Bring Harmony to Our Times

We have found ourselves in a time in which there are troubles beyond the norm.  Each day in the news we find aggression, not only in countries which are at war, but in our hometowns, where there are suddenly daily deaths at the hands of friends and foe alike.  There are missing persons.  There are robberies.

Perhaps, at least, the latter finds sensibility in the fact that our economy is devastating to the poor.  But the ongoing number of assaults and murders have no explanation.  There has been the murder of woman jogger, the murder of a 14-year-old boy, and murders of spouses.  How do we account for this?  It is an everyday occurrence. 

Are we so accepting of the concept of death due to the ongoing notion of war that seems without end that we bring it home to our neighborhoods?  If we are so callous, so apathetic with our reactions, that we can’t seem to care, how do we put an end to the insanity of murder?

We must pray and meditate that harmony be restored to our world, not just our neighborhoods, but the entire world.  We must pray not only for our own troops, for their protection, for their safe return home, but for the re-establishment of those with whom we are at war and their willingness to be at peace.  We must pray for our enemies, for them that hate us, as Jesus said. 

The bottom line is that we must focus our minds on the good within all people, that they may enjoy a good life, as we wish to enjoy our lives.  Only by allowing that all people have their needs met will we be able to restore harmony in our world, our neighborhoods, our lives.

May you be richly blessed.

Ideals

When we watch an intensely heroic movie or read a book turning pages quickly, is it truly the hero who inspires our admiration?  Do we truly fall in love with the image on the screen or the image in our mind?  Is the manipulation of the author or the director that gives that character his place in our hearts?  Does his or her prowess make an animation larger than life? 

These are valid questions to consider, but I maintain that it is not the character, in and of himself or herself, that impresses our minds and hearts, rather it is the adherence to the ideals of bravery, honesty, the discernment of right vs. wrong, and loyalty, with the ability to come through when it really matters, making a positive difference in the world, that makes us sit on the edge of our seats in the theater, cheer for the good guys, bite our lips as we read a novel, and so forth.

Whether the narrative takes place in outer space or the Old West, we still want the good guys to win, not because they are the good guys, but because they affirm the cultural base that we have been taught in our homes and schools since before we could talk.

Why are ideals so important to us?     Ideals form the framework of our world, so that we are able to gauge how we are faring in life.  They are the ruler by which we compare our performance, our success or failure, our ability to express who we are, where we stand in the line of human existence.

Whether the hero is Spiderman, Tinkerbell, Captain Kirk, or a mouse, we seek out the better character to get behind our heroes.  How well does it work?  Just go to a department store and check out the toy department action figures.

What about our villains?  A recent Q & A on Facebook showed that people were infatuated with the character of Regina, the Evil Queen, from Once Upon a Time in comparison to many others.  Why? Because her love for her son, Henry, gave her the initiative and desire to change her life to the good side.  Our loyalty to ideals of goodness extends even to the so-called villains.

Story after story, we seek out the good in our characters to inspire goodness within ourselves and determine where we fit on the ladder of success.

May you be richly blessed.

A Matter of Time

Giving readings to people who have a longing for relationships, a good job that they love, something or anything that they have wanted for a long time, becomes difficult because the object of a person’s dreams does not magically appear once the reading takes place.  I often wonder if the client believes I have the ability to translate their desire to reality, merely by seeing the image in mind.

Unfortunately, this is not the case.  If it were, I would be a wealthy woman and the world would no longer deal with traumas.  The reality of the situation is that we tend to keep our dreams and desires at the feeling stage of development.  For our dreams to actually come true, we have to go to work on them.  We have to put in our order with the Universe, for example, so that there is no misunderstanding as to what we want.  Affirmations work great for this. 

An affirmation is a positive statement expressing that we already have that which we desire.  For example, “I have a new, shiny, red, sports car that gets great gas mileage.”  In this example, we state our desire, along with any trimmings:  great gas mileage.  You can even declare when you would like this to happen:  by October 30, 2014.  To use affirmations, write it down on several pieces of paper and put them where you can see them throughout the day.  When you see the paper, whisper the affirmation three times.  This creates the metaphysical energy and gets the ball rolling.  The energy builds with each repetition.

So now you have stated to the Universe what you want.  If you wish to add to the energy, write the affirmation ten times a day.  Hold onto the pages until your wish comes true.

But now that we have the prerequisites done, let’s talk about timing.  This is what’s really in question here.  If you include a date in your affirmations, you are more likely to hit the mark.  In fact, the Universe tends to fill the orders early.  But it also depends on the complexity of the request: object, home, relationship, job, etc.  Some of these are simple and easy to fulfill.  Others are more complex and a little difficult to arrange.  If you are working on a new relationship that is harmonious, prosperous and passionate, realize that there is a little more detail to work toward.  Your personal attitude plays a big role as well.  Sometimes people attach anguish to their desires, and the energy they put into the Universe, then, is heartbreak. That’s not what you’re looking for.  But you must understand that the Universe takes time to find what is right for you.  You may not agree, you may think it is more important to have something right now, but this is not the case.  If you have put the energy out there, be certain that you will get what you want, all in due time.

