Resistance is Futile

What have you been resisting lately? There is a certain energy to resistance, we have to use our will to push something away or to hold ourselves back. I find that effort exhausting personally. But I will resist all manner of things that I absolutely know are good for me, like hiking in the hills which is a boon on any given day I choose to do it. I resist cleaning my office and I wonder why when I finally give in and delight in the order I have created. I often resist invitations to events that don't feels like they might be comfortable for me and even when I say Ok I'll go, with a "I suppose this could be a good thing" attitude,  I can feel my feet dragging and my enthusiasm lagging. Can anyone relate?
Then I go and I have the best time possible. I've heard similar stories from friends, "I didn't want to go to the party and I ended up meeting my soul mate!"  I wonder why we don't  approach the thing with less resistance and more expectation of good, especially as we give in, in the end. It would make the entire process more pleasurable.
Maybe there was a bad experience once and we let it color our vision of the future event. Slowly I'm learning that precedent has no power over the present, that its possible that new experiences can have no relation to the past. The more I learn to give up resistance, the sooner I can allow more good into my life!
A little trust, a little optimism, a little visioning of a positive outcome, more consciousness of my own power to create and  releasing of a need to control, can add up to being in the flow. In the flow who knows what might come? Can I handle it? I say yes, yes, I am willing to accept more good. At least I'm going to try to let go of that energy of resistance, and say yes to life. I trust, I imagine good - I'll keep you posted as to how its working for me.

Challenge Yourself

Never compare someone else's outsides against your insides, a very wise friend once said to me. Meaning, appearances can be deceiving and we can never know the whole picture of whats going on for another. It's much wiser to compare yourself today with who you were in the past and see your progress.

I know for myself I can see so much growth, I used to be so shy and uncomfortable in my skin. I know a big part of that change came from firstly making the choice to move to a new country, very much out of my comfort zone and secondly through continual study of Science of Mind. I was both pushed by pain and pulled by inspiration in my growth. I am much happier today than any time previously in my life.

At some point I set the intention to expand and grow, from here on, through joy and love, less of the pain thank you very much! And glad to say that has been the case in large part. I think too that I also need to challenge myself and continue to move out of my comfort zone if I am to broaden my experiences. If I keep doing the same thing I keep getting the same results, if I want something new I have to take new action. I also have to ask myself what am I willing to give up in order to have this new expanded experience because its inevitable that some old beliefs and behaviors wont survive.

When I became a Spiritual Counselor with my church I let go of the fear of commitment. I was afraid if I took on this role that much would be asked, even demanded, of me, something that would impinge on my freedom. It dawned on me I could let go of this idea when I was aware how much I loved doing everything involved in being a Practitioner AND that I could say no!

I now invite the next phase of my expansion and declare my willingness to grow while releasing any ideas that do not serve me in this endeavor. Will you join me? Can you be willing to be willing? Even this slight movement can start the change, loosening the grip of the old and creating an opening for new. I give thanks for all that may transpire in our willingness to know more of who we are. And so it is!

When am I not myself

I was not myself last night! That's a phrase I have often heard people use and I use it now as I think about my mood last night. I was very tired, not having gotten a good nights sleep the night before. Preparing for an art show and trip out of town combined, to be followed quickly by a wedding, I was feeling overwhelmed. I was grumpy, finding fault, generally out of sorts and stressed. Not my usual self, definitely not my highest self.

Yet I wasn't being anyone else even if I was doing a good imitation of Cruella DeVil, inside my head!  I certainly didn't enjoy the experience and I'm certain my husband didnt either! I wanted to get out of my own skin and walk away from that person I was. I was conscious of it all too. In the moment I even thought I can let go of this mood but another part of me did not want to. It was all a mild insanity, a personality split, most definitely a separation from good.

You'll be glad to hear in the morning it was as a bad dream, clear headed and mild, I begin my day glad to have the old me back again. Thank goodness things come to pass! I'm grateful for my husbands love and patience and his ability to see the whole picture and not react to me as I was then. I hope to remember this when I encounter others having a bad day. People who are nasty or impatient that I meet in the course of my day today may also be undergoing a temporary aberration. I hope I can remember to bless them and smile, send them love and know that inside there is another more loving and centered being whose voice is temporarily silenced. In fact my actions may even coax it out. Either way I trust in the balance of all things and that my experience has allowed me find more compassion for others who are not themselves today.

