Great Advice from Abraham/Hicks

It's Not Your Role to Make Others Happy......


It's not your role to make others happy; it IS your role to keep yourself in balance. When you pay attention to how you feel and practice self-empowering thoughts that align with who-you-realy-are, you will offer an example of thriving that will be of tremendous value to those who have the benefit of observing you.

You cannot get poor enough to help poor people thrive or sick enough to help sick people get well. You only ever uplift from your position of strength and clarity and alignment.

The Path

Autobiography in 5 Short Chapters
by Portia Nelson

Chapter 1

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost. I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter 2

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend that I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in this same place.
But, it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter 3

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in . it's a habit . but, my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter 4

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter 5

I walk down another street.

Judgment Vs. Opinion

Most of us understand that when we judge someone, or someone judges us, it is a negative emotional experience. As a result, we naturally want to avoid being judgmental, but this gets confusing when we feel we have to suppress thoughts that could actually be offering us guidance.

For example, we may meet someone new and suppress a negative feeling about them, thinking that we don’t want to fall into the trap of being judgmental. Later, though, it may turn out that paying attention to that thought could have helped us take care of ourselves or someone else.

It is important to learn to distinguish inner guidance, and having an opinion, from judgment, otherwise we run the risk of not listening to our intuition. Inner guidance and opinions both help us to interact more intelligently in the world, so we don’t want to throw them out in an effort to avoid being judgmental.

Our intuition usually makes itself known to us in a flash, and often has a physical component—a flutter in our stomachs, sweaty palms, or a chill. When we use this information to help us navigate a situation, we always benefit. Similarly, having an opinion about a person or an idea allows us to converse about it in a focused way with intention. Listening to our intuition and forming opinions are both positive outcomes of our ability to interpret the information that comes our way.

When we make a judgment, we attempt to have a final say on whether someone or something is inherently good or bad. Judgments close us down instead of opening us up; opinions have a lighter quality and are amenable to change.

Once a judgment has been made, there is no more conversation or consideration, whereas opinions invite further debate. Intuition guides us from moment to moment, but, unlike judgment, never makes a final decree. In other words, it is only healthy to be open to the information we receive and to allow ourselves to process that information.

The Daily OM

Effort and Commitment

Sometimes you can make life much more difficult by attempting to make it too easy. Sometimes the shortcuts you seek end up being a lot more trouble than they're worth.

Often, in trying to avoid work, you can create even more work for yourself. Often, in seeking to avoid an unpleasant or inconvenient truth, you give even more power, influence and recognition to that truth. Taking the easy way out is rarely that easy.

For when you avoid the effort and commitment in life, you end up missing out on the real value. The more willingly, lovingly and enthusiastically you make the effort, the more value that effort will bring. The more time you commit to making a difference, the more magnificent your world will be. Instead of looking for ways to avoid work, look for ways to make that work more productive and more meaningful. Instead of seeking to hide from the truth, learn to align yourself with its power.

Be always anxious to give your best to life. For the life you create is the life you will live. (Ralph Marston)

Have you noticed how all these quotes keep saying the same thing, but in a different way? I interpret this one as a call to consciousness, and to being an active participant in our life.

What Is Love?

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
(1 C orinthians 13:4-6)


Though I sometimes bristle when someone quotes the bible to me, I believe this is one of the most definite statements on love. Love is patient; fear is impatient. Love is not self-seeking..
there are no conditions placed on love as in "I love you because". I believe we and our world are troubled because we have lost love, and that if our own lives and that of others is to change for the better, we must replace fear with love. It must begin with each of us. We must start over.

Love Quotations

There are four questions of value in life: What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same. Only love.
(Don Juan deMarco)

Where love rules, there is no will to power; and where power predominates, there love is lacking.
(Carl Jung)

When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace.
(The Dailai Lama)

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.
(Rumi)

It is in deep solitude that I find the gentleness with which I can truly love my brothers. The more solitary I am the more affection I have for them.....Solitude and silence teach me to love my brothers for what they are, not for what they say.
(Thomas Merton)

Love cures all people....both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it.
(Karl Menninger)

Living On Purpose

The idea of "living on purpose" is a new one. We used to believe that keeping a good job and having a nice family was purpose enough....at least that was our public face no matter what we may have yearned for privately.

Now it's not only acceptable but laudable to know what one's purpose is. Some people even believe they can't be happy without clearly knowing and following their purpose. But, there are so many choices! How to find the right one? I, for one, have always wanted to color with all the crayons in the box at once. Why choose only one?

What if our thinking is wrong? What if instead of constantly seeking "our purpose" we just live life to the very best of our ability as we find it, and make our purpose LOVE? I propose that this would be living to the highest purpose of all.

Thoughts to Live By

Thou shalt not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities.

Thou shalt not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass.

Thou shalt not cross bridges before you get to them, for no one yet has succeeded in accomplishing this.

Thou shalt face each problem as it comes. You can handle only one at a time anyway.

Thou shalt not take problems to bed with you for they make very poor bedfellows.

Thou shalt not borrow other people's problems. They can take better care of them than you can.

Thou shalt not try to relive yesterday for good or ill — it is gone. Concentrate on what is happening in your life today.

