Suffering

The Miracle of Life

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When we live in the moment, the joy of life shows up in full bloom and we can see what a miracle the creation of life is. This is forgotten in those moments of frustration, anger, and anxiousness or when we feel bored with life. In these moments, the miracle of life seems like an ordinary mundane minute of passing time and we think, so what’s the point!

It is always important to remember that even the mundane things in life are a miracle of creation. Without them, we would not see the magic in life. Why, because the magical would seem ordinary to us; and the truth is from an awakened vantage point there is nothing ordinary in this life, it is all a miracle. You are a miracle, think about it. However, when we are so focused on our needless thoughts this never crosses our mind.

Therefore, the next time you become bored with life, remember that it means you are out of the moment and focused entirely on your incessant thoughts about something or someone. This incessant thinking has distracted you from the beauty and miracles that are all around you. As soon as you remember this, take your attention away from your needless thoughts and point it toward something that allows you to see the beauty and miracle of life again. There is always something to be grateful for and seeing this can help bring you back into the moment.

You are not meant to spend your days suffering from your own thoughts; you can be filled with joy and living life feeling the embrace of the Divine. It will not matter what is happening around you because you will be fully living in the moment experiencing the miracle of life and all it has to offer.

 

 

Creating Opportunity

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When we only see our problems as problems, we suffer. What I have noticed is when I begin looking at a problem as an opportunity my experience changes. The sooner I do this the less I suffer and the quicker I find my way out. To see how true this is, look back at your life and see what your problems have taught you about living life more fully.

If you cannot see this, then you are suffering now. You point to your unhappy situation to prove your feelings. This is the easy way out; it takes very little effort to feel victimized. Your thoughts are concentrated constantly on the negative, to the point where you cannot see anything else. From this place, you will not find your way out. However, there is hope from here if you are willing to make a different choice, right here and now.

To find your way out, you must bring awareness to the very thoughts that are keeping you trapped. Begin to notice how these thoughts only focus on the problem; notice how negative they are and unsupportive. Just the act of bringing awareness to these thoughts will begin to release your suffering.

Remember each time you notice that you have been distracted, bring your attention back to your thoughts. In the beginning, you will fall back into your negative thinking out of habit. Do not be hard on yourself when this happens; just gently bring your attention back to your thoughts. At the same time, begin looking for an opportunity to present itself, if you cannot see one, start by imagining one.

Things to remember:

  • Bring your awareness to your thoughts and just notice
  • Remember to come back to watching your thoughts when distracted
  • Keep your attention on the lookout for opportunities
  • Use your imagination
  • Whatever you do, do not give up
  • Be gentle with yourself when you slip into old habits

Be patient and persistent in your desire to live life more fully and opportunities will begin to show up. Even with a little effort, you can make a big difference in your life and this world.

 

The Seed of Possibility

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If you want your life to flourish again, you must begin to see that buried in your problems is the seed of possibility. When you begin to focus on this new possibility and not spending all your time thinking about the problem, something new begins to grow and everything starts to change. It has taken me a long time to learn this, but it always rings true. I have been through many dark times in my life, emotionally and physically. Until I started to look for something positive to come out of my problems I only fell deeper into suffering, deeper into pain. Once I learned this valuable lesson and began to focus on looking for the possibility instead of living in the problem, things began to shift. Teach yourself to look for possibility even in the most difficult times.

Remember, the obstacle itself will always lead you out of the darkness and into the light to new possibilities –look for the seed of creative energy that is always buried in the depths of your problems.

Awaken to the Present Moment

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Today is your day, your best day. Why, because it is the only day you have for sure. Do not compare today to some place in the past that you thought was worse or better. When you do, you have left the present moment and are now residing in the past. Do not look for your peace and happiness in the future, because once again you have left the present moment.

What you seek already lives within you, whether you seek peace, security, happiness, love or the energy to create. It is here in the present moment and nowhere else.

When we are in a state of worry or struggle, it is because we have left the present moment and stepped into the past or we are looking to the future because this moment does not meet our expectations. When we stay in the moment, our worry and struggle fall away. It is only when we want something different from what is, that we suffer. Accepting what is, along with gratitude, brings peace and allows us to create from the field of all possibilities.