Florish

Do you have someone you could call at 4 am if you really needed to? If your answer is yes then you are more likely to be flourishing in life. "Other people are the best antidote to the downs of life and the single most reliable up," according to Martin Seligman from his new book Flourish.

In the first two chapters he gives two exercises which I found worth trying and he insists are guaranteed to increase your feeling of well being. The first is DOING A KINDNESS. This he says has been found by scientists to produce the single most reliable monetary increase in well-being of any exercise tested!
The second is GRATITUDE and he sets a very specific exercise.

Close your eyes and bring to mind someone who contributed greatly to your life, someone living with whom you could easily meet face to face. When you have identified this person, write them a letter, it should be about 300 words; be specific as to what this person did for you and how it affected your life and how it still comes to mind. Now set up a meeting with them without telling them your purpose. Its much more fun when its a surprise! When you meet them read them the letter - do not let them interrupt, but watch their reactions and your own. Only after you have read it completely discuss the contents and your feeling for each other.
"You will be happier and less depressed one month from now." Seligman guarantees.

I'm going to try it, I hope you will too.

Know the Truth

What do you do when you hit a bump in the road of your plans? In the past I probably crumpled in disappointment or cried in frustration. These days I find, along with a mild feeling of concern I tend to be amused. In my mind I see myself throwing my head back in maniacal laughter (picture The Count from Sesame Street) saying "I laugh in the face of this set back because I know the Truth!"

With experience I have seen how these setbacks are nothing, that I have dealt with them, that they have come to pass and it all turns out alright in the end.

As practitioners of the Science of Mind we step into our Power and declare in the face of all that contradicts us with our eyes, that all is well in Spirit and we are being blessed by our circumstances.
Yes we turn to prayer, yes, we can take three wonderfully cleansing breaths, yes we can turn to an inspirational reading or dial a prayer. These are all fantastic things to do when we meet a bump in the road. In time the shift from despair to a knowing  smile can take seconds.
I used to think if you were enlightenment enough you just wouldn't encounter as many problems but as the Buddhist say "Before enlightenment - Chop wood, carry water, After enlightenment, Chop wood, carry water." And we would agree with Norman Vincent Peale "The secret of life is not what happens to you, but what you do with what happens to you."
So take those delicious cleansing breaths and know the Truth. You are strong, you are precious, you are a spiritual being, always perfect, whole and complete, untouched by circumstances that come to pass not to stay.

Being of Service

I remember an English TV show from the 80s called "Are you being Served?', it was set in a Department Store on the floor for ladies and menswear, supervised by a very proper Mr. Peacock. It was a great favourite of my Dad's as he worked in this environment when he was younger and I'm sure enjoyed himself and the interesting characters with whom he worked. They had two refrains - one to the customer "Are you being served?" and another to each other if they had a question "Are you free?", meaning not serving anyone at this moment.

So I'm asking you "Are you free?" Because I have a question for you, when it comes to work do you think about the service you give? Each of us right now has a place in the world where we are of service and its very easy to dismiss the value of the things that we do.

Whether I am volunteering, working for pay, doing dishes or speaking with a friend, I am in service to something or someone. If I am between jobs I can often feel isolated as if my life lacks purpose or value but this is a false idea. Its not what you do but how you do it that matters. If I tidy my office I contribute order to the world, when I wash dishes I can do it with love not grumbling, when I work I can remember my essential part in the process as well as the consciousness I bring to the workplace.

The energy we bring to each task big or small is the most important way we can serve the world. If I can bring my best self to all that I do today I contribute consciously, allowing Spirit to work through me, being uplifted in the process and adding that lightness to the very atmosphere I create. Once I am in the flow I can be assured that my good is coming back to me by laws of circulation.
I just have to remember to ask the question, "Are you being served?" by my consciousness, my love, my attitude, and adjust in consciousness accordingly.

Demonstrations

Demonstration - the act or circumstance of proving or being proved conclusively, as by reasoning or a show of evidence: something serving as proof or supporting evidence.

