Archive for the ‘Life’ Category
The Celestine Prophecy – Book Review Sunday
Posted by: Ann
March 7th, 2010 >> Change, Energy, Life, Relationship
I am venturing into the fiction department for today’s book review. Although this book is fiction, there is a lot of truth in the book. James Redfield has a lot of insight into human nature and where humanity is going and in The Celestine Prophecy
he puts this insight to use through ‘insights’. The book goes into the coincidences that help shape our lives. But the main thrust of the book is the 9 insights, each one building on the other. I won’t tell you what they are here but I will tell you of the one that made the most impression on me.
The fifth insight talks about clearing the past. This involves looking at your childhood and how your parents acted and reacted. By looking at what each of your parents stood for you can determine your own life work. The Celestine Prophecy states “Every human being, whether they are conscious of it or not illustrates with their lives how he or she thinks a human being is supposed to live”. In the book the main character’s father believed that life was for fun and enjoyment but he had not been able to actually succeed in that area. The character’s mother stood for Christian principles. He was then asked what he would change about his mother and father. This is an important question as that ends up being what he is here to accomplish. To quote the book again, “That’s why you were born there: to take a higher perspective on what they stood for. Your path is about discovering a truth that is a higher synthesis of what these two people believed.” This led the main character to realize he would find real meaning in his life through combining the two approaches to life.
This got me thinking about my life and my parents. Now I feel much clearer on what I am to do in this life. It was a very interesting exercise. The whole book is like this. It introduces different insights into where we are individually and as a world society but it tells it through a fun read as a fiction story.
What would happen if your Children were just like you? What would the world be like if every one acted just like you? They say that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.
Think about it a little bit. Would the world be a good place or an unpleasant one if every one acted like you did? Are you helpful, kind thoughtful or just in it for yourself?
Here is another way to look at it. Are you a friend to yourself or your own worst enemy?
Just something to think about for today.
Live In the Now
Posted by: Ann
March 5th, 2010 >> Books, Energy, God, Life, Physical/Material, Truth
Have you noticed that when you have bought a new car all of a sudden you see hundreds of that same car and color on the road? Or when you are expecting, every woman you see looks pregnant. Well the same thing is happening to me. No I am not pregnant nor have I bought a new car, but a new idea has been introduced to me and I am seeing it every where. I have heard that when an idea presents itself to you in 3 different ways that you need to sit up and take notice because it is the truth.
What is this great truth? It is living in the now. It has really been brought home to me through Eckhart Tolle’s book The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
If you live in the now, even in your misery, you have the chance to feel the river of life, that life giving force that runs through all things. If you can feel that flow of contentment and energy, you will feel hope. If you feel hope, you will be more positive. If you become more positive, the law of attraction will accommodate and things will get better.
The alternative is to dwell in your misery and your “poor me” attitude and live on the surface, never feeling the flow of life that is always there. If you live in the misery at the surface you are actually stifling the flow. If the flow is stifled you will attract more that will stifle the flow. The law of attraction works both ways.
Yesterday was the first of the month. That can imply all kinds of things. First there is the start of a new month, a new beginning, a new try at things. Then there is the first of the month when all the bills are due and all the paperwork must be done or other words to be dreaded.
The start of every week is kind of like a mini month. Monday I pay the weeks worth of bills that were not paid with the horde at the 1st of the month. Monday also gives me a new start. If last week was not that great I get a new chance.
Well I could break this down even farther. Every day is a new beginning and at this daily rate, I may not even have any bills to pay. It is just getting better. What about every hour. That can be a new beginning a new try at things. Thinking that every hour is a new beginning I would never have bad day again as I would have a new try, a new start every hour.
Why limit it to that what about every minute, every second, NOW.
Now you are living in the now. This is where you can feel the energy flow and can really start to experience life.
Enjoy your now, over and over and over and over and over again.
Have you ever thought about how one person can change the world or at least their portion of it. All it takes is one person with a dream, one person with a passion, one person saying ‘someone ought to do something’ then realizing that person will have to be them.
