Did you know that when there is a choice to make, and we don’t make it, that is also a choice? For many of us the fact that we had any choices in life was never really obvious to us. By the time we looked up, life had already happened to us and it seemed the only option possible was to make the best of it.
At some point in time, we may have wondered why our lives didn’t turn out more like the classic love-redeems-all movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” in which the main character also experiences unfortunate life events but emerges the most beloved man in town. When that thought arises and there doesn’t seem to be any hope for reversing our negative cycle, we feel helpless. Many people in this situation are resigned to just “putting in their time,” as they believe the light at the end of the tunnel for them is a knowing that at some point it will all be over.
It doesn’t have to be that way. There is another choice, and when we choose to follow it at any time in our lives, it opens up the opportunity to consciously move out of the victim role, which is living by default, and deliberately creating fulfilling, meaningful and joyous lives. The original concept for doing this has been known for centuries, and now more and more people are becoming aware of the fact that by changing our thoughts we can change our lives.
What most people aren’t aware of, however, is the parameters that must be met in order to be successful in this process. For example, our desires need to resonate with truth at the core of our being. We must love ourselves enough to allow good into our lives. And we need to know our beliefs and priorities so that we will have a standard by which to measure our progress, as well as to make decisions easier, which helps us stay on track.
I know that may sound complicated, but before you make the choice to give up without giving it a chance, here is the good news. The true secret lies in making one simple choice. That choice will lift us out of being a victim, living by default, and give us the ability to realize the lives we truly desire. That “choice” is to go within and learn what we need to know about ourselves so that we can change our lives.
For those who may resist taking the inner journey, I offer the following: For a number of years I mistakenly believed that everything in life of any note was generated by activity in the external world. I certainly didn’t think I needed to spend time contemplating my navel. But I have known for a long time now that the opposite is true. Life is meant to work from the inside of us out.
I also resisted looking within because I was afraid of what I would find. What I discovered, to my great relief and pleasant surprise, was a sanctuary of unconditional love, support and wisdom that is within everyone and everything in the universe. I also learned that when we consciously align with this energy-intelligence-love, it automatically says yes to our conscious choices and actively assists in manifesting them in our life experience.
In choosing to live from the love, peace, happiness and trust in life that resides within us, we will naturally be drawn to choosing and expressing a more loving, harmonious and balanced state of being. As we become more positive and accepting of our good, this opens a path for all the health, abundance and goodness we consciously choose, and can accept, to be available to us. We are no longer living by default, but by choice.
We are now and always have been the point of power in our lives. At any moment we can choose to reclaim our power and begin to choose the lives we desire for ourselves and our loved ones. The only question is: Do we continue playing the role of victim and allowing life to happen to us by drifting into default? Or do we choose to step up and own the fact that we are the central character, the star, of our own lives? We are also the producer, director, scriptwriter and casting director. We are always free to create a comedy, a drama, a tragedy, a series of unfortunate events or a wonderful life. The choice is ours.
___________________________________
Copyright © 2008 by Fern Stewart Welch ▪ One of the author’s most requested essays.
The author’s books: “Tea with Elisabeth,” “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, other online booksellers, bookstore chains, such as Barnes & Noble, Borders and Inner Visions Bookstore, and to the trade from Ingram Book Co., Baker & Taylor and other wholesalers.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
On Becoming a Human-Being Instead of a Human-Doing
It wasn’t until my late husband became critically ill and I left the corporate world a decade ago to care for him that I became aware that for most of my life I had been a human-doing instead of a human-being.
The realization didn’t come quickly. For a long time I was so overwhelmed by all the challenges before me that I threw myself into activities that consumed the hours and days of my life. Evidently the strong work ethic I learned from my birth-family translated into feeling worthy only when I was fully engaged in doing something. The busyness also served to keep me from ever questioning how I was living my life, if it was working for me—and if not, why not?
When my husband’s health challenges became so serious that he had to be placed in a 24-hour care environment, the situation changed dramatically. I had released a number of external commitments in order to care for him, and for the first time in my adult life I found myself relatively free. The freedom proved unsettling. Not only did I desperately need to come to grips with the emotional situation with my husband, I needed to come to peace with what all of this would mean to my future life. After trying unsuccessfully to resolve the situation on my own through my usual direct-action efforts, I realized I didn’t know what to do. I felt helpless.
The time had come when I had to stop all the doing and turn within for answers. I was faced with the biggest challenge to my own peace of mind and sense of well- being—me. Or more accurately, the sum total of mental and emotional baggage that lived within me and that had determined my actions, inactions, thoughts, decisions and non-decisions my entire life.
I had an established daily routine of meditating, journaling and affirmative prayer, but because the job and then my husband’s situation took priority over my needs, the time I spent within was determined by those demands. Now I could spend as much time as desired.
My well-honed and single-eyed approach did prove beneficial in this instance. After months of this inner focus, I began to feel a sense of peace. For the first time in my life I was content spending time within. The meditation helped to discipline my racing “monkey-mind.” Gradually my mind opened to a deeper awareness of life and awakened me to my self, others and the eternal and sublime energy that is within each of us and everything in the universe, which we call God. I was realizing some balance in my life, which brought greater clarity to my thought processes and a growing ability to manage my emotional state. When I opened to loving myself, I became aware that my ability to love others in an unselfish and healthier way was greatly enhanced.
I discovered that meditation is a path to inner peace, as it enables us to connect with the sanctuary of unconditional love, guidance and support within that is the heart desire of every conscious person on Earth.
In this process I became a human-being instead of a human-doing. I no longer judged my worth or my life by what I do. By learning to live an inner-directed life, rather than seeking meaning outside myself, I know that whatever activity I engage in will be meaningful and purposeful.
There is a new-found peace and contentment at the core of my being, a sustained sense of well-being and happiness—no matter what conditions or situations arise. I am no longer driven to do. I allow myself to be.
________________________________
Copyright 2007 by Fern Stewart Welch - This is one of the author's most requested essays.
The author’s books: “Tea with Elisabeth,” “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, other online booksellers, bookstore chains, such as Barnes & Noble, Borders and Inner Visions Bookstore, and to the trade from Ingram Book Co., Baker & Taylor and other wholesalers.
