, “The personal vision that you are building is far more than just a new belief or two about abundance.  It is actually an inner awareness of your true spiritual self and highest human and spiritual potential.  It is a set of wonderful new possibilities that the Universe wants to express through and as you.”  I love that.  Before I read through my vision for my life in the evening before going to sleep, I repeat those two sentences and really let them soak in.

So, in Keys to the Kingdom, Ritz define 7 “truths” that help us build that awareness and acceptance of the good we are claiming in our vision.  Let’s explore these 7 truths together.  

1.  God is the one and only source of your good.   This is really about understanding that the people, places and things in your life – your job, your investments, your business, your spouse’s income, your inheritance….those things are not the Source of your supply – they are channels through which your good flows into your life. God is the ultimate source acting through these channels.  When we look to the channels as our Source, we’re at their mercy.  You can lose your job, and then suddenly you have no income.  Your business or investments takes a downturn and then where are you?   Therefore, you must look to and depend upon God alone as the Source.  The infinite knows how to open other channels through which your good can flow – if you allow it.  The sacred act of tithing to the source of our spiritual support helps connect us with this truth – it acknowledges God as the Source.

2.  Abundance is a here-and-now Reality.    I know it doesn’t look like that now in many of our lives.  It might look like we are struggling to make ends meet, or that our savings accounts are lower than we’d like, or there just isn’t enough left after we’ve paid all our bills to do what we really want to do.  It looks like that.  But we’re confusing temporary “facts” with Divine Truth of infinite abundance.  Lack and limitation are only temporary human experiences that we are creating out of our own ignorance of the Truth. Temporary facts can never alter the greater reality.  Truth can be hidden by temporary facts, but it never changes it.  You can’t change the changeless.

We can train ourselves to see Divine abundance by noticing it in nature.  Can you count the number of leaves on a tree or…where I live in N. Carolina…trees in the forest? Can you count the number of grains of sand on the beach, or gallons of water in an ocean?  I use to love doing this exercise when I drove by orange groves in California.  The number of oranges on all those trees seemed limitless.  It’s such an affirmation of limitless supply.

Training ourselves to affirm the presence of Infinite abundance in nature, helps us see it even in the face of appearances to the contrary.  While the contents of your wallet or the amount in your checking account may appear limited – that’s a temporary fact, right?  Actually your wallet or checking account represents the limitless abundance which lies behind it.   When you think of that amount you can affirm: “This is a temporary fact.  My true Source is limitless.  That Source is right here and right now. I open to it now!”  This is good to do every time you sit down to pay bills.

3.  Abundance is inexhaustible.
A few posts ago I talked about the continual expansion of the universe and everything in nature – how plants continually come to fruition, and produce seed for the next generation of plants.  That’s what this point is all about.  Everything visible and in form originates from an invisible Source. The invisible is the realm of potential and possibilities.  Some refer to this as the Transcendent realm of the Divine.  As it comes into the realm of the visible, or form, it – by it’s very nature – is finite, temporary and constantly changing…but it’s still Spirit.  Some refer to this as Immanent.   God’s creative process is the endless dance between the two realms – the transcendent and the immanent – the formless and the form.   It’s that dance, or that flow that prospers us. Abundance is inexhaustible because the flow of Spirit is ceaseless.   And the more we can practice non-attachment to temporary physical things, the more we are dancing in that flow.  So learning to let go is key.  And I’ll talk more about that next week.

4.  God is meeting your every need at every moment according to your own acceptance.  This point has a lot to do with the Law of Circulation and how much we participate in that, or restrict it’s flow in our lives.  Ritz states:
“Your level of acceptance depends upon 2 things: What you give to life and how you give it.  The what can be your time, talent, financial resources, energy, attention, love – anything you bring to life.  The how is the attitude, intention and awareness that accompanies that which you give.  Together, these two things create the measure of your acceptance.”  We need to develop a deep and abiding trust that when we give of ourselves to life with joy, integrity and love – we are participating in the Law of Circulation – we are building our level of acceptance — and that energy will be returned to us multiplied and running over.

