Archives for posts with tag: change thinking
Newer Entries »

Today’s not Thanksgiving, but I am Thankful

February 8, 2010 //
0

Turning towards Love

The day didn’t start off that way.  I awoke abruptly out of a bizarre dream, which I really wanted to share with my wife, Mary.  She is a master at asking probing questions and getting at their deeper subjective meaning.  She was late for work, and there was no time to process the dream.  In the kitchen, I realized I had not set my automatic coffee pot the night before, so no coffee was ready.  The dream had disoriented me and I wasn’t fully awake as I attempted to multitask by getting my coffee ready, putting dog food in Harmony’s bowl and warming some milk for my wife.  Something funky in the dog food caught my eye (turned out to be okay) but while investigating, the milk boiled over.  As I cleaned up the milk, I realized the kitchen garbage was overflowing.  I bagged it up and took it outside only to be hit in the face by a snowstorm that must’ve started during the night.  Coming back in the house, the screen door sought to frustrate me by not closing.

Mary left for work and I went to meditate.  It was not one of my better meditations to say the least. Monkey mind day.  Time to do some exercise.  I start up the Wii Fit, it reminds me that it’s been over two weeks since I’ve been on it.  Oh yeah, it nags me further by pointing out that I’ve gained weight since last time and I’ve missed my goal to boot.  Thank you, little Wii character.  Today’s blog was almost an open letter to my Wii Fit apologizing for letting my schedule get in the way of my exercising and for eating so much yesterday during the Super Bowl.  Instead, I simply exercised with an internal sense of guilt irritating me.  Not a good Monday.

After showering and getting dressed, Harmony and I went outside to play Frisbee in the snow.  What joy in that girl as she hopped through the snow with her eyes on the Frisbee, timing that last-minute leap to catch the toy between her teeth.  Back and forth we went, her joy spreading just like the ever-increasing snowflakes swirling around us.  As she ran returned and carefully placed the Frisbee in my hand each time, our eyes would meet and a sense of love would flow between us.  Somewhere within Harmony’s consciousness I imagined that she sensed she was shifting my perspective on the day.  At some point she sensed that she had accomplished her mission and, as is her habit, she ran off to a corner of the yard with her Frisbee, gently placed it down in the snow and began rolling around on it in sheer ecstasy.

As I watched this display of the love of life itself, an exhibition Harmony has provided me so many times, my heart opened to a deep sense of gratitude.  What a wonderful day this is!  What a wonderful life this is!

I began ticking off in my mind all the things that I am thankful for… for Mary, for Harmony, for the beautiful snow falling, for the warm coffee inside, for the ability to work at home on a snowy day like today, for my health, for the ability to start over on my exercise routine… and more.

Yesterday I spoke at the spiritual center where I work part-time.  At the heart of my message were several points…. how we can get stuck looking at that which is less than what we want in our lives…how  the more we look at it, the more our “mental energy” uses the Law of Attraction to bring more of what we don’t want into our lives….how easy it is to get seduced by any negativity our senses are giving us and to continue “seeing” negativity everywhere we look…so then, the trick is to “turn from” that which our senses may be providing us and towards where we want to be…we use the Law of Attraction to take us to where we want to be….this is not to deny what’s in front of us, but rather to focus on our highest possibilities.

Interesting how easy it is to forget….So thank you, Harmony, for the reminder.  I could’ve continued seeing things going wrong around me, but you helped me to see all of the blessings which fill my life.  What a wonderful Monday!  And, it’s only going to get better.

Mark

Tags , ,
Categories Consciousness, Positive Evolution

Do you “circle the wagons” around your beliefs?

January 31, 2010 //
2

Do you “circle the wagons” around your beliefs? What do I mean by that? Do you have an opinion or belief that you insulate from the rest of the world by not allowing yourself to entertain any other belief? 

Lately, I have noticed that so many people seem to surround themselves with only those people who believe like they do. I especially see this in relation to our spiritual and political ideas. Many of us only read books or watch on TV programs or listen to radio shows that only serve to reinforce what we already believe. I even read recently about coffee shops that were havens for only people who held certain political beliefs. 

Ernest Holmes wrote, “Behind all is a unity, through all is a diversity; saturating all is a divinity. “ We are all Spiritual beings living our lives in the vast multiplicity of possibilities. We are all One.

So how can we move through life and honor the diversity of expression and beliefs? The first thing we can do is to allow ourselves to be exposed to alternate view points that differ from our cherished beliefs. The second thing we can do is to give the gift of truly listening to other people and understanding what they believe. Listen, don’t react. Choose to understand their viewpoint, not argue them out of it. 

Although we can choose whether to modify our beliefs or not after gaining this understanding, the real value is in our stepping back and seeing the beautiful diversity of life in all its expressions. And, as we honor others by understanding them, we are setting in motion a powerful law that will serve to make the world a place that works for all.

Mark 

NOTE: The above article appeared in the New Dawn Center for Spiritual Living “Messenger” newsletter for September/October 2009 issue.

Tags ,
Categories Change Agent, Consciousness

JD Salinger, Holden Caulfield and Releasing Rebellion in Our Minds

January 29, 2010 //
0

I read the news reports today that J.D. Salinger died.  I read it while I was visiting my 87 year old father for a few days.  Already I was in a state of personal reflection on my youth and the influences that worked to mold me to the person that I am today.   Salinger’s death furthered that train of thought within me.

Although I read a lot, I don’t read a lot of fiction.  Interestingly, I was drawn to re-read “The Catcher in the Rye” a couple of years ago…..I really don’t know why as it was certainly out of the realm of what I generally read, even for fiction…..but I did.  I guess I saw a bit of Holden Caulfield in me….the rebellious youth pushing against the upbringing, the parents, the culture….