 

In Science of Mind we pray in the present tense, with feeling and we affirm through our connection with the One Source (which goes under many names, God, Spirit, Universal Energy, just to name a few) that our good is already present, our needs are met and we are an embodiment of all the qualities of this Source individualized. In fact we are indivisible from all that God is, as we say like a wave in the ocean. 

Ernest Holmes said all the theology in the world is no use unless as a result of your Spiritual practice you are not seeing evidence of increased good in your life. I think this very practical approach was one of the things that attracted me to Religious Science to begin with. We are a science because we work with the laws of the universe. Therefore like any science there is evidence, results of our experimentation, we call them demonstrations.

Very often I pray, I get what I asked for and forget to acknowledge the results, as if my prayer had no influence, that the thing just happened regardless. Bringing my attention to the process and remembering my powerful part in the results can help to remind me to take a more active role in my life circumstances.

As Ernest Holmes himself said;

"We are alchemists in the laboratory of the Universe, what then shall we create?" 

Remember your power today as the individualized Spiritual being that you are. In Unity with Spirit, I claim your good today as deeply felt connection, as an awareness of your prosperity and power, and joy in simply being here now. I am grateful for all that you are and bring to this life. I release my prayer to Law and let it be, and so it is!

Prosperity

How do you know when you are prosperous? What is the measure you use? What I can  identify when I give it thought  is a feeling of freedom, to feel unrestricted and to have choices.
Yet I can already see areas in my life where I have a feeling of freedom and choice. I put the laundry in the washing machine, I turned a dial and walked away, I wrote a blog and returned to clean clothes. There is freedom, thank God I didn't have to wash them by hand.
One thing that astounded me when I came to the US first was the supermarkets. So many choices in cough medicine!
I eat three varied meals a day. I am already flourishing, with freedoms women have rarely enjoyed before in history and still don't in many countries. I can forget how prosperous I already am.

The dictionary definition of prosperity is a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition, especially in financial respects; good fortune.

 

Finances! Well when it comes to that... what number on a bank account will suffice to feel prosperous? Its a loaded question, loaded with shoulds! You should have so much for retirement, you should have savings enough to be able to live without a job for 6 months, you should bla bla bla! Its nice to have those things but some people who have them don't feel prosperous - there's the fear of loss, of stock market fluctuations, still the fear of not having enough can preside like a dark cloud over the mind.

 

Balance in all things and FAITH has to be the middle ground in this thing called prosperity. Good stewardship, trust in the infinite abundance of the source within and around us, and gratitude for what we already are and have. Our security is not in the bank account of the financial institution but in the bank account of Faith, faith and confidence in our creative selves and the universe that provides.What idea or inspiration have you been provided with lately but ignored ? Decide to take confident action today, mix in some love, faith and gratitude, and see how prosperous you feel!

Day 21

Its day 21 of September and twenty one days since I committed to support the release in consciousness of the idea of lack. I don't know how anyone else is doing but I feel I have been challenged on many levels by thoughts with deep roots coming to light for release and healing. I have to acknowledge that this is a process I am in the middle of and need to continue to work on. This is not discouraging to me even as I wish I did not have to address my issues. I feel I want to address them, I have invited them to tea, to sit and negotiate and smooth the way to change.

Some old ideas are more stubborn than others and I now recommit for another 21 days to continue to be willing to change to do the work and to refocus on the Truth.

I continue to affirm I possess all sorts of riches which I can bestow upon others. I can bestow them generously and my action will open the way for even greater riches to flow. I can start from the point where I am and give on the spiritual and mental plane, feeling the creative impulse extend through me to the material plane. It is all energy and I put this energy into motion knowing it returns to me multiplied abundantly and in myriad forms.
And so it is, Amen.

Discipline

I had an boyfriend once who hated when I mentioned the word discipline. Immediately he associated it with external authority, teachers, parents, priests! I had to explain to him I was talking about self discipline - acting according to an intention set by yourself. Staying committed to a course usually for improvement as my dictionary gives the example; acquiring the habit of promptness requires self discipline.

Practicing Science of Mind requires self discipline as we practice dominion over our thoughts so we might improve our circumstances. Releasing old ideas takes discipline as we replace our automatic reaction with creative acts.