5.  Everyone deserves abundance.  Have you ever created a work of art that you were particularly proud of – whether it was a painting, sculpture, jewelry, or written a poem or a song, or built something, or put something together well – and when it was done you looked at it lovingly and with pride and maybe said, “I did that.  I created that.”  Have you had that experience?
I think that’s a little bit like how God thinks of us. God created us – we are a special piece of art only the mind of the Divine could create.  You can almost hear God saying about you when you were just born, “Wow, I created that.” With immense love and pride!  If you can feel the truth in that, you could never again believe that the Divine would ever withhold anything from you…from any of us.  You could never imagine God saying, “Wow, I created that…now I ordain that he or she suffer and struggle against adversity.”  No.  Not for any of us.

If we could see ourselves as God sees us — we could love ourselves as God loves us – completely and unconditionally.  This point is about loving ourselves completely and unconditionally. This may require some work in self-forgiveness, and that’s where a Spiritual Coach can be of help. In the meantime, breathe in the idea that God loves you so much and that you’ve already been given the Kingdom — from the moment of birth.

6.  Your vision is your inner awareness of your naturally abundant self.
Something inside you wants to push past your limiting beliefs and lift you into higher expression – your Higher Self wants you to be the person you were meant to be.  The Divine has great things in store for you.  And maybe you’re catching just a glimpse of that greatness now.  Once you do, there will be more. To live this truth, Ritz says, “you must be willing to risk personal greatness.”  Which for me means being willing to be the magnificent person you were created to be.

7. Your inner guidance will lead you toward the fulfillment of your vision.

Contained in every acorn is everything it needs to become a mighty oak tree.   The vision for it’s greatness is contained within the little seed – and everything necessary for it’s fulfillment.  It only needs a little soil, sun and water.  The same for us.  Everything necessary for us to realize our highest vision for our lives is contained in the vision itself – it’s the Infinite Intelligence within us that organizes and orchestrates perfect synchronistic events and guides our every step.  We provide the soil, sun and water when we nourish ourselves by engaging in our Spiritual Practices and affirming these truths until we’ve built a new awareness.  That, and by following our inner guidance – not just listening to our inner guidance, but actually following it!

I sincerely hope these ideas begin to shift your awareness to one of knowing your innate worthiness of limitless good.  Again, this Keys to the Kingdom program can be brought into most churches or spiritual centers.  Just visit their website (click here) and inquire.  And if you could use personal guidance to release old patterns and false core beliefs so that these ideas can be incorporated more easily, don’t hesitate to contact me for Spiritual Coaching. 


A Grateful Graduation

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Graduation time is here!  I know a few parents who are so very grateful their child made it all the way through high school, or college, and for some, graduate school. I have a dear friend that went back to school to get her degree later in life and she’s graduating in June too.  Congratulations all!  Truly something to be proud of and grateful for!

Yes, grateful for. Education is not a given….particularly for women.  In some countries woman are refused the right to an education.  I guess an educated woman must be such a terrible threat to men and the rules they’ve created to dominate them.  But I digress.  The opportunity to attend college and graduate school is indeed a privilege to be grateful for.  And I’ll just give thanks in advance that all that school debt you may have accrued will be paid off easily and quickly!

And, I know it’s been way too long since I’ve written a blog here.  But I do have a bit of an excuse…because you see, I’m graduating too.  I’ve been in seminary for the past two years.  It’s been very intense, but I’ve just handed in my final assignments!  Yea!   I am just about to graduate and become an ordained Interfaith Minister.  What’s an “Interfaith Minister” you might be asking?

An Interfaith Minister is one who honors the beauty found in every spiritual tradition.  We look for the core essence of Truth running through all religions. We strive to promote the commonality, rather than the differences, among all faith traditions. We support that basic human desire to experience the divine…to have connection to something larger than ourselves and to connect with the love within one another.

The training I received was through One Spirit Interfaith Seminary in NYC (here’s the link) .  It was life-transforming, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to attend.

I am also grateful to tell you that I have been asked to co-minister my spiritual community, Unity Center of Peace in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  And I’ve accepted.  I will be co-ministering with another One Spirit graduate, Rosemary Hyde.  We look forward to the opportunity of bringing the wisdom of our recent training into our community and helping it to grow and thrive.  More on that in future blogs.

So happy Graduation day to all of us and a big bunch of gratitude to all the people who supported us in achieving our goals!