May you be richly blessed!

Using Your Gifts

I just finished watching a short video with a man who has no arms or legs, just a short partial foot attached to his body.  He is a motivational speaker, and I have heard him before.  He is nothing short of incredible and he makes the most of his life by being a testimony to the good anyone can do to contribute to the world.

We spend a tremendous amount of time convincing ourselves that we can’t do certain things for one reason or another.  We focus entirely too much on our limitations, rather than opening our hearts to the beautiful gifts the Creator has given us.  We muddle through life thinking we have no abilities, listening to what others say about us, rather than aspiring to an innate knowledge of ourselves that frees us from the rest of the crowd.  We gather up the thorns, mire ourselves in jealousy over what someone else has, and hold bitterness tight to our hearts until we’ve had a heart attack.

Our armless, legless man does not do that.  He’s going out talking to people and showing and telling that everyone has ability, and that they need to use it.  If he can do that, get up every day, be an inspiration, what can each of us do with a whole body?  No matter what you are lacking, it is no excuse to sit and vegetate.  You can think, you can help others, you can bring Light into this world by caring enough about yourself to contribute what ability you have, whatever it may be.

Some of you will say you have no ability.  You have no talent.  You have no gift. But I say to you that there is something that you do that is so special, so unique, that you need to do it to bless others.  Perhaps you are a gifted listener.  Perhaps you are a cook.  Perhaps you love to shop and can run errands for those who are homebound.  Perhaps you love animals and can volunteer at a shelter.  It may be ideas that you have that can make a difference in our world, or it may be service, or it may be the way you beautify surroundings or atmosphere.  You have a talent.  Accept it.  Do it.  Now.

Perhaps you have to do a little self-discovery to find what makes you special.  An old friend used to say to look out at the horizon, think, and keep looking until it dawns upon you who you are.  I say that if you sit with yourself, in the silence, your mind will take you where you want to be, where your abilities take you.  Open yourself to the possibilities.

If you need to get additional education, look into the funding you will need.  You may be eligible for a grant or loan.  Don’t waste another day.  Go forward on your Life Path and be who you are meant to be.  There are no excuses.

May you be richly blessed.

Managing the Life Path

I am periodically asked to identify what it is that an individual came into this life to accomplish.  In other words, what is the purpose of the lifetime.  Usually, this comes from someone who is about to retire, or someone who has wanted to change careers and is thinking about the selflessness of a healing modality as having a purpose to help others. 

You might have thought that the question would come when a person is young and just starting out, but the young are blessed with vision based on desire and survival and building a future for themselves.  When we are older, we think in terms of babysitting grandchildren, writing the great American novel, traveling the world, or, perhaps, just resting and relaxing so that we can enjoy retirement.  The problem comes in when we realize that shuffleboard isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Taking a series of self-improvement classes is often the next step, followed by the question, “What is my purpose in life?”

Sometimes this question is simply answered by suggesting that the querant try to think of something that was very important during early youth.  I don’t mean a special toy, but an activity that gave not only great pleasure, but also a measure of pride.  More often than not, the response is painting, telling stories, or some other manner of art.  The purpose of this individual’s life, then, is to bring greater beauty into the world, either through interior design, landscaping, painting, photography, poetry writing or perhaps even fashion design.

Some people will be disappointed with that answer, because they feel that their purpose in life has to have something to do with saving the world.  Indeed it does!  With all of the stress and danger in our lives these days, having the opportunity to enjoy beauty, in whatever form it takes, is calming, relaxing, healing.  What better way to save the world?

One major obstacle in our lives that keeps us from knowing our purpose is when the Life Path is marked with several rows of stepping stones.  This has recently been called to my attention.  Not everyone will see these, as not everyone’s path is the same, but for those who have a tiled path with several stones across, it may be the result of trying to live too many lives.  Simply put, I mean that such a person is trying to fulfill the needs and demands of other people, sometimes in avoidance of what they truly want and need to be doing.  This is both stressful and exhausting.

It is clear that in this day and age, we need to help our friends and family as much as possible.  It is a financial and personal necessity.  But there are also times when one must step back and tell a loved one, “This is your path, not mine.”  When that happens, you free up your time and your energy to devote to what you truly should be doing.  If it is a form of art, wonderful!  If it is being a workhorse, helping others with upkeep on their property, wonderful!  We all have abilities and skills that we can use to help and show our love for our community of people.  Just being aware of our own innate abilities lays the groundwork to answering any question that we may have about what we “should” be doing, what we came into this life to accomplish.  You will have a hunger for it.  You will feel freer and stronger and less stressed when you are doing it. 

You may have to do a little trial and error, but you will surely find it in a short amount of time.  Once you have found your purpose, set it as priority number one.  It may not be something that you have to do for 8 hours a day, but you should exercise this ability for some time each day.  You will feel more healthy, more energetic, and be more loved.

May you be richly blessed.

