Monday, October 27, 2008

The Key to Financial Security ... No Matter What!

It is a given that our country and the world will ultimately resolve the current financial crisis. The good news right now is that this is an ideal time to consider some ancient tried-and-true prosperity principles. Many famous and successful people have used these concepts for centuries to create and preserve their financial security, despite the external economic conditions.

We have always used our thoughts to create our life circumstances; we simply were not consciously aware of doing so. The rub is that for many of us the results were undesirable. Not only are we responsible for whatever we lacked in our lives in the past, unless we make a change this will also be our future.

We are the only ones who can change the events and conditions we are attracting to us. And it is true that we can change our lives by changing our thoughts. However, most of today’s prosperity information focuses on creating financial gain by mentally deciding what we want, writing it down, picturing it and affirming that it is ours.

These actions are part of the overall process, but they depend only on our finite mental power, instead of utilizing the infinite power that is within us. Until we realize that prosperity and abundance are our natural state, our spiritual birthright, the results will be, at best, undependable and short-lived.

In order to connect with our natural state, our true selves, we must go within. Meditation is one way to enhance our alignment with our inner selves. As we do this, we open ourselves to greater conscious awareness, and are literally fanning the flame in our souls that knows we are powerful spiritual beings and abundance is our God-given original state. We need to become immersed in this truth and act from it.

We live in an incredibly abundant Universe filled with powerful energy that is constantly seeking to become more. This energy is in us and everything in the cosmos, and is called by many names, including God. Within this energy, there is also an impersonal force that receives our thoughts and emotions and returns to us exactly what we project into it through our thoughts and feelings. This is extremely good news because if we have created undesirable conditions it is possible to change our thoughts and change the results that are delivered to us.

By following the concepts below, and consciously sharing heart-directed love, time and our worldly goods to benefit others, the financial success and abundance that result are then part of the natural flow of life – and as such, are firmly anchored in our lives, No Matter What!

Affirm daily: I give thanks for this amazingly abundant Universe and know that it is my birthright to receive all that I can accept. I do not depend upon persons or external conditions for my prosperity or my abundance. The eternal and sublime energy-God is the source of my supply. And so it is!

When we love ourselves and feel worthy and deserving, we create a prosperity passageway within us that keeps our flow of Good constantly coming to us.

Affirm daily: I am worthy and deserving of prosperity and abundance. I love and approve of myself right now. I claim my good, and it manifests in my life peacefully, joyously and harmoniously, with Good for all concerned. And so it is!

When we know that what we desire is good for us and all others, we do not have to scheme, stress or be concerned that our good takes from anyone.

Affirm daily: The forgiving love of the Universe sets me free from all mistakes of the past or present. My Good comes to me now, pressed down and running over, with Good for all concerned. And so it is!

To maintain the uninterrupted flow of prosperity and abundance, we need to clear and cleanse any negative thoughts we may hold about anyone or anything, past or present.

Affirm daily: I freely and wholly forgive myself for any real or imagined wrong done by me to me or to anyone else past or present. I freely and wholly forgive anyone else for any real or imagined wrong done to me past or present. I am free, they are free. And so it is!

As we maintain an attitude of gratitude, our prosperity consciousness expands. This allows us to accept more blessings into our experience, to create lasting financial security and abundant, joyous, meaningful lives for ourselves and our loved ones.

Affirm daily: I am grateful for the abundance of life. I give thanks for the prosperity and abundance that continually blesses my life, the lives of others and the Earth. And so it is!
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Copyright © 2008 by Fern Stewart Welch

[For additional insights, go to: http://www.fernstewartwelch.com/, scroll down “How-to Lists” and read Realizing Your Heart Desires and Fulfill Your Potential.]

The author’s book THE HEART KNOWS THE WAY—How to Follow Your Heart to a Conscious Connection with the Divine Spirit Within – is available at Amazon.com, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Facing Life Challenges With Faith and Resolve

Although I was shocked when my radiantly healthy daughter was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, my ultimate reaction differed from those of a few family members and friends. They viewed the situation as the cruel and unfair hand of fate, which they believe chooses who gets "good" life experiences and who gets "bad" ones. They quickly reminded me that non-smokers sometimes get lung cancer and many lifelong heavy smokers are never touched by it.

I believe, however, that regarding life-threatening experiences as only negative is a short-sighted view of life and that all such events, serious as they may be, are opportunities to help us and those around us learn life lessons.

I also believe that our experiences have more to do with the fact that every human being is unique, and that our souls draw to us whatever circumstances or events we require to move us toward fulfilling our life purpose. This takes precedence over all the other situations in our lives.

Our primary life purpose is specific, is ours alone and no one else can fulfill it. We also have a general purpose that we share with every human being, which is to love ourselves and others and to use our experience to learn how life on Earth really works.