I have been having a problem lately with self discipline in one area of self improvement, my diet. There is a rebellious child in me that stamps her foot and says no when I try to direct her to better food choices! Ive had to sit down with her and find out why she's so acting so stubborn. I realized  there were feelings I was keeping at bay when I did this, feelings I was trying to ignore. Just as with a child, we cannot use force, criticism or punishment with ourselves to keep ourselves in line. Fear or force of will will like a hastily constructed dam, only last so long.

Love on the other hand is the most powerful force in the universe, and when our motivation is love we can make monumental shifts. Talking to by unhappy and rebellious inner-child with gentleness and understanding has produced more alignment within me with love. Now I am also aligned with the flow of good and as I keep regular corrections to the tiller of self discipline I move more swiftly in the direction I wish to be going. Give it a try!

Monday Monday

Monday mornings, back to work, to school, or to the void of not working or the first day of a vacation, Monday morning is a beginning of a mini cycle in our month, year, lifetime. As with any beginning we can make choices, start as you mean to go on! Did you think this morning how you would like your day to unfold or did you start already racing, from shower to breakfast to car?

Do you think it would make a difference if you were to take one 60 second piece if time and close your eyes to bless the new day?  Just one minute, to remember the Truth that spirit is the activity in and through the day and consciously give it full reign. It is powerful to remember our dominion over our thoughts and even better to take that dominion and make a choice to not just react to the world but be a creative force in the world.

Lets set an intention today to allow our Truth to be reflected to us, the Truth of our preciousness in Spirit, the Love we are and the Love we are freely given as children of the universe. It's a blessing to be alive, to breathe, to love, to see, to walk, to hear, to give, to receive, to smile, I could go on. Remember the abundance of the stars and know your blessings out number them, feel it today. Give thanks for it today.
I claim a supercalifragilistic-expialidocious day for you, now go enjoy it!!!!

Presence

I want to comment on this poem, but it would be superfluous. Just to say I revel in this man's writings and feel he has a direct line to all souls, to Spirit. Truly we all have and if we practice presence, and acknowledge the sacred in the mundane we might maximize on it. John is no longer with us physically but his Spirit most definitely is. Enjoy...

Awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.
Have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.
Receive encouragement when new frontiers beckon.
Respond to the call of your gift and the courage to follow its path.
Let the flame of anger free you from all falsity
May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame.
May anxiety never linger about you.
May your outer dignity mirror your inner dignity of soul.
Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention
Be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul.
May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.
by John ODonohue from a Book of Blessings

Pay it forward!

 "May today there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts that you have received and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us."


I received this in my e-mail today from a friend I have not seen in years. We have lived in different continents for almost two decades now. She has three young children and though we used to write long letters, sharing our struggles and our hopes as well as our doubts that our dreams might never be a reality, our communication now is reduced to a scant trickle. Its OK. Some of our fondest dreams are now the reality that prevents our sharing in the present but I know the love that supported those dreams is being passed along by both of us. 
So rather than regretting what is lost I choose to quietly let the words she has sent me permeate my day and in gratitude I bless her.
I hope these words bless your day also.

Connecting to the Divine

The Seventh Chakra – Your Crowning Glory

The energy center at the crown of the head, connecting to the Divine, allows us to transcend all senses as its focus is on the spiritual meaning of life. This allows you to experience the goodness of the universe directly. It opens your way to becoming a bearer of light to the world.

Mission statement - I know.

To most effective way to open this chakra is through prayer and meditation.

Listen to Baroque music (Vivaldi, Pachebal, Teleman – it regulates the heart and puts the body in a deeper meditative state.)

Talk to God, Spirit, and ask it to direct your life, to help you moment to moment to find your way to the highest possible good.

Look for the sacred. Open your eyes, ears and heart for signs of Spirit around you.

Life is a remarkable gift, not a moment of which should be missed, pay attention to the miracles around you, unfolding daily.

Consciously bless yourself and your day before you open your eyes in the morning.

Sound a bell, donate to a local animal shelter, and tithe to your church as an affirmation of your soul’s abundance.

Rest on the 7th day, learn to value downtime.