 

 

Gratitude and the Box

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The reason a consistent practice of gratitude is such a powerful tool to transform our lives is because it connects us to our Source.  It connects us directly to the Infinite Organizing Power of the Universe (whether you call it God, Infinite Intelligence, Universal Love or whatever.)  Gratitude helps us emerge from the little box we’ve been squeezing ourselves into and opens our eyes to an amazing world where we are loved, where there is harmony and order, wholeness, and limitless good.   

These boxes come in all shapes and sizes.  Some are labeled “I’m a victim” others, “nothing works out for me” or “I’m not good enough” and still others “I’ve got to push real hard to make things go the way I want them to.”  What is your box labeled? We all have them.  It’s simply a part of the consciousness of humanity. Some of us have made our boxes really elaborate!

 But when we begin a practice of gratitude, we begin to peek out of our box and see that, in fact, there may be beauty all around us. We begin to notice that there may be an underlying order and harmony in our lives. We begin to understand that we may, in fact, be Sourced by the Infinite and that Source is limitless.  It’s not always completely obvious…we may have to look real hard to find it. Sometimes we can see only the possibility of limitless good.  Or we see it working in other’s lives and we open to the idea that it may actually be possible in ours as well.

And then sometimes we discount it, rationalize it, disown it and go back into our little box.  After all, it’s comfortable in there.  We’ve grown accustomed to it.  We’ve spend our whole lives there.  So it takes effort to open the box again, and then still more effort to keep it open.  That effort is a daily practice of proactive gratitude (click here for a reminder of what those steps are).  When we practice daily proactive gratitude we are keeping the box open.  We are “owning” the good all around us.  As we do this, we are actually activating the possibility in our lives of that which we had only caught a glimpse of while we were peeking out of our box.  We are activating the possibility, so that that possibility becomes a manifest reality.  The possibility of opportunity becomes opportunity. The possibility of harmony becomes the reality of order and purpose in our lives. The possibility of limitless good becomes the reality of increased prosperity.

Once that possibility has become an actuality in our lives…once we see and live in “Divine grace”…we can no longer go back into that little box.  We’ve outgrown it for good. We are now living in gratitude every day.  And that’s when magic happens.

It all start though by just peeking out of the box…noticing the blessings, noticing the good in our lives…celebrating the good, and documenting the good by writing it down daily.  That’s our practice. That’s the practice that liberates us from the box and allows us to experience an amazing life.

Gratitude Breeds Environmental Responsibility

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A happy side benefit to developing a gratitude practice is that you naturally become deeply respectful of our planet.  It’s a benefit that’s good for you and good for the world as a whole.

As we focus on the things we are grateful for it’s natural that we begin to turn our attention to the beauty of Mother Earth.  How gorgeous trees are in the Spring when tiny bright green leaves begin to appear.  How peaceful we feel when we witness a sunset or the stillness of a lake on a windless day.  How magical a mountain ridge appears when covered with newly fallen snow.  How fabulous a ripe strawberry tastes just picked off the vine.  

As we continue to notice daily the beauty and majesty of the world around us we naturally want to preserve and protect it.  We naturally want to care for it, and we will go out of our way to recycle a plastic bottle, avoid pesticides and chemicals, or bring our cloth shopping bags to the grocery store.  Love and gratitude lead to respect…which leads to our taking action to care for that thing or experience.  We may also find ourselves supporting companies and organizations who are more environmentally responsible.

And, it hurts when we see the planet damaged by those who have not yet developed the same respect.   Unfortunatley, it happens everyday on the corporate and on the individual level.  For some people there is a disconnect between enjoying a scenic vista and the effort it take to change corporate policy or personal habits to protect that vista for future generation. 

So, if you know someone who seems to be showing little respect for our environment, rather than beat them over the head with a message of “environmental responsibility,” encourage them to develop a gratitude practice.   A daily practice of gratitude is indeed healing for ourselves and our environment.   It won’t be long before one’s love and gratitude for this amazing planet translates into a change in relationship with the environment.  And that’s good news for our planet.

