Sunday, May 31, 2009

There's No Such Thing as Failure!

I received a number of e-mails commenting on a prior essay titled “Today Is the First Day of the Best Years of Your Life!” Each one said in so many words that s/he loved knowing there is no such thing as “failure.” That point didn’t occur to me when I was writing the piece because it wasn’t my focus, but my discerning readers are absolutely correct.

Here is the paragraph that gave them that insight and was the inspiration for this essay: The truth is that we are always successful. No matter what we are experiencing right now, we created it. If it’s really bad, and our life is filled with negativity and lack, just think how really skilled we are at creating such undesirable stuff. The good news is that we have the power and the ability right now to turn that around and start creating the lives we truly desire.

That is true! If our current life resembles a series of unfortunate events, it is time to embrace the fact that by changing our thoughts we can change our lives. Actually the thought of how successful we are at creating a miserable life can stand us in good stead. We can use it as a benchmark. Our ability to create a life we didn’t desire is exactly the same ability we will use to consciously create a much better life. The choice is really a no-brainer, but the how-to requires a little effort.

First of all, the desire for change has to be real, strong and deep. The “undesirable stuff” must no longer be desirable in any way, shape or form. Negative thoughts can create deep grooves in our subconscious and some have been around a long time. These long-forgotten negative thoughts determine our lives. We must work at releasing these hidden thoughts and beliefs, which have become powerful, and continue until they no longer take priority over our current positive desires.

When we are really ready for true change, the core of our being will resonate with this desire and actually work with us to bring about the change. This is soul work.

It is also a fact that at the deepest part of us, many people don’t think they deserve good. So it is vital to do some forgiveness work for ourselves and others. Here’s a tried and true technique that works and should be repeated daily as often as possible and with resolve: I freely and wholly forgive myself for any real or imagined wrong I have done 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!

It is also necessary to find out what we really do desire in our lives. We have been thinking negatively for a long time, and it will take some inner thought and reflection to dig down deep and find out what it is we truly desire.

To do that, take a piece of paper and designate two columns at the top, one titled: What I Want in My Life and the other What I Don’t Want in My Life. We work with these until we move past any pie-in-the-sky syndrome [like being the first person to live on the moon] and start connecting with our true inner selves. Once we identify what we truly want and it does not take from anyone or harm anyone else, we are ready for the next step, which is clearing out invalid thoughts, beliefs and life patterns.

Here are three wonderful statements to repeat with great resolve as often as possible: I now willingly release any belief, need or pattern in my subconscious that creates resistance to my good on any level. I now willingly release any belief, need or pattern in my subconscious that holds onto the past. I now willingly release any belief, need or pattern in my subconscious that creates an imbalance in my physical body.

Only after all of that is it time to place into our subconscious mind the desires that resonate within our hearts and minds and to repeat them until they manifest in our life experience. Write out your own, as your words will be more meaningful to you, but here are some examples. Please note that they focus on the now rather than in the future, which always places them out of reach: I now accept good into my life. I now accept love, health, prosperity, wisdom, peace, joy and harmony in my life. I now accept the_______ into my life that I have always desired. And So It Is!

There truly is no such thing as failure! We always succeed. Whether what we create in our lives is desired or undesirable depends entirely on the choices we make each day. It is up to us!
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Copyright © 2009 by Fern Stewart Welch

The author’s books: “You Can Live A Balanced Life In An Unbalanced World!” and “The Heart Knows the Way – How to Follow Your Heart to a Conscious Connection with the Divine Spirit Within” are available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Why Our Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

My teenage grandson’s birthday is fast approaching, and while I have some gifts for him, I find myself wanting to share so much more than material items wrapped in colorful paper. He is a fine young man, yet I know he will be tested many times before his brain fully matures – which scientists now say doesn’t happen until age twenty-five. This is why it is vitally important that he have a solid base of ethics, morals and values that will guide him safely and successfully throughout his life.

He has a good sense of what is right and wrong, but I am acutely aware that our collective senses have been numbed by a culture that has gone off track and created an atmosphere that challenges the successful survival of America’s young people.

Many of us know that the only path to inner peace, success and true and lasting happiness comes from having conscious values that we cling to as if our lives depend upon it; which if we desire good, honorable and successful lives, they do.

People my age grew up knowing what was right and what was wrong: It was black and white and obvious. The values we learned were backed up at school, among our peers, in our communities, churches and also in a very unlikely, but very effective venue – the local movie theater via the Saturday matinees for youngsters.