The realization didn’t come quickly. For a long time I was so overwhelmed by all the challenges before me that I threw myself into activities that consumed the hours and days of my life. Evidently the strong work ethic I learned from my birth-family translated into feeling worthy only when I was fully engaged in doing something. The busyness also served to keep me from ever questioning how I was living my life, if it was working for me—and if not, why not?
When my husband’s health challenges became so serious that he had to be placed in a 24-hour care environment, the situation changed dramatically. I had released a number of external commitments in order to care for him, and for the first time in my adult life I found myself relatively free. The freedom proved unsettling. Not only did I desperately need to come to grips with the emotional situation with my husband, I needed to come to peace with what all of this would mean to my future life. After trying unsuccessfully to resolve the situation on my own through my usual direct-action efforts, I realized I didn’t know what to do. I felt helpless.
The time had come when I had to stop all the doing and turn within for answers. I was faced with the biggest challenge to my own peace of mind and sense of well- being—me. Or more accurately, the sum total of mental and emotional baggage that lived within me and that had determined my actions, inactions, thoughts, decisions and non-decisions my entire life.
I had an established daily routine of meditating, journaling and affirmative prayer, but because the job and then my husband’s situation took priority over my needs, the time I spent within was determined by those demands. Now I could spend as much time as desired.
My well-honed and single-eyed approach did prove beneficial in this instance. After months of this inner focus, I began to feel a sense of peace. For the first time in my life I was content spending time within. The meditation helped to discipline my racing “monkey-mind.” Gradually my mind opened to a deeper awareness of life and awakened me to my self, others and the eternal and sublime energy that is within each of us and everything in the universe, which we call God. I was realizing some balance in my life, which brought greater clarity to my thought processes and a growing ability to manage my emotional state. When I opened to loving myself, I became aware that my ability to love others in an unselfish and healthier way was greatly enhanced.
I discovered that meditation is a path to inner peace, as it enables us to connect with the sanctuary of unconditional love, guidance and support within that is the heart desire of every conscious person on Earth.
In this process I became a human-being instead of a human-doing. I no longer judged my worth or my life by what I do. By learning to live an inner-directed life, rather than seeking meaning outside myself, I know that whatever activity I engage in will be meaningful and purposeful.
There is a new-found peace and contentment at the core of my being, a sustained sense of well-being and happiness—no matter what conditions or situations arise. I am no longer driven to do. I allow myself to be.
________________________________
Copyright 2007 by Fern Stewart Welch - This is one of the author's most requested essays.
The author’s books: “Tea with Elisabeth,” “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, other online booksellers, bookstore chains, such as Barnes & Noble, Borders and Inner Visions Bookstore, and to the trade from Ingram Book Co., Baker & Taylor and other wholesalers.
Monday, October 11, 2010
The Simple Joys of Nature's Seasons
In the desert where I live, triple-digit temperatures are finally beginning to drop during the daytime, and this means our fall is almost here. I have been doing some re-potting and planting of flowers in my small patio garden and am once again feeling the joy of being in harmony with nature.
I realize that many people are city dwellers today, and seldom think of the importance of nature in our lives. The tendency is to get caught up in the fast pace of life and forget what it feels like to connect with the Earth, feel the soil in our hands and participate in the natural cycles of life.
Still, I believe that we all share a primal response when we notice that nature is shifting into another seasonal change. It may be the falling leaves and a slight chill in the air, or in some areas the first snowfall, but for that fleeting moment we are reconnected to the Earth and grounded in the truth that we are one with everyone and everything on this planet.
While I have lived in the desert long enough to get used to just two seasons, hot and not so hot, there are definitely some rewards. In addition to giving relatives who live in more frigid zones a difficult time by announcing the balmy shirt-sleeve temperatures we enjoy on some of their coldest days, we can wear the same type of clothing year round.
Even though my family moved to the desert when I was a pre-teen, some of my most cherished memories are of winters in St. Louis, where the climate changes were definitely less subtle. For instance, I remember once as a young child I awakened before anyone else in my family with a heightened sense of excitement. And sure enough when I ran to the window and checked, there was the first snow of the season and it was so brilliantly white that in the light it seemed to be sprinkled with jewels. I also didn’t miss the fact that it looked at least six to eight inches deep.
Without another thought I grabbed my coat and quietly left the house barefoot and in what was surely a state of childhood bliss. There was not another footprint anywhere in sight. I ran to the end of our block one way and then to the other with an intention of being the first person to leave footprints in this magical gift. I believe that in marking the occasion in this way, I was paying homage to the blessedness of this natural event, as well as a child’s way of joyously welcoming another opportunity to have fun.
And fun we did have. When we weren’t in school, there were the special days of going with my older brothers to Lafayette Park and sailing down the hillsides on our sturdy wooden sleds, which they masterfully guided. On regular days, we younger kids satisfied our desire to drain every last bit of joy from the snow by building forts and having day-long snowball fights, interrupted only by the need to go indoors and thaw out and being forced to go to the bathroom, eat or put on dry clothes.
Even the adults seemed to appreciate the beauty of the local park, which became a snow-covered wonderland. The picture-postcard images of stately bare trees dressed in arctic-blue ice and outlined against the grey-blue skies were ethereally beautiful.
What great and treasured memories. Yet, as I look around my neighborhood today, there are mostly desert-friendly trees such as paloverde, olive, oleander, mesquite and greasewood. The sun is shining brilliantly, it is a balmy 75 degrees, and flowers are blooming all over the neighborhood, including bright-red geraniums on my back patio. And there will be no shoveling of anything, except maybe a little dirt. Life is good when we are in harmony with nature, no matter the reason or the season, or even the climate zone we call home.
______________________________
Copyright © 2008 by Fern Stewart Welch - This is one of the author's most requested columns.
The author’s books: “Tea with Elisabeth,” “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, other online booksellers, bookstore chains, such as Barnes & Noble and Borders, and to the trade from Ingram Book Co., Baker & Taylor and other wholesalers.
I realize that many people are city dwellers today, and seldom think of the importance of nature in our lives. The tendency is to get caught up in the fast pace of life and forget what it feels like to connect with the Earth, feel the soil in our hands and participate in the natural cycles of life.
