A client came into the office early yesterday morning already experiencing a rough day and acting a bit snarly. I suggested she take a deep breath. I’m not sure she did, but as I made the suggestion, I noticed I did! Instantly, I felt myself relax and feel more balanced.
When the ego is running around in the cage of my head, especially when I’m (meditating), focusing on my breath is a sure way for me to get centered. It sure feels great!
I take a deep, conscious breathe to relax, focus, stay in the Now, and thereby connect with Spirit. There is no limit to how often and how long I do this. The more, the better I’m sure my mental, emotional, spiritual, and even my physical body would agree.
A warm cup of chamomile tea: $2.49 – A deep breath: priceless!
We empower ourselves every time we accept responsibility for choosing the thoughts and feelings we act on. – In God’s Care, February 4, 2010
Thinking about what I am grateful for is a wonderful (and quick) way for me to align with Spirit and thereby empower myself.
So here’s what I’m grateful for this very morning:
– Spending quiet time with God, my Higher Self, guides, angels, and all the other beings interested in my upliftment – Early morning ’kawfee’ time with Rog in our rustic candlelit living room – The divine spark within that is growing stronger every day – My robust health physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually – My front crown remaining secure and staying on! – My newfound friend, client, and personal healer – Interesting clients and creative work – Money flowing in more steadily – Unity of Sedona people and events – An array of friends who are waking up alongside me
And, most of all, my gratitude list must always include knowing and feeling I am never alone, for God is always with me.
Thank You, Spirit, for all You have blessed me with. I look forward to the future blessings You have in store for me.
Scott Walker tells the story of purchasing his favorite flowering plant, the hibiscus. He bought it during the summer, placed it on his patio, and without any effort on his part, it was nurtured by rain and his sprinkler system. It grew rapidly, and was lush with rich green leaves and bright trumpet blossoms.
Brought into his sunny breakfast room to protect it from the cold in the winter, the hibiscus was not automatically water. Scott forgot to water it and soon the hibiscus wilted, its leaves yellowed, and it was falling to the floor. He was ready to toss it into the garbage can, but as he passed the kitchen sink, he decided to try watering the hibiscus to give it one last chance. Soon the water brought the plant back to a flourishing life.
Scott recounts “This morning, as I sat at the breakfast table and looked at the hibiscus, it occurred to me that when I haven’t attended to my spiritual life, it begins to wilt and wither, and only prayer can bring back its vitality and rekindle its hope. If, in the midst of winter, I’ve allowed the frost to touch my soul, I cannot wait one more day to water it with prayer.”
How true Scott’s lesson is. I must nourish and tend to my soul regularly. It takes conscious effort on my part – it cannot be automatically fed and no one else can do it. When I take time to nurture my spirit through practice of prayer, meditation, reading, and helping others, I thrive and my life gets better and better.
I strive to be a good listener when someone is talking to me. That entails being attentive and focused, not thinking of how I will respond or making judgments or being somewhere else. To be a good listener for someone is a loving, respectful act.
It’s also an honorable act. When I am attentive, I’m honoring that person – and God. For God sends messages and information in many ways, and through the words of humans is a prolific format.
What fun it is to be alert to God’s words when face-to-face with another human being! What an opportunity to bless one another! Who knows what I will hear from God as I serve another by fully listening with my ears, my mind, and my heart?…
Dear Spirit – Make me a channel of clear two-way communication in the presence of others, and in the Presence of You and Your unseen helpers.
Just sit there right now. Don’t do a thing. Just rest. For your separation from God is the hardest work in this world. – Hafiz
This waking up business can be pretty tricky and challenging. The idea of unity with Source and of course with other people is great, but it’s often not simple or easy to think or behave in accordance with it. Waking up is my primary purpose and I cannot do it alone – obviously.
What a wonderful assurance this is: “Let there be light.” What a blessing it is to know that the light of God is within me, day and night, in good times and in challenging times. One with God, I face each day with confidence. – Daily Word, 01.31.10
In a recent Daily Guideposts, Roberta Messner talked about how giving to others in a variety of ways lessened her chronic physical pain from an incurable disorder. Her doctor told her that her discovery was supported by both the Bible and medical science. “Giving releases endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, Roberta. Studies have actually shown that volunteers, some of the most devoted givers of all, lead happier, healthier and longer lives.”
In another recent Daily Guideposts (01.23.10) I read the following prayer: “Dear Lord, help me do one thing today that brings someone farther away from a problem and closer to a solution.”
When I was very actively doing service in OA, there is no doubt that I felt happier and more fulfilled as I helped my peers live in the solution for their eating disorder problem. It was an honor and a privilege to serve. In my giving of myself, my self was receiving – a lovely, loving loop of giving and receiving in action. My own recovery was enhanced, my connection to Spirit strengthened, my channel clearer, my heart open.
Service is always a great way to quiet the ego, let God in, and shine my light to help others. As I set my intentions for moving my life and purpose forward, I enthusiastically (“with God”) give of myself. I am blessed as I bless others.