My local newspaper often runs a local interest story about a senior citizen and what they have accomplished.
There was the woman who saw a neighbor in need of groceries and she started handing out groceries to people in need. One thing led to another and “Helping Hands” was created. This organization now has a large building with a clothing section and is organizing a free clinic. All this because a woman saw a neighbor in need and wanted to do something about it.
I have also learned of another woman who wanted to help children who were starting a new year of school. Most parents will buy their children new clothes, shoes and school supplies to start the New Year, but then there are those parents who can’t afford to buy new clothes or shoes and the school supplies left over from last year will have to do. This woman believed that all children should start the school year on an even footing with each other. No child should feel embarrassed with old worn out stuff for their 1st day of school. Her little project has grown to the point where all the larger local churches and a few other groups are actively involved. Each child is provided with a new shirt, pants, shoes and school supplies to start the year.
This is just two examples and they were both in the same small Podunk town in the middle of Texas. There are many others in this small town that I will not mention and there are probably several more I do not know about.
If they can make a difference, so can you and so can I.
This Sunday’s book review is a classic: Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking
The idea of positive thinking is not new. It was not new when Norman Peale wrote his book in 1952. I may mention some of the earlier books at some point. But this book put the whole notion that you can control your life by your attitude into the limelight. Mr. and Mrs. Peale both realized that you had to be positive in whatever situation you were in or you ran the risk of never rising above that situation.
Can you think of anyone who seems to be stuck in their life? Are they positive people? You may counter that they were positive until they ran into a string of ‘bad luck’. But how long did they hold on to that positive attitude when the ‘bad luck’ hit? I bet they soon let it go and became disillusioned, disappointed, humiliated, frustrated, and angry and started showing any number of negative traits. Mr. Peale addresses what to do when you are in personal problems and how to overcome the negative thoughts that abound at such times. We all have runs of hard times but that doesn’t mean you throw out the positive.
I must warn you that Mr. Peale does have a strong faith and talks much about the use of prayer. I have used prayer myself and had great results.
Even though this book was written almost 60 years ago (all of a sudden I feel old) it still contains great advice. This is the forerunner to the Law of Attraction craze and I highly recommend it for its down to earth methods of dealing with attracting happiness and abundance into your life.
How Connected Are We?
Posted by: Ann
February 26th, 2010 >> Life, Manifesting, Relationship, Spirituality
I have heard the idea that each of us has created our reality. Everything and everyone around us is here because we have “manifested” it. This idea is one of the main premises in Busting Loose From the Money Game: Mind-Blowing Strategies for Changing the Rules of a Game You Can’t Win
Let’s say you are creating all that shows up in your life but let’s carry this idea farther. If everything around you is your creation it is a part of you. How do you want to be treated, with honor and kindness? You must treat all people the way you want to be treated. If you want to be neglected then treat others with neglect but if you want to be treated with attention and honor, treat those around you with attention and honor. In short, if you neglect something or someone you are neglecting yourself.
This train of thought leads me deeper. If I give someone something am I giving to myself? If I am giving to myself, I have not really lost anything, have I? What if I buy something from some one, am I really buying from myself? If I am doing that to myself, will it come back to me? How far can you carry this? But if this is true, there should not be any debt, but there is.
I guess I have not jumped on this bandwagon yet. Maybe I have not evolved far enough for this.
I do believe we are all connected but I also believe we are individuals trying to live together.
The Advancement of the Human Race
Posted by: Ann
February 23rd, 2010 >> Change, Life, Reincarnation, Spirituality
I have been thinking about the spiritual growth of humanity. Are we really growing and improving? After watching the evening news I am inclined to say not.
However the news shows what is unusual so if something shows up on the news that means it is out of the ordinary or does not normally happen. In other words, since the news always seems to show the bad of humanity that implies that the good is normal and commonplace. This gives me hope, maybe we are truly growing and improving.