Gratitude and Forgiveness

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When I ask people to think about the qualities in friends and family members they are grateful for, most folks can come up with an extensive list such as:  “I’m grateful for their support, their love, their listening skills, their compassion; or, they make me laugh, I feel good around them, they taught me something valuable, or introduced me to someone or something that has made a positive impact on my life.”  However, most of us have one person (sometimes several) where we have trouble seeing anything positive.  Sometimes it’s somebody from the past who has hurt us deeply.  Frequently, it’s a parent who was far from perfect, whom we feel may be the cause of our current limitations.

Even though this hurt or betrayal happened long ago…and we may not even think about this person much…it still effects our peace of mind and so much more.  The inability to forgive someone is a toxic brew that affects our physical, emotional and spiritual health.  It can also block the benefits we might receive from practicing proactive gratitude. And…it can kill our dreams.

It might be helpful to take a little internal inventory to see if indeed there is anyone from your past…or present for that matter…with whom you may be holding a grudge.  Even if you think you’ve forgiven everyone, there can sometimes be layers of forgiveness work.  I recently attended a workshop where we were taken through a forgiveness exercise. I thought I’d forgiven everyone. I didn’t think I had any reason to forgive my parents.  I knew they did the best they could with the consciousness they had at the time.  But wouldn’t you know, as I was led into the exercise I uncovered a deeper layer of painful experience that needed to be forgiven.  Once I did, I felt so free, so unencumbered…completely released from the burden. What a gift.

How do you forgive someone who has done the “unforgivable?”  It’s not easy, but it is possible.  Fortunately there are many books and workshops available that can inspire you and guide you through the forgiveness process.  A few of my favorites are… Forgiveness: The Greatest Healer of All by Gerald Jampolsky & Neal Donald Walsch:  http://amzn.to/ix5uiS , Forgiveness is a Choice by Robert D. Enright: http://amzn.to/jzmMzn and, How to Forgive When You Can’t by Jim Dincalci:  http://amzn.to/jKmwe0.
In addition, I devote an entire chapter on how to forgive in my book, Manifesting Your Desires, which has a companion audiobook where I guide you through the process. (Click here for more info on that: www.manifestyourgood.com )

Once unforgiveness has been cleared from your “channels” you will be amazed at how effective your gratitude practice will be.  You will be, in effect, open and available to receive the good that has been blocked…the good that is waiting for you.

“Good” Friday

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Today is Good Friday, and my daughter asked me, “Mom, why do they call it Good if it’s the day Jesus was hung on the cross and died?”  I seem to remember asking that same question of my mom when I was a child.  Perhaps you’ve asked it yourself.  I remember my mom saying something like, “Well because it recognizes the cycle where the miracle of resurrection transpired at the end.”  Okay. I kind of understood that.

However, after practicing proactive gratitude for a while, I get this idea on a whole new level.   First of all, the resurrection could not have happened without the crucifixion.  Secondly, as with all biblical stories, the message is only transformational when you can relate it to you own life.

So, for me that means…the challenges and difficulties in our lives have the potential to bring forth a miracle for us.  In fact, the miracle is inherent in the challenge. And…here’s the key…in order to experience the miracle, we need to name the challenge “Good.”

Think about a challenge you are currently facing in your life.  Is it possible…even remotely…that some good could come of it?  You might not be able to see what that is now, and that’s okay.  From what I understand, Jesus’ followers didn’t see the resurrection coming.  But it came.  You may recall other challenges in your life that you can be grateful for in hindsight because it led you to some good you have now…a blessing that you wouldn’t have if you hadn’t walked through the challenge.

This “miracle after darkness” is not the exclusive territory of Christians.  All faiths have a similar story. We just celebrated Passover and the miracle of freedom and finding the land of milk and honey after years and years of enslavement.  Buddha almost starved to death trying to live as an acetic before he was brought back to heath and was then able to share his wisdom.   Mohammad was outnumbered and defeated before he claimed victory and was able to share his message channeled into the Quran.

The point is, whatever challenge you are facing, look at it squarely in the eyes and name it Good!  Allow yourself to trust that there is a miracle unfolding in your life and that this challenge will somehow deliver it to you.  You don’t need to know how.  That isn’t your job.  Your job is to trust and stay alert.  Be on the lookout for it – a miracle can take many forms.  Name it good, and then be open.

Happy Easter.