Thou shalt count thy blessings, never overlooking the small ones, for a lot of small blessings add up to a big one.

Thou shalt be a good listener, for only when you listen do you hear ideas different from your own. It is very hard to learn something new when you are talking.

Thou shalt not become bogged down by frustration, for 90 percent of it is rooted in self-pity, and it will only interfere with positive action.

I love this list and this is why I am posting it. However, I wonder if lists like this ever helped anyone change that which was not working? I think for real change to take place, we need to grab one thing, just one thing at a time, and change our minds about it. Once we think about it differently, we experience it differently and real change has begun. Yes, and sometimes we need someone to help us with learning to change our minds and think about things differently.

Presence

What in Zen is called Satori is a moment of Presence, a brief stepping out of the voice in your head, the thought processes, and their reflection in the body as emotion. It is the arising of inner spaciousness where before there was the clutter of thought and the turmoil of emotion.

If there is awareness in you, you will be able to recognize the voice in your head for what it is: an old thought, conditioned by the past. If there is awareness in you, you no longer need to believe in every thought you think. It's an old thought, no more.

Awareness means Presence, and only Presence can dissolve the unconscious past in you. (Eckhart Tolle)

Enjoy What You Are Doing

Expansion and positive change on the outer level is much more likely to come into your life if you can enjoy what you are doing already, instead of waiting for some change so that you can start enjoying what you do.

When you make the present moment, instead of past and future, the focal point of your life, your ability to enjoy what you do....and with it the quality of your life...increases dramatically.
(Eckhart Tolle)


Each of us has to find for ourselves a way, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem to us, to accept the present moment. We need to look for that "click" experience. For me it was stumbling across a definition of "acceptance". I had struggled with not being able to accept certain things, no matter how hard I tried. The beginning of freedom came in the discovery that this is o.k. .......If you cannot accept, then accept that you cannot accept. Forcing anything only brings resistance.

Taking Responsibility

Whatever you cannot enjoy doing, you can at least accept that this is what you have to do. Acceptance means: For now, this is what this situation, this moment requires me to do, and so I do it willingly.

If you can neither enjoy not bring acceptance to what you do.....stop. Otherwise, you are not taking responsibility for the only thing you can really take responsibility for, which also happens to be the one thing that really matters: your state of consciousness. And if you are not taking responsibility for your state on consciousness, you are not taking responsibility for life.
Eckhart Tolle

Creating Change

It's that time again ...have you made your New Year's Resolutions? Or are you like many well-intentioned people who have decided it's a losing battle and not worth the aggravation?

New Year's Resolutions are always filled with good intentions and hope for a better life this year than we had last year. But what happens when February rolls around and our good intentions have become a source of frustration and self-recrimination? There are many reasons why resolutions don't stick. See if any of these feel familiar:

• Too big or too unrealistic; they create a sense of "Overwhelm-Induced Inertia."
• Floating Resolutions; they're not attached to your vision.
• Externally motivated; they're what someone else thinks you should do or want.
• There's no detailed plan or strategy to reach them, they're all talk and no action; or your plan is too broad and not specific enough. Lack of motivation or follow-through.
• Too rigid or absolute.

If you want to create positive change in your life, here are some strategies to help you increase your chances for success:

1. Choose a resolution that feels manageable, yet still challenges you.
2. Be sure your resolution or goal is clearly attached to your vision; achieving it will take you toward your vision rather than away from it.
3. Be clear that your resolution is something YOU want.
4. Have a plan that not only defines the major steps over time, but also the small, individual action steps you can take on a daily basis.
5. Create some system of accountability; enlist the help of a Buddy who is as motivated as you are.
6. As you work your plan, allow the process to evolve and be refined. (Laurie Cameron)

Wisdom of Not Knowing

There are many types of wisdom....from intellectual to emotional to physical intelligence. Yet, even deemed experts in their fields do not know all there is to know.

There is wisdom in not knowing. It is a true master who professes ignorance, for only an empty vessel can be filled. When we can admit that we don't know something, we can then open ourselves up to the opportunity to learn. We can then discover what lies beyond our current levels of understanding. There is real power in that.
(based on the Daily OM)

Recipe for The New Year

1. Take a 10 to 30 minute walk every day, and while you walk, smile.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
3. When you wake in the morning complete the following "My purpose is to ............to day. I am
thankful for ........................
4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants, and eat less food that is manufactured.
5. Drink plenty of water and green tea. Eat blueberries, wild salmon, broccoli, and almonds.
6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
7. Don't waste energy on gossip, energy vampires, the past, negative thoughts, or things you
cannot control.
8. Eat breakfast
9. Remember that though life may not be fair, it is still good.
10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
11. Don't take yourself so seriously.
12. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
13. Make peace with the past so it won't spoil the present.
14. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is about.
15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
16. Regarding each so-called disaster, ask yourself "In five years, will this really matter?"
17. Forgive everyone for everything.
18. What other people think of you is none of your business.
19. God heals everything, but you have to ask.
20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
21. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
23. Each night complete the following. "I am thankful for........Today I accomplished.............
24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
25. When you are feeling down, list your many blessings.