I also have another way of looking at humanity through the ages. I believe in reincarnation. Each of us has lived multiple lives. There are certain experiences we all have gone through or will go through. These experiences lead to the growth of the soul and ultimately the growth of humanity. Such experiences are:
• We have all died in war
• We all are attacked
• We have all been attackers
• We have starved to death
• We have abused power
• We have all been abused
If we had no conflict or hardships we would be comfortable where we are and would have no reason to change or grow. Comfort means the status quo and there is no change. When we are challenged we have to develop new reasons, new beliefs and new ideologies so we can once more be comfortable in mind and then comfortable in body. Sometimes we have to go through a traumatic event in a series of lives. Each life is trying to work it out, or come to terms with what is happening. When we finally decide how to deal with it and can incorporate it into our soul we can move on to something else.
Each of these major events in our lives has left an imprint on our soul. We have changed, we have grown. This can only lead to a change in humanity as a whole. We can even look back through recorded history and see how our ideas and beliefs have changed and how we have grown. I have hope that soon we all will have experienced war enough to decide we don’t need it any more.
I was raised Southern Baptist and never knew much about Lent. To me it was something weird the Catholics down the street did. Then when I was on my own, I joined the Methodist Church: it seemed to fit my beliefs better. All of a sudden I was confronted with all of these terms that I had always associated with Catholics, one of which was Lent.
Every year I would hear discussions of what some one was giving up for Lent. I always thought it was strange. Why would I give something up? I was struggling as it was, trying to believe that God wanted us to live in abundance!
Here is my train of thought. God is all powerful (check, I have always believed that). God is all knowing (check again). God is abundance (not as strong of a check, but hey I’ll go with it). God wants us to live in abundance (ok, this is where the struggle begins).
I have come a long way from when I thought that God wanted us to give everything away and live under a bridge but it was still a struggle. I knew that giving anything up for Lent would just set me back in my struggle. To me giving anything up was more of a slap in the face of God than a honoring of God. How do you feel when you try to give something to someone and they won’t take it? Think about the last time you gave someone a compliment and instead of saying ‘thank you’ they negated it by not accepting it or by making light of it. How did that make you feel? Did you want to give them another compliment any time soon? I am not saying that God has human emotions and motives but that is what I have to work with.
This year I am looking at it a little different. I am going to honor God and myself by giving something up. The reason this is going to honor God and myself is because I do not need this and it is really hurting me in the long run. What I am giving up is Excedrin!
You were expecting something a little grander weren’t you?
I admit, I am addicted to Excedrin and I know that many of the daily headaches I get are Excedrin induced. I got addicted to it when I was in college (30 years ago) and came home with a bad headache and tried Excedrin and was amazed that my headache was actually gone in 20 minutes! Nothing ever took my headaches away before! Then every time I started to get a light headache I would take an Excedrin because I was afraid the headache would grow into a migraine if I did not do something.
Every once in a while I will get off the Excedrin then a migraine would occur and I couldn’t stand it and would take an Excedrin and finally get rid of it. But then I would be back on taking Excedrin everyday.
This time will be the longest stretch that I would have given Excedrin up (that is if I make it). I survived without Excedrin before I can survive without it again. I have a headache.
Moments Of Grace
Posted by: Ann
February 21st, 2010 >> Books, God, Life, Physical/Material, Spirituality
It’s book review Sunday!
This is a book I have read several times. Every once in a while I need a pick-me-up and this book is the ticket. Neale Donald Walsch the author of Conversations with God
. Actually he did very little writing in this book, he is relaying stories others sent him about their personal experiences.
In Neale’s own words “This book is about moments in our lives when God steps in and gives us a great big hug….. These are stories about real life and real people. Folks sent them to me. Because I asked them to. I wanted to know if my experience of God was really so different from everyone else’s, or if, as I suspected, we all are having pretty much the same experience, but I’m the only one who’s talking about it. Or one of the very few.”
I have read stories out of this book to people who come to me questioning the meaning of life and those who wonder if miracles happen. I also tell them a few of my own stories. Yes there is purpose to all this! Yes there is a guiding light or energy out there!
If you don’t want to buy it, at least check it out of the library. But I bet you will want to own it after you read it.