Acceptance

"Believe in yourself as the physical instrument through which God (Spirit/Energy) operates.
Absolute dominion is yours when you have sufficient self-mastery to conquer the negative tendency of thoughts and actions.
Ask yourself daily; "What is the purpose of the power that put me here?"
"How can I work with the purpose of life and liberty in me?"
After having decide these questions endeavor hourly to fulfill them. You are a law onto yourself.
If you have a tendency to overdo anything; eat, drink or blame circumstances for your misfortunes, conquer that tendency with the inward conviction that ALL POWER is yours. Eat less, drink less, blame circumstances less and the best there is will gradually grow in the place where the worst seemed to be.
Always remember that ALL is yours to use as you will.
You can if you WILL; if you WILL, you do.
God the Father (Spirit/the Universe) blesses you with all He/She has to give.
Make good Godly use of it."

From Your Invisible Power - The Religious Science of Judge Troward by Genevieve Bertrend
Italics are mine.

Be willing to open your mind today to the truth spoken here, and in gratitude accept your good!

Oneness

I love the idea of Oneness, the idea that we all, each separate individual, as well as every rock, tree and creature are connected. Everything in creation emanating from a single source of life. It can be a difficult concept to really get your head around and I'm not sure I have or every will completely but it feels right.

As part of my Practitioner training I had to attend a stranger's memorial service. This had its discomforts I can assure you as I felt I was intruding on the intimacy of a family's grief. I sat in the back and listened to the eulogy and the sharing of who this lady had been in life and I guess I got what was the lesson we were intended to learn. I felt her loss, I felt her humanity, her desire to leave some good behind and sensed the love that the gathered group had for her. I saw myself in any one of those attending and in she who had left this mortal plane.

Once we are born, we strive for so many of the same things, to love and be loved, to express who we are in our unique and varied ways, to live fully and well, to be all we can be and make some contribution to this thing called life. If I could see this in a woman I would never have the chance to meet, can I see it in strangers I encounter today. And if I see myself in others can I be unkind, judgmental or cruel?

We are all connected by the divine spark of creativity which brought us on purpose into this life form and being one with this force we are imbued with its wisdom, beauty and power always. Oneness that connects us eternally, unfailingly. At any moment, if we choose to remember this, we can realize our own power, the power to transcend any challenge or difficulty, the power to create new circumstances, to forgive, to give, to uplift our thoughts, to love, to ask for forgiveness. We need not fear or be anxious.
Lets try and remember the power that we are as spiritual beings and our connection on that plane with all those we encounter today.

Abundant Support

I cant write today without touching on the commemoration of the tragedies of 9/11. No doubt following those events there were a lot of questions flying to heaven looking for a god or asking where is the order in this chaotic and seemingly cruel random existence.
My prayer today is that each and every person touched by these events has found a measure of peace, that they have made their own sense of it, each finding his or her own answers.

"Unfortunately every attempt to grasp the totality of life from a cognitive perspective is bound to fall short, because the brain is limited in how it perceives the world.
We may try to fill in the gaps with intricate beliefs but ambiguities and uncertainties remain and these are the very things that pull us deeper into our biological quest for knowledge, meaning and truth.
Around and around we go, for wherever there is a mystery, our brains are destined to explore."
Page 99 from "Why we believe what we believe" by Andrew Newberg and Mark Waldman


Each of us must find what resonates in our own hearts as we make sense of our worlds but one thing I am fairly assured of is, that every person affected by these events were offered some form of loving support, from sister,  brother, mother, daughter, father, stranger, neighbor, friend. In some small way or large, love was offered.
It is my belief that Spirit/Life always supports its own expression, so we are each supported in our highest expression today and always.

P.S. So were those who died so tragically supported? It is my belief they were equally supported in their transition to a higher plane of existence. Like in birth, they have started life in a new form, no doubt welcomed by loved ones already passed and offered no less loving words and gestures. This is simply my sense of it, you must find your own.

ORDER

"The wonderful thing about emergence is you don't need something new to get something new!" - Murray Gell-Mann, who discovered the existence of the quark (smallest particle of matter)

It is believed by science that if you get enough things interacting with each other something new naturally emerges. Out of chaos, order.

In other words, something can come into existence, something beyond what has been seen or experienced before, by an orderly sequence of natural growth.

This same activity can work in each our lives to create new experiences and circumstances, each greater than any we have experienced before. As in the macrocosm so in the microcosm. 

Give this idea some thought, if it makes sense to you, really embody it. 