Still, I believe that we all share a primal response when we notice that nature is shifting into another seasonal change. It may be the falling leaves and a slight chill in the air, or in some areas the first snowfall, but for that fleeting moment we are reconnected to the Earth and grounded in the truth that we are one with everyone and everything on this planet.
While I have lived in the desert long enough to get used to just two seasons, hot and not so hot, there are definitely some rewards. In addition to giving relatives who live in more frigid zones a difficult time by announcing the balmy shirt-sleeve temperatures we enjoy on some of their coldest days, we can wear the same type of clothing year round.
Even though my family moved to the desert when I was a pre-teen, some of my most cherished memories are of winters in St. Louis, where the climate changes were definitely less subtle. For instance, I remember once as a young child I awakened before anyone else in my family with a heightened sense of excitement. And sure enough when I ran to the window and checked, there was the first snow of the season and it was so brilliantly white that in the light it seemed to be sprinkled with jewels. I also didn’t miss the fact that it looked at least six to eight inches deep.
Without another thought I grabbed my coat and quietly left the house barefoot and in what was surely a state of childhood bliss. There was not another footprint anywhere in sight. I ran to the end of our block one way and then to the other with an intention of being the first person to leave footprints in this magical gift. I believe that in marking the occasion in this way, I was paying homage to the blessedness of this natural event, as well as a child’s way of joyously welcoming another opportunity to have fun.
And fun we did have. When we weren’t in school, there were the special days of going with my older brothers to Lafayette Park and sailing down the hillsides on our sturdy wooden sleds, which they masterfully guided. On regular days, we younger kids satisfied our desire to drain every last bit of joy from the snow by building forts and having day-long snowball fights, interrupted only by the need to go indoors and thaw out and being forced to go to the bathroom, eat or put on dry clothes.
Even the adults seemed to appreciate the beauty of the local park, which became a snow-covered wonderland. The picture-postcard images of stately bare trees dressed in arctic-blue ice and outlined against the grey-blue skies were ethereally beautiful.
What great and treasured memories. Yet, as I look around my neighborhood today, there are mostly desert-friendly trees such as paloverde, olive, oleander, mesquite and greasewood. The sun is shining brilliantly, it is a balmy 75 degrees, and flowers are blooming all over the neighborhood, including bright-red geraniums on my back patio. And there will be no shoveling of anything, except maybe a little dirt. Life is good when we are in harmony with nature, no matter the reason or the season, or even the climate zone we call home.
______________________________
Copyright © 2008 by Fern Stewart Welch - This is one of the author's most requested columns.
The author’s books: “Tea with Elisabeth,” “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, other online booksellers, bookstore chains, such as Barnes & Noble and Borders, and to the trade from Ingram Book Co., Baker & Taylor and other wholesalers.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Are Do-Gooders Always Doing "Good"?
I have a dear friend who is placed on a pedestal by almost everyone who knows her because she always puts everyone else’s needs before her own. She never says no, regardless of what is asked of her, or what hardship or inconvenience it might make for her. She is called angelic, blessed, caring, gentle, kind and unbelievably thoughtful.
You may have guessed that I am one of the few who would like to see “Mary” break out of that mold and take care of more of her own needs in order to keep the giving and receiving in balance. You may also have guessed that one of my own life lessons was learning the difference between performing healthy acts of loving kindness and setting myself up to become a martyr, which most often results in becoming a victim.
I believe that at this stage of Mary’s life she doesn’t recognize that she has needs or desires, or that by abdicating her power and being hooked into others’ expectations she is living someone else’s life, instead of her own.
There’s also a possibility that in another lifetime she was the opposite of all of those glowing adjectives now bestowed upon her and is seeking to balance the scale this time around. If that is true, she will ultimately learn that following either giving or receiving to the extreme will eventually prove detrimental to her physical, mental, emotional, spiritual balance and well-being.
If we can’t accept our self-worth, we sometimes compensate for this lack by spending our lives becoming “do-gooders” or “super do-gooders” like Mary, in an effort to prove to everyone else the inborn worthiness in us that we cannot accept for ourselves.
Unless we wake up, we will find ourselves stuck in situations and relationships that are out of alignment with our soul and our true selves. It often takes a dramatic illness or other life event to shake us up and allow us to realize there is a more balanced way to live that brings us peace and contentment, which is every human being’s heart desire and birthright.
When we turn within to that part of us where unconditional love resides, God, we open to an inner knowing that naturally guides us to balanced giving and receiving. Since both are equally sacred, we must be sure that any giving begins with giving to ourselves. For if our reservoir of self-love is low or in a negative position from too much giving and little or no receiving, then what we do give to others or a cause doesn’t pack enough energy, power or punch to have the desired positive effect. In fact the result may prove to be negative or at most ineffective as a result of this imbalance.
In today’s world, most of us realize that for our lives to truly work well, we must start with the basics. We must know who we are – powerful spiritual beings having a human experience – and also know our true heart’s desires. Once we resonate with this core information, then we align our thoughts and actions to focus on and support these aspirations until they manifest in our lives.
We all know that being human means that Life Happens and we need to be prepared for any roller-coaster times. Whenever I start to feel less-than, experience some new ailment, or that I’m rowing upstream, or wonder if I’m actually from another planet, I know I’ve been neglecting being good to me. It’s obviously time to get back to basics. And one of the key elements is to be sure that when I’m making up a To-Do List of Acts of Loving Kindness, I place my own name at the top.
________________________________
Copyright 2010 by Fern Stewart Welch
The author’s books: “Tea with Elisabeth,” “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, other online booksellers, bookstore chains, such as Barnes & Noble and Borders, and to the trade from Ingram Book Co., Baker & Taylor and other wholesalers.
You may have guessed that I am one of the few who would like to see “Mary” break out of that mold and take care of more of her own needs in order to keep the giving and receiving in balance. You may also have guessed that one of my own life lessons was learning the difference between performing healthy acts of loving kindness and setting myself up to become a martyr, which most often results in becoming a victim.
I believe that at this stage of Mary’s life she doesn’t recognize that she has needs or desires, or that by abdicating her power and being hooked into others’ expectations she is living someone else’s life, instead of her own.
