Free Your Soul, continued

The key is to be quiet.

It's not that your mind has to be quiet. It's you who needs to be quiet. The minute you stop putting your whole heart and soul into the mind as if it were your savior and protector, you will find yourself behind the mind watching it. That's how you know about your thoughts: you are in there watching them. Eventually, you will be able to just sit in there quietly, and consciously observe the mind.

You can watch the mind being neurotic and not get involved. Withdraw your attention from it, and the thinking mind falls away. Start with the little things.

For example, you are walking along and you see a friend. You say hello but the friend keeps on walking by. You don't know whether they didn't hear you or if they actually ignored you. You aren't sure what's going on. Your mind starts going a mile a minute. Good time for a reality check! There are billions of people on this planet, and one of didn't say hello to you. Are you saying that you can't handle that? Is that reasonable?

Watch the mind try to figure out what to do about it. Just marvel at the fact that all of this is going on inside simply because someone didn't say hello to you. Just watch the mind talk, and keep relaxing and releasing.

Begin this journey to freedom, by reminding yourself to observe the mind. This will keep you from getting lost in it.


From the Untethered Soul, Michael Singer

Free Your Soul

The prerequisite to true freedom is to decide that you do not want to suffer anymore. You must decide that you want to enjoy your life and that there is no reason for stress, inner pain, or fear. Every day, we bear a burden that we should not be bearing. We fear that we are not good enough or that we will fail. We experience insecurity, anxiety, and self-consciousness. We fear that people will turn on us, take advantage of us, or stop loving us.

We carry an inner weight of fear.....fear of experiencing pain, anguish, or sorrow. Every day, we are either feeling it, or we are protecting ourselves from feling it. It is such a core influence that we don't even realize how prevalent it is. You only notice that you are suffering when it gets worse than usual.

Your mind is always telling you that you have to change something outside in order to solve your inner problems. But, if you're wise you will realize that the advice your mind is giving you is psychologically damaged advice. Your mind's thoughts are disturbed by fears.

By watching your mind, you will notice that it is engaged in the process of trying to make everything okay. Do not fight your mind. When you see the mind telling you how to fix the world and everyone in it in order to suit yourself, don't listen.

(to be continued. From: The Untethered Soul, Michael Singer)

Cause and Effect

"Through what is near, one understands what is far away." Hsun-Tzu


It is said that when a butterfly flaps its wings in Japan, it causes a hurricane in Louisiana. To see that all the world's events are connected is to understand that we should take responsibility for our actions.

Happiness

Tell everyone you know: "My happiness depends on me, so you're off the hook." And then demonstrate it. Be happy, no matter what they're doing. Practice feeling good, no matter what. And before you know it, you will not give anyone else responsibility for the way you feel—and then, you'll love them all. Because the only reason you don't love them, is because you're using them as your excuse to not feel good.

(Abraham-Hicks)

What Story Do You Tell?

What’s your story? Not your title, bio, resume, or role. Your Story.
Stories have always explained the world around us. We’re familiar with story vehicles like books and movies, but the most powerful stories exist within us – the sometimes unspoken, unconscious stories that we tell ourselves. Or repeat to ourselves because we heard someone else say it first.

Ghostwriting: This internal dialogue shapes the path of our lives. It guides our decisions about work, play, relationships, politics and our outlook on life. It impacts everything from where we live and how we raise our children to food choices and favorite teams. In each moment, we ghostwrite our own futures through the power of story in our lives.

Life does not offer chances to live out alternative histories. But life does offer choices about how we will create new life stories. And you have to have a new story to be in before you can give up the old story. (David Krueger, M.D.)

Importance of Generosity

The most difficult time to be generous is when we ourselves are feeling poor. While some of us have experienced actually being in the red financially, there are those of us who would feel broke even if we had a million dollars in the bank. Either way, as the old adage goes, it is always in giving that we receive. Meaning that when we are living in a state of lack, the very gesture we may least want to give is the very act that could help us create the abundance that we seek.

One way to practice generosity is to give energy where it is needed. Giving money to a cause or person in need is one way to give energy. Giving attention, love, or a smile to another person are other acts of giving that we can offer. After all, there are people all over the world that are hungry for love.

Remember that what you send out will always come back you. Selflessly help a friend in need without expecting them to return the same favor in the same way, and know that you, too, will receive that support from the universe when you need it. We give freely, because we trust that there is always an unlimited supply. Being aware of how much we are always supported by the universe is one of the keys to abundance and generosity. Consciously remember the times you’ve received support from expected and unexpected sources.