No doubt you can identify how growth has happened in your life so far. Maybe that gain was hard won through painful experiences or imposed change. Why not choose to have it happen through joyful experiences next time?

If we can really embody this idea of order and allow it to have its way in our lives we can hope for greater experiences of love, joy and abundance. There is no limit to what the mind can imagine so visualize the expansion of your experience. What is it you wish for? Greater contentment, peace, finances? Be willing to allow it and keep your mind stayed on this idea order, its a natural law, like gravity.  Trust in it fully and you will not be disappointed.

"Each one should realize that there is nothing in him that denies that which he desires. Our unity with our good is not established while there is anything in us that denies it." - Ernest Holmes 

Circulation

We have all heard "What goes round, comes round."  The idea of circulation seems to be a widely accepted idea. Emerson talked about this concept liking the microcosm to the macrocosm, as blood circulates in the body so too does all energy in the universe. Drawing from this, what we put out will indeed come round. So what do you want to put into circulation?

If you wish to experience love, give love. If wealth, put money in circulation. Tithing is the idea of giving a tenth of your earnings to that which feeds you spiritually. Even if you cant or don't feel comfortable giving a tenth then give what you can. Remember you are putting energy in motion. Give of your time if money feels impossible. Give of yourself. Its not difficult to give a smile, a compliment, a kind word, in fact it can make someone's day. You have the power to do this.
Doing it reminds us of our power. What a simple mechanism we so easily forget. You are a center of power and a cause of circulation of energy, what are you waiting for? Go to it!!

"The progress of the intellect is to the clearer vision of causes, which neglects surface differences. To the poet, to the philosopher, to the saint, all things are friendly and sacred, all events profitable, all days holy, all men divine." R.W. Emerson

This is my favorite image of Emerson, it seems to capture his intelligence and his playfulness. I love his mind and often quote him. He wrote many essays  in the mid 1800s which are as relevant today as they were then. Did you know Louisa May Alcott who wrote Little Women was a neighbor of his and was a little in love with him. When Louisa's sister got married Emerson kissed her on the cheek in congratulations. Louisa who never married, commented, "It might be worth getting married if one got a kiss from Mr. Emerson!"

Abundance is Now

Place your order...we do it all the time in restaurants and we usually receive what we order. Several stories have been shared with me in the past week about how people put out an order to the universe in very definite ways, some very specific and some not so much. Each got a response and learned something in the exchange.
No.1 You must be very specific.
No.2 When you are specific be prepared to get what you asked for!!

In the latter I recognized that the order was not placed as a command of even a plea but simply a statement of what the person felt she deserved. It came from the heart with a deep knowing that it was a Divine Right. It was as if this woman had come to a place of realization that she had been accepting less than she deserved and in that came the shift in consciousness. A week later her hearts desire showed up and she was a little taken aback. Now she had to work on her fears and sit down with herself to see what those were. She discovered her courage to say yes to a new experience. Getting what you want demands new behaviors and often what stops the receiving is comfort with the status quo.
Are you ready to let go of some way of being in order to have your greater good?

Sit with this question today and make your declaration of what you truly deserve as a child of God. Not as a demand or a plea but as a simple statement backed by conviction.God is not with-holding but we may be with holding from ourselves!


Buddah said; You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.

Individuality

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

The world of men will always try and impose its vision on to you, of how you should behave, what you should do or how you should live. I hear people who are seeking employment, in transition from a dying career, ask what the work place wants. It always rankles me. So you are going to try to fit a round peg in a square hole I think.

This is such a mistake that is commonly made. In relationship with parents and lovers its asked, if I behave this way will I be acceptable. Bosh, I say! Be yourself in mutual respect and allow yourself to be loved as you are as you respect the other.

If you love, love to the best of your ability, with kindness, support and compassion for the beloved. If you need employment look to what it is you thrill at doing, LOVE is the key. And you express it uniquely so don't be afraid to be yourself. This is what the world needs. Believe it. As an individualized expression of the Life of God, you are a center of its Infinite Abundant Nature. How good it is to know this!

"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude." -Emerson

Expansion

Scientists tell us the universe is expanding all the time. Of course it is so vast that we cannot fully comprehend it and so much of this world we live in is similarly incomprehensible. Cut open my brain for instance and where is the image of my childhood bedroom? I see it but a surgeon can't.