When adults receive a life-threatening medical diagnosis it often signals the beginning of an adventure in consciousness. If we can remain clear and understand that it is our experience and ours alone, we will open to new insights, and we will never look at life the same way again.

The role of anyone else who is involved with us is to love and support us in our continuing life journey, no matter the outcome, in a way that honors us and our choices.

I believe a key element in such life circumstances is for us to remember that we are powerful spiritual beings who came to Earth in human form in order to learn how to work with the eternal and sublime energy that is within us and everything in the universe. By learning to cooperate with this energy, which we call God, we can positively affect our lives, the lives of others and the future of our planet.

Here is an exquisite quote from bestselling author Marianne Williamson that beautifully and profoundly echoes this statement:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won’t feel insecure around us.
We are meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously
give others permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

I remember as a young girl how deeply I yearned for the opportunity to make a difference in the world. Naturally, I thought it would be by doing something grand that would result in world renown, or at least a photo in the local newspaper to make my parents proud.

I have known for a long time, however, that a truly valued and noble life is one lived in deep gratitude for the gift of life and a steadfastness that allows us to stay the course, no matter what, and to meet challenging circumstances in trust and faith.

The experiences that occur in our lives, including my daughter’s, present opportunities for us to open to expressing more of the truth of who we were born to be. It isn’t the challenges we face in life, it is how we choose to grow through them that make the difference.

When we elect to meet experiences with faith and resolve instead of fear, the difference registers at a soul level—and we elevate the conscious awareness of humanity.
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Copyright © 2008 by Fern Stewart Welch

The author’s book THE HEART KNOWS THE WAY—How to Follow Your Heart to a Conscious Connection with the Divine Spirit Within – is available at Amazon.com, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Releasing Childhood Wounds and Reclaiming Our True Selves

After a recent business conversation concerning one of my books, in which I didn’t receive the response I wanted, I felt a wave of emotion wash over me that took me back to childhood: I immediately felt unloved and undeserving.

This wasn’t the first time this kind of thing had happened. But it was the first time I consciously recognized the inappropriate reaction for what it was. I was surprised that the emotions were powerful enough to rattle my confidence and knock me off center. Instead of being able to view the situation objectively, I felt the pain of childhood and my wounded heart.

Since I made a decision many years ago to grow through life instead of just going through it, I realized there are often many layers of issues that we need to peel away and clear in order to be free of subconscious thoughts, beliefs and emotions that affect us in undesirable ways. This was certainly true in this instance.

I also knew that some emotional wounding from childhood is inevitable for all of us. Even if we are born into the healthiest family environment imaginable, it happens. When we start out, our lives depend on the responses of those around us, and unless they automatically know what our cries mean and respond quickly, we soon learn that the world can be an unfriendly place.

Also, because children are complex and unique individuals, it would be miraculous for parents to be everything we need in every instance to assure we grow into healthy adults free of any emotional damage. This explains why so many of us, as well as our children and grandchildren, end up with a subconscious laundry list of unmet-unhealed needs that continue to have a powerful impact on our lives.

By the time we’re adults many of us are aware that in order to cope with individual family dynamics, we had to suppress parts of ourselves and take on adaptive behavior in order to fit into or survive in a specific environment. Psychologists call this adaptive behavior a “false” or “disowned self.” This type of behavior can result from any form of dysfunctional parenting that causes a child to change his or her natural responses in order to cope with the situation. In extreme cases, it happens when a child tries to escape the wrath of an abusive parent.

We create this false self to mask the hurt of giving up our original God-given wholeness. This adaptive behavior separates us from our true selves and disallows any true intimacy with ourselves or anyone else.

Later on, as adults, when we don’t get what we need or want from life or our significant others, the emotional energy connected to our unhealed issues will bubble up from our subconscious, often in unhealthy ways. This is a message reminding us that here is yet another opportunity to reclaim our wholeness.

Many people will relate not only to the familiar feeling of emptiness within that is the result of denying our true selves, but also to the habit of trying to use constant activity, food or drugs in an attempt to fill this hole. This response doesn’t work, as we are really seeking to reunite with our undivided, original state of being.

Here is a simple process I learned years ago in a workshop that helps reveal adaptive behavior and begin the healing. It involves going back in our mind’s eye to childhood, and visualizing the house and all the people who strongly influenced our early lives. Coming from mature awareness and love, we then initiate conversations with individual family members. We can feel free to express any feelings – including anger – and to tell them what we needed in childhood and didn’t receive.

Then take a sheet of paper and place two headings at the top of the page: Challenges and Reactions. Below on the left-hand side of the paper write down the names of all the individuals involved, starting with the parents.