There’s also a possibility that in another lifetime she was the opposite of all of those glowing adjectives now bestowed upon her and is seeking to balance the scale this time around. If that is true, she will ultimately learn that following either giving or receiving to the extreme will eventually prove detrimental to her physical, mental, emotional, spiritual balance and well-being.
If we can’t accept our self-worth, we sometimes compensate for this lack by spending our lives becoming “do-gooders” or “super do-gooders” like Mary, in an effort to prove to everyone else the inborn worthiness in us that we cannot accept for ourselves.
Unless we wake up, we will find ourselves stuck in situations and relationships that are out of alignment with our soul and our true selves. It often takes a dramatic illness or other life event to shake us up and allow us to realize there is a more balanced way to live that brings us peace and contentment, which is every human being’s heart desire and birthright.
When we turn within to that part of us where unconditional love resides, God, we open to an inner knowing that naturally guides us to balanced giving and receiving. Since both are equally sacred, we must be sure that any giving begins with giving to ourselves. For if our reservoir of self-love is low or in a negative position from too much giving and little or no receiving, then what we do give to others or a cause doesn’t pack enough energy, power or punch to have the desired positive effect. In fact the result may prove to be negative or at most ineffective as a result of this imbalance.
In today’s world, most of us realize that for our lives to truly work well, we must start with the basics. We must know who we are – powerful spiritual beings having a human experience – and also know our true heart’s desires. Once we resonate with this core information, then we align our thoughts and actions to focus on and support these aspirations until they manifest in our lives.
We all know that being human means that Life Happens and we need to be prepared for any roller-coaster times. Whenever I start to feel less-than, experience some new ailment, or that I’m rowing upstream, or wonder if I’m actually from another planet, I know I’ve been neglecting being good to me. It’s obviously time to get back to basics. And one of the key elements is to be sure that when I’m making up a To-Do List of Acts of Loving Kindness, I place my own name at the top.
________________________________
Copyright 2010 by Fern Stewart Welch
The author’s books: “Tea with Elisabeth,” “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, other online booksellers, bookstore chains, such as Barnes & Noble and Borders, and to the trade from Ingram Book Co., Baker & Taylor and other wholesalers.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Technology Is Good ... But It's Not God
Some friends recently spent an evening touting technology as the answer to changing the now-pandemic cultural decline that faces our world. Considering the fact that greed and selfishness, dishonesty and a lack of integrity, even simple civility, as well as truly caring for others and the Earth are the norm – that’s a big order. Since their premise was that the Internet, computers, cell phones and iPads would and are in the process of creating this cultural evolution right now, I listened intently for any examples of this positive trend. There weren’t any.
While I fully support expanded communication that empowers individual self-expression, I can’t help but recall that every time a new technology reared its head, it was heralded as a breakthrough for civilization. This happened whether the innovation was airplanes, space travel or iPods, but so far, the hoped-for promise of the accompanying uplifting of the conscious awareness of humanity hasn’t happened.
We need to understand that technology is merely a tool, and whether the results of its use are desired or undesired lies ultimately in the hearts and minds of human beings. For example, the laser can be employed as a miraculous healing tool or as a weapon. And, without humanity’s continuing aspiration to ever-increasing standards of ethics, morals and values, the “tools” and advances of technology will remain the property of corporate and government hearts and minds, which mean that they are motivated primarily by greed. The only question they ask is “Can we do this?” instead of “Should we do this?”
Scientific advances will continue to occur, and this is good. The challenge lies in the fact that we’ve made the acts of scientific and technological advances the priority rather than focusing on increasing the conscious awareness of human beings. What we must start seriously considering is how we can influence the outcomes of technology for the greatest ethical benefits of humanity as a whole.
When more and more individuals recognize that we have the power within us through our thoughts and words to heal our lives and to help change the world, our influence will affect the course of technology for the good of mankind. There is hope for a new world of consciousness emerging, but it won’t happen to us it must happen through us.
The concept of each of us being responsible for our own soul growth, as well as helping heal the world may not be as attractive as hoping and praying that science will save us in one giant technological leap, but the fact is that this do-it-yourself transformation is the only real solution. No matter how far we can travel into the cosmos, or how many advances science can pull out of manipulating matter, the underlying condition of humanity will not improve until we grow up and take responsibility for our lives, each other and our planet.
___________________________________
Copyright 2010 © by Fern Stewart Welch
The author’s books: “Tea with Elisabeth,” “The Heart Knows the Way,” and “You Can Live A Balanced Life In An Unbalanced World,” are available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.
While I fully support expanded communication that empowers individual self-expression, I can’t help but recall that every time a new technology reared its head, it was heralded as a breakthrough for civilization. This happened whether the innovation was airplanes, space travel or iPods, but so far, the hoped-for promise of the accompanying uplifting of the conscious awareness of humanity hasn’t happened.
We need to understand that technology is merely a tool, and whether the results of its use are desired or undesired lies ultimately in the hearts and minds of human beings. For example, the laser can be employed as a miraculous healing tool or as a weapon. And, without humanity’s continuing aspiration to ever-increasing standards of ethics, morals and values, the “tools” and advances of technology will remain the property of corporate and government hearts and minds, which mean that they are motivated primarily by greed. The only question they ask is “Can we do this?” instead of “Should we do this?”
Scientific advances will continue to occur, and this is good. The challenge lies in the fact that we’ve made the acts of scientific and technological advances the priority rather than focusing on increasing the conscious awareness of human beings. What we must start seriously considering is how we can influence the outcomes of technology for the greatest ethical benefits of humanity as a whole.
When more and more individuals recognize that we have the power within us through our thoughts and words to heal our lives and to help change the world, our influence will affect the course of technology for the good of mankind. There is hope for a new world of consciousness emerging, but it won’t happen to us it must happen through us.
The concept of each of us being responsible for our own soul growth, as well as helping heal the world may not be as attractive as hoping and praying that science will save us in one giant technological leap, but the fact is that this do-it-yourself transformation is the only real solution. No matter how far we can travel into the cosmos, or how many advances science can pull out of manipulating matter, the underlying condition of humanity will not improve until we grow up and take responsibility for our lives, each other and our planet.