Remember anyone who has helped you when you’ve needed it most, and bless all situations that come into your life for the lessons and gifts they bring you. Remember that all things given and received emanate from generosity. Giving is an act of gratitude. Plant the seeds of generosity through your acts of giving, and you will grow the fruits of abundance for yourself and those around you. (based on the Daily OM)

Enough Time

How many times do we tell people we would do something if only we had more time? Don't we all have 24 hours in each day....the same amount of time as the next person? Think about it.

What you are really saying is that you choose to not include the whatever it is in the 24 hours you are given. It is always a matter of choice. Pleading lack of time to do your chores, call your friends, rest, see your family, read a book.....all those things you put off doing.....is dishonest, isn't it? We are all free to choose how we spend our 24 hours. Even if you work 12 hours a day, you have made a choice. I suggest we get out of the habit of blaming and making excuses, and instead, own our own power. WE CHOOSE.

The second step is to make sure that the choices we make are in keeping with who we really are. Are we thoughtful, compassionate, spiritual, creative, for instance? Should not our choices we make of how we spend our 24 hours, reflect our values?

"Time is a created thing. To say 'I don't have time,' is like saying, 'I don't want to." Lao-Tzu

Buce Lipton

This is exciting stuff!
Bruce Lipton recently emphasized the following points:

• most of the subconscious programming takes place from birth to 6 years old
• the programming is from those around us, parents, relatives, teachers, media
• 95 - 98 % of our actions are governed by subconscious programs
• the subconscious processes 1,000,000 times faster than the conscious mind
• our perceptions/ beliefs in the subconscious run us and our decisions
• in a conflict between conscious desires and subconscious beliefs, the subconscious patterns will be run
• there is a way to change subconscious programs using "energy psychology"
• the method he has used and recommends is PSYCH-K®
• he credits PSYCH-K® with releasing blocks and permitting him to easily finish writing his book, which he had been working on for 10 years.

PSYCH-K® is a perfect blend of simplicity and effectiveness. It is a new paradigm for creating permanent change in your subconscious beliefs. It provides a way of communicating directly with your subconscious and rewriting limiting beliefs affecting any area of your life. Here is how Bruce described it...“Rather than genes, it is our beliefs that control our lives. PSYCH-K® is a set of simple, self-empowering techniques to change your beliefs and perceptions that impact your life at a cellular level,” ~ Bruce Lipton, PhD, cellular biologist best-selling author of The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles, published in 2005

Keeping Your Power

In many ways, we are taught from the time we are young children to give our power to others. When told to kiss relatives or friends of family, for example, we learned to override our inner sense of knowing our right to determine for ourselves what we want to do This repression continued throughout our lives, and at this point, we may no longer even know how to hold on to our power because giving it away is ingrained and automatic.We feel that it's part of our social contract.....that we have to do this in order to survive.

But, it is possible to live in a way that preserves our integrity and stability. Begin by listening to the inner voice which continues to let us know what we want, no matter how many times we override its messages. Don't buy into trends. Don't allow others to make our decisions for us or not voicing an opinion when an inappropriate joke is made. As we learn to pay attention to our inner voice and build a relationship with our power, we begin to see that we don't always have to do what we're being asked to do by others. All we have to do is have the confidence to listen to our own voice and let it guide us to make our own decisions in life. (based on the Daily OM)

*****

To this I would add that acting on what you, not others, want of yourself, may be frightening at first. In fact, it may be terrifying! After all, you will no longer be able to blame others!:-) But, this is what being an adult IS. And, I promise, you will grow in your happiness!

Attitude of Gratitude

Whatever you focus on grows. So, when you focus on every thing in your life you have to feel grateful for and all the wonderful people you appreciate, the universe hands you more to feel grateful about. It's a wonderfully reciprocal consciousness raising process. (Ronya Banks)


Appreciation is a powerful tool to shift perspective. Finding something to appreciate during a difficult situation quickly moves the perspective to the big picture from the little picture. (Doc Childre and Bruce Cryer)

The researchers at the Institute of HeartMath have found that in the English language the words, "Gratitude" and "Appreciation" are the two words that best describe the optimum feeling that we can have in our hearts that create that coherence between the mind...the heart and the brain; in other words, in every moment of every day our heart is sending a signal to our brain and it's either flooding our bodies with life-affirming or life-denying chemistry. Gratitude and appreciation are the words that describe the feeling that sends the optimal signals to our brain to tell our brain to give us the powerfully enhanced immune system and DHEA levels that are sky high. And this is what's been documented undert laboratory conditions. (Gregg Braden)

An attitude of gratitude can be consciously chosen, no matter what our circumstances. We can choose to look at what's right in any given situation and become a beacon of love and joy.