I was once again reminded through my readings this morning that God is always with me in every fiber of my being, in every situation. That idea, with the notion that I create my world, gave rise to an epiphany.
Especially during the past year I have gotten into fear about our financial situation, imagining that we would fall into a life like the homeless people who graced the sidewalks of New York where I lived for the first 41 years of my life. I figured that any person could land up homeless and penniless, and I was no exception. I could let my imagination run wild and get into a mighty tizzy. But I missed some key thoughts, some distinctions that set me aside from those folks…
Like, I have the awareness of the power I have to create my own world, and with God, I really do create my life. Like, positive thinking is uplifting and makes a huge difference in my life. Like, I have people in my life that offered us a place to stay. And, from another standpoint, if I am seeing homeless people in the outside world it is a projection of something going on within me. There is no out there out there. I need to address the message and heal.
“If man understood that “what I create has nothing to do with what anybody else is creating” then he wouldn’t be so afraid of what others are doing.” – Abraham (Excerpted from the 11.14.98 El Paso, TX workshop #335)
I once again realized that I need not be in fear (false evidence appearing real) because #1, a loving God is always with me, and #2, looking at other people’s lives and comparing mine to theirs does not serve me well. We are each on our own path, making our choices, learning the lessons we came into this current lifetime to learn.
It only serves me well to look at the ‘outside’ world as a learning tool on my journey of waking up. Each person, place, and situation is an opportunity to increase my consciousness one minute at a time. Everything is a blessing and all is well.
I was reminded about trusting Spirit in an article by Catherine Marshall about the Law of Relinquishment, in essence, acceptance and surrender.
She says that “not even the Master Shepherd can lead if the sheep have not trust and insist on running ahead of Him or taking side paths or just stubbornly refusing to follow Him.” How true – how can God help me if I have not trust in Him? The self-will must be given over to God.
“The Prayer of Relinquishment… does not let us lie down in the dust of a godless universe and steel ourselves just for the worst. Rather it says: “This is my situation at the moment. I’ll face the reality of it. But I’ll also accept willingly whatever a loving Father sends.” Acceptance therefore never slams the door on hope.”
And for sure, getting into fear about a situation doesn’t help. “Fear is like a screen erected between us and God, so that His power cannot get through to us.” When we relinquish fear, God and His power – the supreme reality – fear evaporates. Once again, I’m either living in fear or I’m living in faith.
Dear Spirit – You are my Source, my loving, all powerful Father. May I trust in You in all things, relinquishing my ego so that I may align with Your will, do Your good works, and dwell in peace.
“Lord, light my way along Your path so that all I do leads me toward the destination You have in mind.” – Daily Guideposts Prayer, January 27, 2010
Lighting the way along my path, Spirit has provided me with wonderful teachers. They come in many forms, with some that unfold as a challenge and many others as love. All are blessings in my life to grow me spiritually, to wake me up.
Yesterday I started working with a new one in a very conscious, intentional way. I’m helping BK design and build her website, and she is helping me heal, open my heart, and get clear about what I came here to do. It is a wonderful, rich exchange of energy. And while I look forward to discovering what God’s destination is for me, I am so enjoying and grateful for this light along the journey in the form of BK.
Thank You, Spirit, for the wonderful blessings in my life of people, places, and things. Thank You for the light you shine along my way in my journey of growing closer to You – and me.
“Fear of the unknown is natural, but it lessens as we mature in our spiritual life. “- In God’s Care, January 27, 2010
Since I ‘came to believe’ almost 20 years ago, I no longer feel that awful ache inside that I am alone – God is always with me. Where there is faith, fear cannot dwell. As I mature in my faith and spirituality, fear lessens.
I’ve learned too that there are many other entities with me as well. There is so very much going on in the unseen world, there are so many beings only too glad to help with me with living life and my spiritual growth.
I know quite a few people who are able to hear the messages from God and their other unseen friends and who are able to easily communicate back and forth, piercing the veil. I envy them – I just seem so blocked in being able to hear their guidance despite my yearning to be in conscious contact with them.
So I have developed the practice of greeting them in the morning, and saying goodnight to them when my head hits the pillow at the end of the day (and “acting as if” as much as possible). I have been praying to them – and Spirit – to release any blockages I might have and to provide a clear channel for me to hear them. The issue lays with me, not them.
Last night at the Unity of Sedona Mystic Choir’s rehearsal, we practiced a number of songs by Rickie Byars Beckwith. This morning during meditation I realized that Spirit had provided me with better languaging in my search to more readily ‘hear the voices’ of It and my angels, guides, etc.
“How can I serve today, sweet Spirit? How can I serve, oh Lord? Speak in ways that I will understand Where You lead me, I will follow Where You lead me, I will go.” – Lyrics by Rickie Byars Beckwith
Thank You, Spirit! Thanks to all of my other unseen friends!