___________________________________
Copyright 2010 © by Fern Stewart Welch
The author’s books: “Tea with Elisabeth,” “The Heart Knows the Way,” and “You Can Live A Balanced Life In An Unbalanced World,” are available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.
Monday, August 30, 2010
When Nature Comes Too Close for Comfort
First of all, I live in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the nation, but it’s still the lesser settled western part of the U.S., and sometimes the wild animals infringe on our lives.
Some of these desert denizens venture into heavily populated areas to find easy food sources and water. It’s fairly common to see coyotes with their young pups crossing the streets or even to see a snake slithering its way across a golf course. Fortunately most of us know which critters are relatively harmless, and which we should give a wide berth.
Recently I had an experience that brought home this difference. I heard a noise that sounded like something was chewing on my house. Through the open window I realized the commotion was coming from the backyard and it sure sounded like the crunching of metal.
I looked out the window and didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. But as the noise continued, I opened the sliding glass door and stepped onto the patio to check further.
My attention was immediately drawn to a small potted plant in a plastic pot, a recent gift that I had placed inside a larger decorative clay pot. The plant was whipping back and forth even though there was not a hint of wind. As I focused on the scene, I noticed something else that was strange. The heavy-duty gold decorative foil that was still wrapped around the smaller plastic pot was methodically and vigorously being pulled up and out toward the back of the clay pot. I couldn’t imagine what could be causing this.
Within a few moments two pointy ears appeared over the rim of the pot, and then a scraggly tail. It was a very scrawny squirrel! And it was eating the aluminum foil as fast as it could free it from the plastic pot. I instantly thought the squirrel was rabid because it was eating the foil instead of the plant, and retreated quickly to the safety of the house.
Watching through the glass door, I was mesmerized as the squirrel used its front paws to unwrap the foil from around the plastic pot and ravenously devoured every scrap of it. The only squirrels I had seen before were those that live in the northern part of the state and they are fat with full bushy tails and they eat acorns, not crunchy foil.
Finally, I called a wildlife organization and when I described the situation, the receptionist laughed and assured me my squirrel visitor wasn’t rabid. She added, “If they’re hungry enough they will eat anything on your house that they can bite off,” and proceeded to give me an example that was startling. She said they’ve been known to eat the external metal vents for household clothes dryers.
While my instinct is to assist or get help for our fellow creatures on this planet, this time I couldn’t. The expert’s advice was two-fold: Don’t put out food for the squirrel as it would only encourage more wild animals to show up at my door, and buy a cage to trap it in case it comes back and then transport it back to the wild. When I looked again, I saw the squirrel exiting through the drainage hole in the patio wall.
Until this experience, my encounters with nature had been as a benevolent, appreciative bystander. Yet, I was always fully aware of the awesome power of nature and the possible dangers in its sometimes raw dramas. This is why I no longer watch survival-of-the-fittest wildlife programs on PBS at dinner time. It’s also why I’m not ashamed to admit that when I drive by a pack of coyotes, I am relieved to be viewing them from the safety of my car. That same good sense prevailed when I met a starving squirrel that was devouring heavy-duty aluminum foil like it was a piece of acorn pie. My motto is better safe than sorry – thus the rationale for sharing this cautionary tail.
___________________________________
Copyright 2010 © by Fern Stewart Welch
The author’s books: “Tea with Elisabeth,” “The Heart Knows the Way,” and “You Can Live A Balanced Life In An Unbalanced World,” are available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.
Some of these desert denizens venture into heavily populated areas to find easy food sources and water. It’s fairly common to see coyotes with their young pups crossing the streets or even to see a snake slithering its way across a golf course. Fortunately most of us know which critters are relatively harmless, and which we should give a wide berth.
Recently I had an experience that brought home this difference. I heard a noise that sounded like something was chewing on my house. Through the open window I realized the commotion was coming from the backyard and it sure sounded like the crunching of metal.
I looked out the window and didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. But as the noise continued, I opened the sliding glass door and stepped onto the patio to check further.
My attention was immediately drawn to a small potted plant in a plastic pot, a recent gift that I had placed inside a larger decorative clay pot. The plant was whipping back and forth even though there was not a hint of wind. As I focused on the scene, I noticed something else that was strange. The heavy-duty gold decorative foil that was still wrapped around the smaller plastic pot was methodically and vigorously being pulled up and out toward the back of the clay pot. I couldn’t imagine what could be causing this.
Within a few moments two pointy ears appeared over the rim of the pot, and then a scraggly tail. It was a very scrawny squirrel! And it was eating the aluminum foil as fast as it could free it from the plastic pot. I instantly thought the squirrel was rabid because it was eating the foil instead of the plant, and retreated quickly to the safety of the house.
Watching through the glass door, I was mesmerized as the squirrel used its front paws to unwrap the foil from around the plastic pot and ravenously devoured every scrap of it. The only squirrels I had seen before were those that live in the northern part of the state and they are fat with full bushy tails and they eat acorns, not crunchy foil.
Finally, I called a wildlife organization and when I described the situation, the receptionist laughed and assured me my squirrel visitor wasn’t rabid. She added, “If they’re hungry enough they will eat anything on your house that they can bite off,” and proceeded to give me an example that was startling. She said they’ve been known to eat the external metal vents for household clothes dryers.
While my instinct is to assist or get help for our fellow creatures on this planet, this time I couldn’t. The expert’s advice was two-fold: Don’t put out food for the squirrel as it would only encourage more wild animals to show up at my door, and buy a cage to trap it in case it comes back and then transport it back to the wild. When I looked again, I saw the squirrel exiting through the drainage hole in the patio wall.
Until this experience, my encounters with nature had been as a benevolent, appreciative bystander. Yet, I was always fully aware of the awesome power of nature and the possible dangers in its sometimes raw dramas. This is why I no longer watch survival-of-the-fittest wildlife programs on PBS at dinner time. It’s also why I’m not ashamed to admit that when I drive by a pack of coyotes, I am relieved to be viewing them from the safety of my car. That same good sense prevailed when I met a starving squirrel that was devouring heavy-duty aluminum foil like it was a piece of acorn pie. My motto is better safe than sorry – thus the rationale for sharing this cautionary tail.