Cowboy movies reached their peak of popularity in the decades between the 1940s and the 1960s. There were dozens of actors who became famous starring in what became known as “oaters.” Each movie had a plot that was simple and basic, and the good guys always wore white hats and always triumphed.

I remember Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and the Lone Ranger, so just for fun I Googled “Cowboy Code of Ethics.” Much to my surprise, there was a Web site with formal Codes of Honor for some of these cowboy stars. Basically, the Codes cover what we were taught as children: “Don’t lie, don’t cheat, don’t steal and don’t be lazy,” with emphasis on such virtues as being kind and gentle to children, the elderly and animals; respect for women, parents and our country’s laws; and to never take unfair advantage of anyone.

Obviously, the reason cowboys have been our heroes for so long is because they embody the basic values we cherish and wish were still prevalent in our nation today. It is no surprise that two of our most beloved movie stars, John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, gained fame as clean-living, straight-talking cowboys who stood for truth, justice and the American way.

This is the foundation we desire for all of America’s youth, as this will enable them to think for themselves and give them the courage to withstand the toxic messages and temptations of our current culture. We just need to make sure they are exposed to these values at home and supported in as many areas of their lives as possible.

Fortunately there are still wonderful books and stories for youngsters to read, as well as movies that embrace the same virtues and values as the cowboys of yesteryear. The challenge is that some of the characters’ names are foreign to us, and we don’t have a clue as to the values they represent.

When I mentioned a few unfamiliar names to my grandson, he assured me that although there’s not a cowboy among them; Gandalf, Frodo, Luke Skywalker, Yoda and Han Solo champion the same heroic values.
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Copyright © 2009 by Fern Stewart Welch

The author’s books: “You Can Live A Balanced Life In An Unbalanced World!” and “The Heart Knows the Way – How to Follow Your Heart to a Conscious Connection with the Divine Spirit Within” are available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Nature: A Remedy for What Ails Us

The serious challenges facing us and our country now make this the perfect time to take a break from the crazy-making reality of the external world. It appears as if we have fallen down the rabbit hole and nothing seems to be as it should. We desperately need to seek healthy, sane and wise answers that will help us calmly negotiate the rocky road ahead, and which will ultimately help heal our country and the world.

But the truth is that these answers will never come from the chaos and fear that surround us. They will come only from within us by listening to our own inner guidance, the true compass for meaningful and successful lives.

While there are many ways in which we can connect with our inner knowing, spending time in nature is the easiest and most accessible path for many people. Here we find a nurturing space that holds the antidote that can counteract the poison of today’s world of double standards and double-dealing. Nature is, above all else, incapable of deceit, dishonesty or hypocrisy.

In nature’s sincere, pure simplicity lies the opportunity to reconnect with the true values in life: honesty, integrity, love and kindness and caring for others and the Earth.

Some of the older generation can remember when their parents, grandparents and great grandparents were in such close communion with nature that they could “read” the signals in the skies and predict the weather and the ebb and flow of seasonal changes. We need to return to that primordial respect and reverence for nature.

When we lost this closeness, we also lost our innate awareness of how we fit into the natural order of life on Earth. We feel this loss of connection as a fear, and desperately seek to cover it up by continually focusing on the busyness of the external world. Yet no matter how hard we push ourselves or what ridiculous levels of activity we aspire to and attain, the feeling of being alone and disconnected never goes away.

As we spend time in nature, however, we feel our wholeness in the well-ordered cycles, and sense our oneness with life throughout the cosmos. We also experience inner peace because Mother Nature does not judge us, and this helps us renew our trust in life.

Our distant ancestors knew of the healing power in nature. They would often take those who were ill or emotionally distraught into the forests so that the powerful energy in the trees would soak up any confused energy, which calmed them and hastened their healing. This gives new meaning to free-standing urgent care centers.

As nature is the true language of our being it speaks to us at a soul level through beauty and the intelligent order of the universe. It reminds us that we are one with all life and a vital part of the whole. Reawakening to these truths is the true path to inner peace and the remedy for what ails us, society and our planet.
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Copyright © 2009 by Fern Stewart Welch

The author’s books: “You Can Live A Balanced Life In An Unbalanced World!” and “The Heart Knows the Way – How to Follow Your Heart to a Conscious Connection with the Divine Spirit Within” are available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.