Accepting the truth does not mean we have to like it or that it will be perfect in our eyes. Furthermore, it does not mean that it will always be that way. In fact, things are always changing and once we embody this truth, we will begin to allow and co-create something different with the Creative Energy of the Universe.

We must begin to look into the face of what is and trust that all will be well. If we are unable to do this, then we have lost our faith. I am afraid that faith is one of those things that if we try to live without it, we may find ourselves getting lost in life.

How many times have you been worried, struggling in life or endured difficult times? Remember these times and the struggle you have already experienced. That struggle brought you to this place and made you who you are at this very moment. You survived it all and if you leave your struggle and worry behind you will move through whatever challenges you face going forward in life with more ease and grace.

As long as we look through the eyes of our conditioning, we are guided by the False-Self. However, when we see things honestly and look through the eyes of truth, we are connected with our True-Self.

It is through awareness that we begin to see this conditioning and are able to release it forever. This process of letting go or more appropriately said, waking-up helps us to become more connected to the present moment and our True-Self. We are then able to live our lives more fully, with ease and grace, with more opportunities to create from the field of all possibilities.

 

Fixed Ideas

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We have fixed ideas about people. We see them through a singular lens and miss the totality of who they really are in this life. Remember the next time you have a particular negative thought about someone to ask yourself, have I had this thought more than once. It may even be about a group of people. For instance, a Muslim, LGBTQ person, a liberal, conservative, or anyone who believes differently than you, if you have, then maybe you have created a fixed idea about that person or group.

When we look at people in this way, it limits the world and our lives. Therefore, before you think a person is this or that way, maybe you should look to see if they are more than what you have allowed yourselves to see. Maybe you should get to know them, before judging them.

Has anyone ever looked at you this way and only seen what they wanted to see? Have you ever had that feeling? It could be a stranger or it might be a parent or friend. Maybe it was because of your job, religion, sexual orientation, your hair, a tattoo. It could be anything that causes someone to think they know who you are and helped them to create this fixed idea of you.

Have you ever assumed you know someone’s beliefs because of his or her political party or religion? Did you take the time to get to know them? Could someone know you just by your political party or religion? Could someone know you for years but not really see you completely? Have you ever felt this way, that you are more than just how people see you?

If you know that you are more than how other people see you, then is it possible that whoever you are looking at with disdain is also more. I can tell you that if you cannot find a way to see the “more” in people then your disdain will keep your life small, fill it with pain, fear and heartache.

There is one thing I can tell you for sure and that is that you are more and they are more. So consider your thoughts when they repeatedly play the same negative message about another person or group. Take the next step and get to know the person or someone from the group. Do not let someone else make up your mind for you, find out for yourself. You may find that you have more in common than your differences.

This Love, Loves Everyone

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Love, loves everyone; it is not conditional. We live in a world where terrible things happen, but this does not mean that we cannot forgive. If we do not open our hearts, we will continue to suffer. The world will not change by an election of new leaders, a million person march or protest. It requires the closed heart to open and to allow grace back into our lives. It requires the infinite amount of love within to be freed from the depths of our being.

Take a moment today to look out the window or if weather permits to go outside and just watch the birds. Allow the beauty of creation to come back into your life and let your worry and stress go. Leave your thoughts behind for just a minute to connect once again with nature. For it is here that you can awaken to what has always been with you. It is simple; it does not have to take a lifetime or lots of hard work. Just be willing to receive and allow this love to fill you up once again.

A Higher Truth for the New Year

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This will feel contrary to all that you know. All that society has taught you. However, this higher truth can bring you more peace than all your seeking put together. We are so conditioned to think that we are not good enough, that we have to change in some way to become something better; to do more and if we do, our reward of peace and happiness will come.

Have you ever wondered what makes us think this way?

When in fact, what we seek we already have, but we cannot see it because of all our busyness. All the searching you have done, even all the letting go has not led you to the place you seek.  Has it? There is always more letting go; more seeking to do.