___________________________________
Copyright 2010 © by Fern Stewart Welch
The author’s books: “Tea with Elisabeth,” “The Heart Knows the Way,” and “You Can Live A Balanced Life In An Unbalanced World,” are available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Take Heart: It's All Good!
The phrase It’s All Good! has been around for years, and probably like many others I have repeated it glibly, and with only a superficial understanding. Recently though, the words took on new meaning for me. As a senior citizen, I often meander back through my memories and gain insights from my life. What I realized was that every event or situation that I judged as being the worst thing that ever happened to me turned out – sometimes much later – to be a blessing in my life.
In the beginning, for example, I was born the seventh child in a family of 10 offspring, six girls and four boys. Naturally I longed as a youngster to be from a one-child family. I remember complaining to my mother about this one too many times. She looked me squarely in the eyes and said simply, “Then you wouldn’t be here.” That ended my whining and started my journey to discover if there were any positives in having siblings, and especially in such great numbers. It was easier with the girls, the boys took much longer.
As the years passed and I matured, I realized what a sincere appreciation I had for my brothers and sisters, not only as dear friends, but as one of the major blessings in my life.
Later when I was in my mid-thirties, my marriage dissolved and I became the chief emotional and financial support for three children. For a few years I was devastated as I couldn’t believe such a terrible thing could happen to us. The book “Why Bad Things Happen to Good People” hadn’t been written yet, which would have offered me some much-needed insight into accepting responsibility for everything that happens in our lives.
Instead, I struggled on my own day-by-day to find out what I needed to learn during the eight years between the divorce and meeting and falling in love with my second husband. I took every free self-development class, read numerous self-help books and hung on the spoken or written words of every visionary who shared pearls of wisdom on how to create and live a better life. And the most important thing I did was to put the concepts I learned to work in my life.
Naturally I soon realized that the divorce gave me a chance to grow and learn and start becoming the person who would attract a more appropriate mate and be able to build better lives for me and my children.
My second marriage was everything we both desired and knew it could be. We had twenty-three wonderful years together. When he became ill in our twelfth year together, I soon realized that he was in a lengthy process that would end in death. I was stunned and thought what a sad and untimely way to end our beautiful love story … until my love for my husband and my desperation caused me to turn within seeking help from my higher consciousness, intelligence – God. With the daily guidance I received, we immediately knew this was a blessing as it totally transformed our experience. I was able to realize my heart’s desire and assist my beloved husband through his sacred last life journey in a way that was more loving, more enlightened and more joyous than I ever imagined it could be.
That wasn’t the full extent of the blessings. During the continuing daily communion with God, I discovered my life’s purpose, which I had sought since childhood, as well as the guidance to fulfill it. I was led to share what I was learning by writing the following books: One Ordinary Person’s Journey to God; The Heart Knows the Way—How to Follow Your Heart to a Conscious Connection with the Divine Spirit Within; Tea with Elisabeth, and You Can Live a Balanced Life In An Unbalanced World. That quartet will be followed by the soon-to-be released Becoming a Spiritual Warrior of the Heart and the 2011 release of You Can Heal Your Life and Change the World.
I recognize now that when we say It’s All Good!, we are actually acknowledging that we live in a benevolent and abundant universe that says “yes” to whatever order we place. Since we know that what we focus on mentally today, negative or positive, is what shows up in our lives tomorrow, it makes good sense to repeat the phrase as often as possible. In this way we are anchoring in an expectancy of good, as well as raising our consciousness so that we actually can experience life at a level where It’s All Good!
___________________________________
Copyright © 2010 by Fern Stewart Welch
The author’s books: “Tea with Elisabeth,” “The Heart Knows the Way,” and “You Can Live A Balanced Life In An Unbalanced World,” are available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.
In the beginning, for example, I was born the seventh child in a family of 10 offspring, six girls and four boys. Naturally I longed as a youngster to be from a one-child family. I remember complaining to my mother about this one too many times. She looked me squarely in the eyes and said simply, “Then you wouldn’t be here.” That ended my whining and started my journey to discover if there were any positives in having siblings, and especially in such great numbers. It was easier with the girls, the boys took much longer.
As the years passed and I matured, I realized what a sincere appreciation I had for my brothers and sisters, not only as dear friends, but as one of the major blessings in my life.
Later when I was in my mid-thirties, my marriage dissolved and I became the chief emotional and financial support for three children. For a few years I was devastated as I couldn’t believe such a terrible thing could happen to us. The book “Why Bad Things Happen to Good People” hadn’t been written yet, which would have offered me some much-needed insight into accepting responsibility for everything that happens in our lives.
Instead, I struggled on my own day-by-day to find out what I needed to learn during the eight years between the divorce and meeting and falling in love with my second husband. I took every free self-development class, read numerous self-help books and hung on the spoken or written words of every visionary who shared pearls of wisdom on how to create and live a better life. And the most important thing I did was to put the concepts I learned to work in my life.
Naturally I soon realized that the divorce gave me a chance to grow and learn and start becoming the person who would attract a more appropriate mate and be able to build better lives for me and my children.
My second marriage was everything we both desired and knew it could be. We had twenty-three wonderful years together. When he became ill in our twelfth year together, I soon realized that he was in a lengthy process that would end in death. I was stunned and thought what a sad and untimely way to end our beautiful love story … until my love for my husband and my desperation caused me to turn within seeking help from my higher consciousness, intelligence – God. With the daily guidance I received, we immediately knew this was a blessing as it totally transformed our experience. I was able to realize my heart’s desire and assist my beloved husband through his sacred last life journey in a way that was more loving, more enlightened and more joyous than I ever imagined it could be.
That wasn’t the full extent of the blessings. During the continuing daily communion with God, I discovered my life’s purpose, which I had sought since childhood, as well as the guidance to fulfill it. I was led to share what I was learning by writing the following books: One Ordinary Person’s Journey to God; The Heart Knows the Way—How to Follow Your Heart to a Conscious Connection with the Divine Spirit Within; Tea with Elisabeth, and You Can Live a Balanced Life In An Unbalanced World. That quartet will be followed by the soon-to-be released Becoming a Spiritual Warrior of the Heart and the 2011 release of You Can Heal Your Life and Change the World.