I had an interesting mixture of conformity and rebellion in me.  A part of me wanted to be accepted and loved and to fit in.  Another part of me wanted to toss all my past away and distance myself from it as much as humanly possible.  A weird yin-yang balance. 

This strange mixture led to me conforming by marrying early, having children, being responsible, keeping a steady job and ensuring the success of my family.  Yet I rebelled by moving across the country from my parents and pursuing spiritual paths and beliefs distant from their worldview.

As I have gotten older and hopefully a bit wiser, I have begun to better understand the beauty in how my youth served me, how this push-pull of forces was exactly what was needed to bring me to the person I am today.  And, I have released the need to “push against” anything.  I have learned that the energy of such rebellion only serves to grow more of that which we rebel against in our lives.  I have come to peace with my upbringing and grown to see the perfection in it.  I have surrendered to life and have learned to move with it….and life has continued to be a real joy.

It’s interesting to read the news about Salinger and how it appears that he continued to push against life as he aged…hard not to draw a parallel between the  iconic  character of rebellion he created in Holden and the growth of Salinger’s warring with life as he fought so hard to maintain his privacy….to be clear, I am not saying that he didn’t deserve his privacy, he certainly did….but the news reports and legal battles that he undertook to keep him out of the public eye only served to move him into it, and in an increasingly unfavorable way….what he battled against, he grew.

So, what is the message for us today?  Come to peace with our past.  Surrender to its gifts.  Stop pushing against what you don’t want and rather turn your focus and energy in the direction of that which you do.  Where is your direction taking you?

Tags , , ,
Categories Consciousness, Culture, Entertainment, Positive Evolution

Struggling to meditate….Why bother?

January 12, 2010 //
1

Stay Spiritual Charged Up

This morning’s meditation was a real challenge.  My mind chatter was in full force.  I’ve been meditating for years, but you wouldn’t know it by today’s effort.  My understanding is that all meditators have days like this, but I don’t really know that for sure. 

I tell my non-meditating friends about challenging days like today, and they always ask me why I even bother?  With all the stuff to do in modern life…where we appear to never have “enough time”, why take precious time to sit quietly?  And, why purposefully subject yourself to the struggle of attempting to quiet the mind when it can seem painful?

Although there’s a lot of ways you could answer these questions, there are two I generally give.  First, I point out meditating is like any practice…there is a reason they call it a practice, you have to practice…just like exercising and building your muscles…like learning a foreign language… like starting a new diet.  One must keep at it, one must make it a habit.  We easily fall into “bad habits.”  We really have to work at “good habits.”  I often refer to it as “building spiritual muscles.”  No pain, no gain. 

Secondly (and really in the big scheme of things, this is the primary reason for meditating), we meditate to counterbalance all of the energy we put into the external world.  Our senses and our mind continuously direct us to the world of effects “out there”.  Many people think the material world is the only world.  Meditating is a way of experiencing the other world, the inner world.  When you tap into that world, it is so deep, so full of love and kindness, so reaffirming of the beautiful gift of life, that it allows the issues and the concerns of the external world to be put into their true perspective…ultimately to see that the things that we might be concerned about in everyday life are just not as important as we think they are.  It’s like recharging your cell phone…we have to plug in to the inner world in order to take it with us as we navigate through the external world. 

So on days like today, when meditation is a struggle, I simply reframe how I see it.  I could get all stuck in self judgment, telling myself such negative things as “look, all these years of meditating and you’re still no good at it.”  However, the better approach is to see the gift in the struggle… many days when the mind chatter comes up, I generally redirect my attention to simply noticing the thoughts.  I ask myself, what wisdom or message is seeking to come through me?  And, I listen.  More often than not, the meditative time and the quietness offers the avenue for my subconscious mind to bring me messages that I really need to hear. Spirit speaks to you either way. 

So why bother?  On the one hand, I recharge my spiritual batteries so as to stay “spiritually charged up.”  On the other hand, I am an open channel for Spirit’s wisdom to be presented to me.

So do you struggle?  What are your experiences?  I’d love to hear your thoughts. 

Mark

Tags , ,
Categories Positive Evolution, Spirituality

The Tide is Turning, the World is Turning

January 10, 2010 //
0

The Tide is Turning on the Planet...

What do we mean when we say “the tide is turning”? There is another term we use, “sea change”, that has a similar connotation. When we use these words, we are commonly referencing a change we are observing in the outer world. The terms of course, originally came from our observance of a shift in the ocean or sea. 

Interestingly, in metaphysics “water” has some unique meanings. Frequently it represents the flow of the collective mind – the collective unconscious. The term “water” can also correspond with “soul”, representing the middle world that serves to link spirit and matter or to link fire and earth. Whenever I contemplate the meaning of “water”, such as when I am reflecting upon the meaning of a dream, I see it as representative of transformation, generally occurring in consciousness. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags , , ,
Categories Consciousness, Positive Evolution

Moving from Smallness to Greatness

January 8, 2010 //
0

We are shifting into greatness

Moving from smallness to greatness… moving from fear to faith… keeping our eyes on the prize… shifting from doubt the certainty… moving beyond the appearance of conditions to the fulfillment of our highest calling and dreams… 

All of this movement, all of these “shifts”, all of this growth is in our consciousness.  We have a great gift in our thoughts which use the immense power of Mind.  It is so easy to forget that we have this gift….the ability to consciously use the “law of attraction”.  Read the rest of this entry »

Tags , , ,
Categories Consciousness, Positive Evolution
Newer Entries »