So what is the answer? First, begin the New Year by setting aside some time to be quiet. This means doing nothing. It will only be in this space that you will reconnect with your True-Self. Then, throughout your day just be with what is. Do not wish it to be different. Do not try to make it different. This will not be easy at first for many of you, but I can assure you, this intention to breathe the life of each moment has what you seek already in it.

Your thoughts and habits will try to carry you away and sometimes they will. When you wake up and find yourself carried away by them, do not beat yourself up. Remember, you are not your thoughts or habits, and they are not in charge of you. Bring yourself back to the calm and peaceful being that you are deep within and feel the presence of your True-Self once again. This ongoing, even intermittent experience with the Divine presence within is all that is needed to feel and experience this higher truth for yourself.

What Will We Create?

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Many of you are upset by the results of last night’s presidential election. Just as in my life, I know that no matter how this turns out it will be for our highest good. Worry, anger and upset only give the wrong message to the Universe. We must stay anchored in our heart energy, be open, and compassionate, which is our true nature.

Our Universe creates from the energy we send out and our thoughts are a big part of this creative energy. If you know this truth then follow it, because in this way you will suffer less and create more of what you want and less of what you do not want.

It does not matter how you voted, what kind of world do you want to live in? Focus on this and nothing else. No one knows how this will turn out; you only THINK you do. Therefore, your celebration of this election or your disdain is only an illusion of your false beliefs. They are not the truth. We will see the truth as it unfolds in front of us. In the meantime, you have a choice to make and that is how you want to feel in this moment. Choose wisely, because how you feel in this moment will lead to how you feel tomorrow and this determines the world we will create.

The Calling

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I wonder if you will ever be able to see beyond the narrow path you have created for your life, this tunnel of the unawakened. Your Divine-Self is always calling you. Can you hear it? When you see that moment of beauty and you are awestruck, that is when it is the loudest and perhaps depending on your state, the only moment you will hear its call. So instead of continuing to follow your habitual life today, take a moment to look for beauty, the miracle of life itself and in that awestruck moment, hear the call.

Why, because you have lost your way and you may not even know it. If you are not careful, this life will be over before you climb out of your conditioned-self. So take a moment to stop and listen. Take the time to hear the soulful call back to your True-Self and stop the suffering of the world. It is never too late to start and if there is a part of you that says different, this is the conditioned-self and not the Divine-Self talking to you. Which part will you listen to today, because all of your yesterdays got you here and if you keep listening to the conditioned-self, you will wake up one day wishing you had taken the time to stop and listen. Perhaps you already feel this way and I remind you once again, it is never too late to start.

Acknowledging and Releasing the Conditioned-Self

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We often see the world through the eyes of our conditioned-self, not the True-Self. This conditioning creates our perceptions about other people and the world. Our perceptions then influence our thoughts and our thoughts then shape how we feel. Therefore, most of our pain and suffering is not at the hands of some outside source, but the one that reside within, our conditioning.

One way to release our pain and suffering is through the illumination of our conditioning. Without recognizing our conditioning, we are destined to see the world through the eyes of the False-Self. We will believe what we see so much that we will fight for our misguided beliefs and for some, this can even mean to the death.

For many of us, it will create a life with unneeded pain and suffering. When you find yourself fixated on a position or expressing a superior attitude, stop and look closely at why you hold this belief so tightly. Notice what you are feeling in your body, are you tense or relaxed? Tension is a sign that you are under the control of this conditioning and unable in that moment to see anything different. So you become argumentative, angry or frustrated with the other person or situation.

You may not be able to see or feel this in the moment at first, but sometime after the opportunity will present itself. When this happens, it is up to you to be present with your body and to notice your thoughts, and then take a deep breath and let them go. With practice, you can begin to notice this tension rising up in the moment, allowing you to address it sooner. Then over time, through continued observation, awareness and releasing you can finally let it go forever.

We only have to let go a little for the light of awareness to be brighter in our life once again. This requires a willingness to let go and an unbending intention to release our conditioning. Then the True-Self can once again be our guiding light.