Yet so often we look for the solid proof of what we decide to believe in, scientists are only scratching the surface of this incredible universe and will seek its explanation for eternity.

In the meantime I believe since I am a part of this whole thing called creation I too am expanding in my knowledge and understanding, in love and my ability to create. Just talking today with a friend, about acknowledging our own progress, I have to admit I don't mark it as much as I could. I tend to forget how far I have come, in my need to reach further goals. I usually look at the distance yet to travel, to be more of who I want to be and express as I wish to express rather than pat myself on the back for what is achieved. I believe this is fairly common. So if you have been doing the same to yourself, I invite you now to take a little time to appraise where you were five years ago and where you are today. Measure not in finances or job status or outward trappings but in inward qualities such as wisdom, maturity and loving kindness.

"I believe that Spirit is forever creating, forever changing and forever becoming more of Itself, through that which I am. Therefore I know that this creative, expansive and self-giving nature is working through all of my affairs including financial." SOM
I can trust this is so because I acknowledge evidence in my personal experience, satisfying the scientist in me; times a need was met even when I did not know how it could be met. Acknowledging this and my growth, increases my belief and so my experience. Can you say the same? If not then maybe its time to begin a gratitude journal and find something to be grateful for no matter how small. With this practice in time you will see shifts you never thought possible. Begin where you are today and let me know what you manifest!!

Balance

So often we set an intention and suddenly the universe challenges us on our new resolve. Do you ever find this?

Let me give you an example.
I set an intention to release my belief in lack and began September's blogs on this theme so I might be mindful of what I believe and be in integrity with it. Already I find myself challenged by unexpected expenses; my cat needed x-rays this weekend and my car is seeing a mechanic tomorrow. Immediately I could begin to claim "I cant afford this," "I just cant get ahead," "I'm sure as heck not feeling abundant!!"  etc.

Thankfully I am a Practitioner of the Science of Mind and I may momentarily respond that way but very quickly I remember what I have stated as my belief. I believe I am One, as the wave on the ocean with God/Spirit. Spirit is infinite and abundant in all things. My source is not external to me, it is not a bank account or a job, it is Spirit. That being so, I trust that by winding passages or straight, I don't have to know the HOW, Spirit supplies my need.  I believe the activity of Spirit is always harmonious and balanced. Therefore I am a center for the expression of Balance in my financial affairs. I can pay my bills right now and be assured that whatever comes I can handle it too because I am a portal for Spirit's wealth.

A bit like Jesus isolated and fasting in the desert, being tempted by Satan offering all manner of power and false alternatives, he knew his Origin and his Power and did not accept what was seeming to be offered. Appearances are deceiving, and I do not accept the false belief in lack. At times like these I find its best to close ones eyes and meditate on the Truth. Give it a try, I find it works wonders!!

Awareness

So often I move through the day lost in my concerns, my plans, comparing my reality to some ideal of how I think my reality should be! What these preoccupations have in common is that they most often lead to exhaustion, missed opportunities and subsequently limited possibilities for the expansion of good in my life.

Holidays are a chance to down time, a chance to take a break from doing and just be, and today was that day for me. Slowing down has the effect of allowing me to be more aware of everything around me as well as what's going on in my mind.  I can more easily take a step back from my thinking and loosen my attachment to things. Today I acknowledge I was in the flow of being and was aware of an abundance of riches; in the form of chance encounters, a most glorious sunset, a full rainbow, thunder and lightening and a walk on a beach so teaming with life it was as if the whole world was represented there. It was one of those days I will remember for a long time.

So yes it was a holiday today and I had the advantage of being more relaxed, but is it not the truth that everyday has the potential for such awareness of the good. I believe it has if I just remember to slow down. The number one complaint of people today is that they don't have enough time, that they cant catch up, that they are overwhelmed and I can feel this way at times too. I have to ask myself who creates my experience?  The answer is "I do," in the choices I make and how I approach any commitments. For myself I know, when I make better choices in how I use my time and choose not to do so much, I am more present and effective. I am trusting in a Higher Order and my oneness with It. My awareness of my oneness, is the source of my Abundance. Therefore, this awareness is my Abundance. So it doesn't have to be a holiday for me to experience it. With that in mind I wonder what this work week will bring!