I recognize now that when we say It’s All Good!, we are actually acknowledging that we live in a benevolent and abundant universe that says “yes” to whatever order we place. Since we know that what we focus on mentally today, negative or positive, is what shows up in our lives tomorrow, it makes good sense to repeat the phrase as often as possible. In this way we are anchoring in an expectancy of good, as well as raising our consciousness so that we actually can experience life at a level where It’s All Good!
___________________________________
Copyright © 2010 by Fern Stewart Welch
The author’s books: “Tea with Elisabeth,” “The Heart Knows the Way,” and “You Can Live A Balanced Life In An Unbalanced World,” are available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Nature: The 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.
___________________________________
Copyright © 2009 by Fern Stewart Welch – The author is on holiday and this is one of her most requested essays.
The author’s books: “You Can Live A Balanced Life In An Unbalanced World!”; “Tea with Elisabeth,” 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.
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.
___________________________________
Copyright © 2009 by Fern Stewart Welch – The author is on holiday and this is one of her most requested essays.
The author’s books: “You Can Live A Balanced Life In An Unbalanced World!”; “Tea with Elisabeth,” 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, July 19, 2010
The Gift That Only You Can Give Yourself
The more time I spend in and observing nature the more I learn about myself. It recently dawned on me that I have spent my entire life in an effort to learn to relax and be who I am. I discovered this by watching the rabbits and birds that frequent my lush yard. They are totally content with being what they are.
I smile when I think about what it must be like to be a blade of grass, whose only role in life is to grow and be green. In doing so, it fulfills its purpose and enhances the beauty of a yard or field. What a sad and frustrating experience it would be for that blade of grass to spend its lifespan wishing to be a flower, a shrub or a tree. Yet, not being grounded and accepting who we are seems to be part of the human condition, resulting in many of us spending our lives striving to be something that we are not.
It does not have to be and should not be that way. Each of us is important, as no one else can be who I am, or who you are. It is only our wayward minds that confuse and frustrate us and keep us from enjoying the fullness of what it means to be alive in this form here and now.
I believe the most important element in overcoming this tendency is to come to peace within ourselves and accept who we were born to be. Our culture is so focused on the external world that we rarely, if ever, take the time to explore the inner world that is within us.
Many people believe that life is what happens to us externally, and our role is to react to whatever comes our way, but that is not so. The fact is that the point of power is within us and has always been. We need to realize that the way life is supposed to happen is from within out—not the other way around. When we understand this, we become empowered and can determine much of what happens to us in life.
We have the power to stop our fear-based frantic search for answers outside ourselves. Unfortunately, our culture focuses on and requires that we not be in touch with ourselves or with our environment, much to the detriment of both.
Going within and connecting with our inner selves is an absolute necessity. It naturally leads to connecting with that larger part of us that knows we are one with everyone else, with all life, as well as with the Earth itself. At that point, there is no confusion or frustration about who we are or what our purpose is on this planet, as it is simply to be fully and wholly who we were born to be.
Once we make this connection, we will be free of the thoughts that have kept us off-balance and off-purpose and that preclude us from achieving our full human potential. There is great power in this knowing—power that can change our lives and the world. It is the gift that only you can give to you.
____________________________
Copyright 2007 by Fern Stewart Welch - The author is on holiday. This is one of her most requested columns.
The author’s books The Heart Knows the Way--How to Follow Your Heart to a Conscious Connection with the Divine Spirit Within; Tea With Elisabeth and You Can Live A Balanced Life In An Unbalanced World are available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.
I smile when I think about what it must be like to be a blade of grass, whose only role in life is to grow and be green. In doing so, it fulfills its purpose and enhances the beauty of a yard or field. What a sad and frustrating experience it would be for that blade of grass to spend its lifespan wishing to be a flower, a shrub or a tree. Yet, not being grounded and accepting who we are seems to be part of the human condition, resulting in many of us spending our lives striving to be something that we are not.
It does not have to be and should not be that way. Each of us is important, as no one else can be who I am, or who you are. It is only our wayward minds that confuse and frustrate us and keep us from enjoying the fullness of what it means to be alive in this form here and now.
I believe the most important element in overcoming this tendency is to come to peace within ourselves and accept who we were born to be. Our culture is so focused on the external world that we rarely, if ever, take the time to explore the inner world that is within us.
Many people believe that life is what happens to us externally, and our role is to react to whatever comes our way, but that is not so. The fact is that the point of power is within us and has always been. We need to realize that the way life is supposed to happen is from within out—not the other way around. When we understand this, we become empowered and can determine much of what happens to us in life.
We have the power to stop our fear-based frantic search for answers outside ourselves. Unfortunately, our culture focuses on and requires that we not be in touch with ourselves or with our environment, much to the detriment of both.
Going within and connecting with our inner selves is an absolute necessity. It naturally leads to connecting with that larger part of us that knows we are one with everyone else, with all life, as well as with the Earth itself. At that point, there is no confusion or frustration about who we are or what our purpose is on this planet, as it is simply to be fully and wholly who we were born to be.
Once we make this connection, we will be free of the thoughts that have kept us off-balance and off-purpose and that preclude us from achieving our full human potential. There is great power in this knowing—power that can change our lives and the world. It is the gift that only you can give to you.
____________________________
Copyright 2007 by Fern Stewart Welch - The author is on holiday. This is one of her most requested columns.
The author’s books The Heart Knows the Way--How to Follow Your Heart to a Conscious Connection with the Divine Spirit Within; Tea With Elisabeth and You Can Live A Balanced Life In An Unbalanced World are available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.
Monday, July 5, 2010
What to Do When the Biggest Block to Our Happiness ... Is Us
I am a writer – a creative person – by profession and, I freely acknowledge, a highly sensitive person by nature. From what I know, this isn’t an out-of-the ordinary personality combination. What this has meant to me in everyday life is that kind words are like sunshine to a flower. And, conversely, any negative energy directed my way is like a physical blow, which can cause my energy to plummet along with my sense of self.