Questioning Ourselves

How many times do we come to a decision about something major in our lives, only to find our hearts fluttering a little faster, sweat forming on our foreheads, and our minds running so fast we can hardly keep up with them?  Why do we question decisions we have made?  Do we feel we need to take a poll among our friends to see if they agree that we are doing the right thing?

When we believe that we are incapable of making the right choice for ourselves, we undermine our confidence, and we become less of a person.  Some of this behaviour comes from the way we were taught, that someone in our lives took the choices we made and vetoed them, or substituted something for what we wanted.  We learned that we did not make good decisions, that what we wanted didn’t matter, and this shook our resolve, caved in our confidence, and put an end to our motivation.  After all, what point would there be to working on any given project if it was the wrong choice to begin with?

How do we heal from this kind of upbringing?  It is important to start small.  Try doing something that can be accomplished within a day.  Or perhaps something that takes even less time, like a crossword puzzle or other stimulating game.  When you have successfully completed the project, give yourself a reward.  Slowly work up to bigger and bigger things.  But make sure to aim at things that you know you can accomplish unassisted.  Allow yourself to feel the increase in your confidence as you succeed.  Reward yourself with things you have really wanted over time.

Eventually, you may want to work up to something competitive in nature, something that takes a greater amount of preparation.  That is all right, but recognize that, at this point, you are competing against yourself, to improve your personal best.  You can accomplish great things when your motivation is self-improvement.  These kinds of activities will increase your confidence, be self-motivating, and offer you a firm basis for personal growth.

May you be richly blessed!

How Does God Know?

The premise that God knows all we do and say is based on the understanding that all things are made of, through and by God.  We have been given the Ten Commandments as our rules for living over the course of history, and yet, we seem to feel the need to break them, to feel that we are getting away with something.  Which leads us to the notion that, “...all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  But we still think that if we pull a fast one on someone, or shortchange another, tell a lie, cheat on our marriage, and so on, that God will not see.  We hold our attitudes that every person needs to pull his own weight.  That we should take care of our own, and no other.  But Abraham and Sarah served angels, unaware of who they were.

The point of this is that God does know.  God sees, hears, feels, everything that we do.  He weighs and measures all of the things we experience in our days, and knows if we’re selfish rather than charitable, boastful rather than humble, a liar, cheater or murderer, and so on.  If you think that you can get away with those little white lies, you’re probably right.  Most people won’t know.  Most people won’t care.  You don’t matter that much to them in all honesty.  But God knows.  God cares.  God loves each and every one of us and wants us to succeed in all of our daily living.

We can post our love of God on Facebook, but if we turn around and despise our fellow man, which message are we sending back to God?  Jesus said, “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do also unto me.”  He meant that we should love every other person and help those people who need it, in whatever way they need it.  And we should give cheerfully, not with regret, not with resentment, but cheerfully, gladness in helping someone else on their path in life. 

We have all been in situations when we needed help.  Sometimes there are others who lend a hand and other times, we suffer alone.  Those times when we suffer, we are intended to learn some kind of lesson.  If we learn it, when we come to the same situation again, whether it is our own experience or that of another, we will know how to handle the situation, and hopefully, be more sensitive to the needs of whoever is experiencing the problem.  If we are hard-hearted, when someone else suffers as we did, then we did not learn the lesson, and we are bound to repeat the lesson, either in this life or the next.

We cannot cure all the ills of the world.  It would be senseless to try.  But we can pray for those in need when we cannot give, and we can share an attitude of giving to those less fortunate so that others are more inclined to charity.  For the greatest, is love.

May you be richly blessed.

Be More

There is a simple affirmation that states, “Every day in every way I am getting better and better.”  It is the pure simplicity of positive thinking to assure ourselves that our focus needs to be on the positive things that happen in life.  By doing so, we draw the good, the positive, the best to ourselves.

Before we can draw good to ourselves, however, we need to have a healthy understanding that we deserve good, that we have the potential to bring good into our lives, and that life can be better than what we experience at the moment.  The bottom line is how we see ourselves and our ability to control our own futures.

We have to start at the baseline.  Evaluate where you are right now, and then decide what direction in which you would like to go.  Let go of the notion that there is one perfect job, relationship, residence, or outcome that you are meant to have according to Universal law.  Unless you have been stuck with a tremendous amount of karma, that is simply not something you have to worry about.  What is important, is what you want.  What would make you happy and fulfilled?

Once you establish what is important for you and where you would like to go, you can set up a goal.  This is important, because if you don’t have a goal, you don’t have a direction to go forward.  So take your time and write down what you want, when you expect to have it, and any details regarding your desire.

Believe that you can have what you want.  Once you have established the goal, write an affirmation claiming that you have what you want.  For example, “I have the perfect job (specify) for perfect pay (specify).”  If you will need education to get you where you want to be, add that to the goal structure, but take action to get there.

To be more, accept that you deserve more, you have the ability to bring it into your life, and believe that you can accomplish whatever good you envision.

May you be richly blessed!