I think it's good to get into a habit of feeling grateful when things are going pretty well in our life, as it's nearly impossible to develop the habit when we are in turmoil. Once it has become second nature to us, we can be aware and grateful no matter what we may be going through. It is then that you will discover your power to change your circumstances by your ability to be grateful!

Happy Sunday!

No matter what you have done up to this moment, you get 24 brand-new hours to spend every single day. Brian Tracy

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Whatever you are going through today is training for tomorrow. You need today to reach tomorrow. Harold Klemp

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Anyone who has ever made a resolution discovers that the strength of that determination fades in time. The moment ou feel that is when you should make a fresh determination. Tell yourselves, "OK! I will start again from now!" If you fall down seven times, get up the eighth. Don't give up when you feel discouraged. Just pick yourselves up and renew your determination each time.

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What is important is not what happens to us, but how we respond to what happens to us. Jean-Paul Sartre

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No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit. Helen Keller

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Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience. Victoria Holt

The Joy of Being

The moment that judgment stops through acceptance of what is, you are free of the mind.

******

Be aware of the space that allows everything to be.
Listen to the sounds; don't judge them.
Listen to the silence underneath the sounds.
Touch something.....anything.....and feel and acknowledge its Being.

******
Always say "YES" to the present moment.
Surrender to what is.
Say "yes" to life....and see how life
suddenly starts working for you rather than against you.

Eckhart Tolle

Releasing Guilt

Accept and forgive. (adapted from the Daily OM)

Learning to accept the things that we perceive as wrong can be a difficult task. Often we have been brought up to accept that it is normal to feel guilty about our actions. Even though we might feel that we have a reason to make up for the choices we have made, it is much more important for us to learn how to deal with them in a healthy and positive way, such as through forgiveness and understanding.

When we can look back at our past and really assess what has happened, we begin to realize that there are many dimensions to our actions. It is ironic that being hard on ourselves is the easy way out. If we truly are able to gaze upon our lives through the lens of compassion, however, we will be able to see that there is much more to what we do and have done than we realize.

Perhaps we were simply trying to protect ourselves or others and did the best we could at the time, or maybe we thought we had no other recourse and chose a solution in the heat of the moment. Once we can understand that dwelling in our negative feelings will only make us feel worse, we will come to recognize that it is really only through forgiving ourselves that we can transform our feelings and heal any resentment we have about our past.

Giving ourselves permission to feel at peace with our past actions is one of the most positive steps we can take toward living a life free from regrets, disappointments, and guilt.

The more we are able to remind ourselves that the true path to a peaceful mind and heart is through acceptance of every part of our lives and actions, the more harmony and inner joy we will experience in all aspects of our lives.

New Ideas

We cannot focus upon the weaknesses of one another and evoke strengths. You cannot focus upon the things that you think they are doing wrong, and evoke things that will make you feel better. You've got to beat the drum that makes you feel good when you beat it. And when you do, you'll be a strong signal of influence that will help them to reconnect with who they are.

It doesn’t really matter what religion anybody believes. If their life is working (and there are many different approaches to life that are working very well) then why not let them believe whatever they want to believe? It’s all working in the way that it is supposed to be. There are religions that you wouldn’t want anything to do with, that are perfect mechanisms for the people who are involved in them. And therefore, they are a very good thing.

The best you can do for anyone is to thrive fully and be willing to explain to anyone who asks how it is that you are thriving, and what it is that you've discovered—and then, just relax and trust that all truly is well. (Abraham-Hicks)

Willingness

We go through life fighting....fighting with our thoughts, or we stubbornly clamp down, insisting "there is no other way" to see an issue. Whatever the reason for this may be, I invite you to consider another way.