Always enough to do good

Sure there are days I feel the world is against me and it can feel very uncomfortable. Like today. I wont go into the gorey details but one thing after another seems to be telling me that everything I touch turns to dust! Interesting to me how one day can so differ from another and how when negative events come in a row I begin to form a belief that everyone hates me, I'm useless or unworthy. I realize I may not be everyone's favourite person on any given day and also recognize that I'm simply not my favourite today.
So rather than letting things continue on this downward spiral I turn to what I really know. In Spirit all things are whole, perfect and loved, including me! OK so there may be things I need to redress, something I need to do or say, to put somethings to rights. I can do that.  I resolve to do what needs to be done and I can go beyond that, take it up a notch and do something good for someone. When we most feel depleted of good, of love, of gentle understanding - that is the time to draw on the reserves of the oneness that we are. We are not isolated and separate little human beings but powerful spiritual emanations, connected, as the waves to the ocean. So from the morass of my mind I come forth and write this blog of Hope and Truth, reminding my self and you that there is always enough to do good because I believe in the infinite resource of Spirit which is equal to every demand placed on it, be it financial, physical or mental. 
I am glad to have this knowledge at the back of my mind and the presence of mind to bring it to the forefront when its been forgotten. I hope its been a reminder to you to be gentle with yourself or someone you know who may be lost in forgetfulness and falsity momentarily. Now go have a wonderful day and so shall I!

Infinite Abundance

Arriving home from work yesterday thinking about what to make for dinner I resisted calling my husband in response to my first impulse. I was thinking of New Moon our favorite restaurant and the meal we had shared there last week. I remembered our intention to not eat out this month so we could save for what we really wanted, which was to give a money gift to our nephew who is being married October 2nd. It seemed like good money management and not an action taken from a belief in lack. It is our way of keeping us in the flow of giving generously. I went through the food items in our fridge in my mind as I drove home and came up with a plan for dinner.

On my arrival at the house I found the door open and a large empty shipping container for perishable goods on the couch and my husband looking very pleased with himself! "Whats all this" I asked and he delightedly brought me to the freezer which was full of boxes. "Gifts from heaven," he declared. "Salmon fillet, sirloin steaks, creme brulee, pot roast, accompanied by a set of knives and a cutting board! From my mother!"

Needless to say my dinner plans changes slightly and we ate like kings. I believe there is only One God and the nature of God is Infinite Abundance! We gave thanks to God and toasted my husbands mother!! We live in the flow and as we focus on giving we are putting the law of circulation to work which cannot help but result in the inflow of all kind of good. This was never so clear to me as while I ate dinner last night!

Willingness is worthiness

I believe that whoever brings the qualities of God into expression, for example practicing kindness, compassion, generosity, experiences kindness, compassion and generosity.

I didn't always know this. I started out in life passively wanting others to treat me with kindness and thinking things come from the outside in. I was constantly looking to receive. It took me decades before I learned it all starts with the self. I went about looking for someone to be generous to me, to love me or to have a kind word for me on a bad day, always in want and feeling depleted and powerless. I found it most often ended in disappointment if it came from a neediness that I was unwilling to meet myself. Having this experience lead me to feel undeserving, compounding the feeling that this was the case to begin with; a belief that was picked up somewhere along the path of life and lingered long beyond its usefulness, if it ever had any.
Thankfully I changed the cycle of experience of lack, of disappointment, of feeling undeserving. 
A place within me knew the Truth. Tired of the pain of my life and inspired by others example I was finally willing to experiment with new ways of being. The change did not come till I truly deeply knew my connection with the infinite source. Without this knowledge I imagined I had to give from my limited resources of love, compassion, praise, prosperity but with God as my source I could give generously and never feel depleted. What a powerful place from which to live. I saw so many areas of my life flourish as a result. The faith of the mustard seed at the back of my willingness, a hope that springs eternal within us all opened the door to truly finding out that I was worthy of the good I wished to experience.
Willingness is worthiness. So knowing this I continue to be willing to know more and more of the good that is to be experienced in this life as I daily remind myself of the Truth of my being as a channel of the Infinite, bringing the qualities of God into expression.