In the past, when the latter happened, I would dip into a victim mode that was as familiar as an old tape that had been replayed many, many times. My subconscious instantly sent out a message that said: Here it is again! Send her the same emotional responses. It didn’t matter what happened, when conflict arose, the result was the same. The situation automatically triggered all the bad thoughts I’d ever had about myself which confirmed that I was unworthy and unlovable. Then up came the same old feelings that ranged from anger, blame, grief and sadness to a sense of helplessness. The feelings were so powerful at times that it was impossible to focus on anything else.
Thankfully, I’ve learned that the emotional angst and pain we go through at those times is a message from our soul pushing us to learn a more healthful response and to grow through the issue. I also believe that when the same challenges occur repeatedly, we’re being told that this is an important lesson and we will continue attracting similar experiences until we learn the lesson and move beyond it.
As part of my desire to grow through this specific lesson, I adopted a process that has helped many people in similar situations. The key is to have a behavior program in place that supports us on all levels and sets the stage for success every day. The primary step is to start each morning with a 20 minute meditation. This centers us and balances our body, mind and spirit. If meditation isn’t desirable, we simply set our intention, go within, close our eyes and sit in silence. Focusing on a single word such as love, peace, joy, harmony or happiness often helps calm the mind. The important thing is to switch our focus from the external world and to get in touch with our inner selves, which is the starting place for everything that shows up in our lives.
Next, since it is fairly typical in our culture to view our lives as insignificant and our selves as unworthy of good, it is important that we consistently feed into our subconscious positive affirmations/statements that honor and value our worth. Each time we do this, it sets up a desired pattern in our subconscious that supports and increases our life force-energy. Those you write for yourself will be more powerful as they engage your energy, but here are some examples: I am enough. I am worthy. I love myself. I am peace. I am love. I am kindness. I am powerful.
No matter how simple and unimportant our life contributions may seem to us, every single thing we do is part of our sacred and heroic journey to fulfill our life purpose. Whether it is being a loving parent, being kind to others or showing up at a job every day to support our families, it is important and has meaning and worth. We must keep a ready list in our minds of our positive characteristics and traits and recall them often so that we are consistently supporting our core self instead of subconsciously sabotaging our sense of self and blocking our good.
Another good thing to recall often is that one of the rules of living on Earth is learning lessons and growing through life instead of just going through it. We are spiritual beings born into this life to have a human experience. This means we are not only inherently good – we are born with the power to create the lives we desire. What we create in the external world, and whether it is desirable or undesirable, lets us know if our life force is high or low and how successfully we are managing it.
As we continue to become conscious and aware of our life force-energy and to maintain it at a higher level, we find that undesirable situations aren’t popping up as often. When they do come up, we recognize them for the gift they are, another opportunity to grow, which is the only reason we are here. And what an incredible and desirable change – from unconsciously blocking our own happiness to being part of the solution.
______________________________
Copyright © 2009 by Fern Stewart Welch – The author is on holiday and this is one of her most requested essays.
The author was executive editor and co-author of the recently-released book, “Tea with Elisabeth.” Her other books include: “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.” All are available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers.
In the past, when the latter happened, I would dip into a victim mode that was as familiar as an old tape that had been replayed many, many times. My subconscious instantly sent out a message that said: Here it is again! Send her the same emotional responses. It didn’t matter what happened, when conflict arose, the result was the same. The situation automatically triggered all the bad thoughts I’d ever had about myself which confirmed that I was unworthy and unlovable. Then up came the same old feelings that ranged from anger, blame, grief and sadness to a sense of helplessness. The feelings were so powerful at times that it was impossible to focus on anything else.
Thankfully, I’ve learned that the emotional angst and pain we go through at those times is a message from our soul pushing us to learn a more healthful response and to grow through the issue. I also believe that when the same challenges occur repeatedly, we’re being told that this is an important lesson and we will continue attracting similar experiences until we learn the lesson and move beyond it.
As part of my desire to grow through this specific lesson, I adopted a process that has helped many people in similar situations. The key is to have a behavior program in place that supports us on all levels and sets the stage for success every day. The primary step is to start each morning with a 20 minute meditation. This centers us and balances our body, mind and spirit. If meditation isn’t desirable, we simply set our intention, go within, close our eyes and sit in silence. Focusing on a single word such as love, peace, joy, harmony or happiness often helps calm the mind. The important thing is to switch our focus from the external world and to get in touch with our inner selves, which is the starting place for everything that shows up in our lives.
Next, since it is fairly typical in our culture to view our lives as insignificant and our selves as unworthy of good, it is important that we consistently feed into our subconscious positive affirmations/statements that honor and value our worth. Each time we do this, it sets up a desired pattern in our subconscious that supports and increases our life force-energy. Those you write for yourself will be more powerful as they engage your energy, but here are some examples: I am enough. I am worthy. I love myself. I am peace. I am love. I am kindness. I am powerful.
No matter how simple and unimportant our life contributions may seem to us, every single thing we do is part of our sacred and heroic journey to fulfill our life purpose. Whether it is being a loving parent, being kind to others or showing up at a job every day to support our families, it is important and has meaning and worth. We must keep a ready list in our minds of our positive characteristics and traits and recall them often so that we are consistently supporting our core self instead of subconsciously sabotaging our sense of self and blocking our good.
Another good thing to recall often is that one of the rules of living on Earth is learning lessons and growing through life instead of just going through it. We are spiritual beings born into this life to have a human experience. This means we are not only inherently good – we are born with the power to create the lives we desire. What we create in the external world, and whether it is desirable or undesirable, lets us know if our life force is high or low and how successfully we are managing it.
As we continue to become conscious and aware of our life force-energy and to maintain it at a higher level, we find that undesirable situations aren’t popping up as often. When they do come up, we recognize them for the gift they are, another opportunity to grow, which is the only reason we are here. And what an incredible and desirable change – from unconsciously blocking our own happiness to being part of the solution.
______________________________
Copyright © 2009 by Fern Stewart Welch – The author is on holiday and this is one of her most requested essays.
The author was executive editor and co-author of the recently-released book, “Tea with Elisabeth.” Her other books include: “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.” All are available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