As an example, under Challenges, next to my mother’s name, I wrote: “She paid no attention to me.” Under Reactions I wrote: “I try to be perfect to please her; I rebel against her.” For my father, I wrote under Challenges: “He’s hardly ever at home; he cares for me and I know it, but he is not involved in my life.” And my Reaction was: “I try to please him and to get close to him; I pay no attention to him.”

Continue the writing until a clear picture develops of the adaptive behavior we have chosen in childhood. For example, I discovered that initially I tried to be perfect, compliant and never to express anger. By the time I was ten years old, I had turned my attention and focus to the external world, assuming that by shutting the memories out of my mind and forging ahead, I wouldn’t be touched by it any more. I was wrong.

The first required healing step is to do forgiveness work for ourselves and for our family members, whether they are alive or not. This is essential and must be continued for as long as it takes. I recommend saying as often as possible: I freely and wholly forgive myself for any real or imagined wrong done by me to me, or to anyone else, past or present. I freely and wholly forgive (name) ________ for any real or imagined wrong done to me, past or present. I am free. They are free.

The next stage is to use our new awareness to stop the unconscious adaptive behavior by strengthening and supporting our true selves. I recommend repeating as often as possible: I love, nurture and cherish myself. I freely give and receive love. I can healthfully express anger and work through differences. I am perfect, whole and complete right now.

With the right attitude and intention, we can go home again, heal our wounded hearts and be free to reclaim our original undivided selves.
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Copyright © 2008 by Fern Stewart Welch

The author’s book THE HEART KNOWS THE WAY—How to Follow Your Heart to a Conscious Connection with the Divine Spirit Within – is available at Amazon.com, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Facing Dangerous Times Requires More Than Duct Tape and a First-Aid Kit

Like many others who have been untouched personally by the storms, major floods, hurricanes, wildfires and chemical spills that often fill the news, I never felt compelled to prepare for such emergencies. Yet there I was at a Sunday spiritual service, and it was announced that the Governor had sent out a request to all faith-based organizations in our state asking for help in encouraging citizens to prepare for possible emergencies.

My first thought was, what does this have to do with me? As I sat there, however, I realized that I had lulled myself into a false sense of security. Just because I didn’t want to contemplate the possibility of another terrorist attack on American soil, or that some natural or man-made disaster could devastate my own life, doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

Bolstering my head-in-the sand attitude was the fact that I also subscribe to the belief that what you focus on you draw to you, and I didn’t want to add any energy to the existing fear about any future threats or disasters. Fortunately the speaker’s advice was in line with that thinking, as well as being sane, sensible and imminently practical.

The first recommended response was to become as knowledgeable as possible. I was familiar with the old adage that being forewarned is being forearmed and could certainly go along with that. I also realized that in the dangerous times in which we live, the better part of wisdom would be to acknowledge that being prepared for any emergency is a wise thing to do.

I went to the Internet and looked up the online emergency preparedness address sponsored by the state in which I live. It spells out practical and economical ways in which to protect ourselves and our loved ones. It included the following key items: Developing a family communication plan so that in case of emergency we can contact family members; writing down important telephone numbers and keeping them with us at all times; designating a meeting place in case an evacuation is required; buying a battery operated radio with extra batteries in case of loss of electrical power; and finding out what you should have in a basic Disaster Supplies Kit.

The components of the Disaster Kit were somewhat surprising. I would never have thought of anything beyond the necessary food and water, medical prescriptions, first-aid kits, duct tape and plastic sheeting. The surprises included: some emergency cash (always a good idea), copies of insurance papers and other valuable documents – and putting together two kits, one for the house and one for the car.

The second half of the speaker’s two-part emergency preparedness plan was equally wise. We were reminded that it is stressful, counterproductive and unhealthy to be fearful and to worry about what might happen, as we can’t control natural disasters or other traumatic events.

As she emphasized the importance of staying calm and centered, I realized that this is much easier to do when we’ve consciously faced the situation and made any practical and reasonable preparations. Doing what we can ahead of time enables us to relax and stay in the present moment, which is where peace lives.

We can also support this position of strength by feeding positive statements-affirmations into our subconscious so that we are prepared spiritually and emotionally as well as practically. I recommend repeating the following daily: I am always in my right place at the right time and know exactly what to do. I am divinely guided, guarded and protected. All is well.

By taking back our power and being proactive, we release the victim role, and are able to live free of fear and angst, which adds greatly to the common good. Then, when and if something untoward happens, we are better equipped to help ourselves, our loved ones and others.
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Copyright © 2008 by Fern Stewart Welch

The author’s book THE HEART KNOWS THE WAY—How to Follow Your Heart to a Conscious Connection with the Divine Spirit Within – is available at Amazon.com, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.