Opening to Understanding There are times when we may find ourselves struggling or even fighting with our thoughts and emotions. We may feel that something must be done in a certain way or not at all, or there may be some other situation that feels absolutely black and white. But life is not this way—it’s the way we are looking at our experiences that is causing the turmoil within us. When we become aware that the struggle we are having is with ourselves, we can turn our attention to the source in order to solve the problem, but we must be willing to look where we need to and feel emotions that may make us uncomfortable at first. Then we can choose to really open ourselves to understanding all the options we can imagine. We are likely to discover that we are resisting something based on a limited understanding, and we must then open ourselves to willingness. When we are willing to look at all the possibilities, we also become willing to accept that there is room for more than we can imagine. We can release ourselves from the grip we had on our emotions and stop limiting ourselves. We may have been unwilling to experience feeling loss, confusion, fear, or even joy for some reason or another, but when we realize that our understanding was limited, we allow space for the universe to move in our lives. Opening ourselves to willingness may feel like we are surrendering or abandoning all that we believed. But at the same time it is an act of power and courage because it is a conscious choice we make about how to apply our personal will. Being willing is to be in a state of willing something into creation. It is at once allowing ourselves to be while also choosing to direct our energy in a focused way. It is being and doing from a place of openness, where we can work with the universe rather than resist it. It is an open hand rather than one that is clenched into a fist. When we make a step toward willingness, we open ourselves to possibility. (from the Daily OM)

Healing What Hurts

Many of us are going through our lives aware of a well of pain underlying our daily awareness that we’ve felt for so long we aren’t even sure where it comes from. It almost seems as if it’s part of who we are, or the way we see the world, but it’s important to realize that this pain is something that needs to be acknowledged and processed.

The longer we sit on it, the harder it is to work through, and the more likely it is that we will be forced to acknowledge it as it makes itself known to us in ways we can’t predict. Rather than waiting for this to happen, we can empower ourselves by identifying the pain and resolving to take action toward healing it.

The very thought of this brings up feelings of resistance in most of us, especially if, on the surface, our lives seem to be in order. It’s difficult to dig up the past and go into it unless we are being seriously inconvenienced by the hurt. The thing is, when we are carrying the burden of our unprocessed pain, sooner or later, it will inconvenience us. If we can be brave and proactive, we can save ourselves a lot of future suffering and free up the energy that is tied up in keeping the pain down.


There are many ways to do this, but the first step is to recognize the pain and honor it by moving our awareness into it. In this process, even if it’s just five minutes during meditation, we will begin to have a sense of what the pain is made of. It might be fear of abandonment, childhood abuse, anger at being mistreated, or some other long held wound.

As we sit with the pain, we will also have a sense of whether we can deal with it by ourselves, or get a professional's help. Resolve to go deep into the pain, so that you can release it fully, and set yourself free.

It is never too late in life to heal what hurts. (from the Daily OM)

Just Take One Step!

Which people or events do you spend too much time worrying about? Think about it, and make a list of these things. Clarifying what you cannot control frees you to spend time and energy on what you can control. Your stress level goes down. The drama factor in your life decreases. You create space in your life for your dreams to emerge.

Next time you feel frustration creeping up on you, take a deep breath and let it go. Realize that you really do have a choice. Ask yourself, "Do I want to waste my time being angry, or can I accept the situation and leave more energy for the ideas, relationships, and events I want to create in my life?"


Too often, we stand at the edge of a theoretical cliff, indecisive, needing to have everything aligned in our lives before we move forward-in other words, driving ourselves completely crazy with no real results. Needless to say, this is a dangerous place to be. (You wouldn't hang out at the edge of a real cliff, would you?) We humans are masters at self-deception; our minds tell us what we need to hear all the time. So staying in our heads isn't exactly the right path to clarity or positive change. The only way to reach your goal is through action… one step at a time.

Even when we know the steps we would like to take, we tend to procrastinate. Break out of that inertia by giving yourself a short-term deadline. Make meeting your goal into a game. Accomplishing one action creates momentum and excitement for following though with the next one. Remember, you don't have to do everything at once. What one step can you take today? (excerpted from Marty Dillingham)

It Really Is a Matter of Attitude

We think we're busy, but we're not—we're just doing one thing after another. But the habit of being convinced we're too busy is hard to shake. What can we do about this persistent mania of feeling task- and time-driven?

Understanding something differently is only a beginning. To change the way we live, we have to practice what we've come to understand until it becomes a natural part of us, a habit of thought, feeling, and body.

There are many simple techniques that can help us with this. Take three conscious breaths (try it now, as you're reading). This will change your mind. Whatever you're feeling will become less compulsive, less driven. There's a measure of detachment and equanimity even after the first breath. You become more present to your surroundings, to the basic awareness of being alive. Try it the next time you're feeling overwhelmed; it doesn't take much time, and it will help you remember the part of you that's always right there, even when it looks or feels like you're too busy.

******

Sometimes I catch myself walking fast, with that "don't bother me now" look on my face. I have a lot to do. Important things. There are people depending on me. I am important. Ah...it's only the self-importance of the ego. I take note, and relax.