I had several conversations with my besties yesterday and one thing we’re all talking about is what’s going on in the world. Many folks in my world are talking about these issues. There’s real concern. When what we see is triggering, it’s challenging, to be sure.
And there’s a lot to challenge us now.
I talk with folks every day who are challenged by a myriad of things: financial issues, relationships, health, politics, career and job, children, parents, addiction, anger, depression and on and on. Every day I am BLESSED to have these conversations.
Here are some of the most basic things I’ve learned that I find incredibly helpful to know and remember:
#1 I am never upset for the reason I think – okay, yes, that’s A Course in Miracles 101. In fact it’s so basic to ACIM that it’s lesson #5. We believe we’re upset because of what we see, but we’re not. We’re upset because of the meaning we make of it, and if our interpretation is incorrect it upsets us.
#2 If our interpretation of what we think we see in the world upsets us it’s because we’re judging it. We’re giving ourselves permission to condemn and attack and/or decide we’re a victim – and we’re not. When we hold attack thoughts in our mind, no matter how justified we’ve convinced ourselves they are – it will cause our suffering. The world isn’t causing our suffering, it’s our thoughts about the world that cause our suffering.
To undo the upset we have to release our attachment to the way we’re interpreting things.
And to do that we have to be willing to surrender.
We have to be willing to change our mind.
And sometimes that involves acknowledging that we’ve made a mistake.
When we’re ego-identified, admitting an error can feel impossible. We’d rather fight to the death than simply say, “my thinking was stinking.”
When we’re Spirit-identified, all we’re interested in is truth, perfection, wholeness, beauty, wisdom, clarity, etc. There is NO attachment to the meaning we made of things in the past and we’re free. We’re awake.
In order to experience the Freedom of our true identity, we learn to relax the mind and release the attachments so we can experience happiness and fulfillment.
It’s not that we don’t care about the suffering in the world, it’s that we’re not attacking the world, other people, or ourselves. We can care about what’s going on. Believe me, I care about what’s going on in the world, but I’ve learned to see the grace of God in all of it. And most of the time that’s easy.
In the United States, a lot is happening and it’s affecting many people quite suddenly. It’s scary for people who didn’t see this coming. Lots of economic twists and turns are catching people off guard and that frightens a lot of people. You might be one of them.
I don’t need to list all of the things going on. We know what they are. AND underneath ALL of it, the grace of God remains.
We think we’re challenged mentally, emotionally and financially because of what’s happening in the world, but it’s ALL actually to support our growth. We’re being called to let go of the attachments that cause our suffering and if we don’t, we suffer.
We can always choose to grow through direct insight and inspiration – that’s my preferred way for sure. And we’re also being pushed by situations and circumstances to remember to see things correctly, to remember that the grace of God is operating at all times, in all things, even in school shootings.
Sometimes it seems impossible to identify how anything that’s devastating could be for our good, and yet, if we’re willing, we’ll probably be able to see it.
When my mother’s body was so sick with terminal illness, and pain, it would have been crazy for me to say, “I know this has good in it for all of us.” And yet, it did. I knew it and felt it, but I didn’t go around telling that to people who couldn’t understand what I was saying.
In that time with my mother I experienced a spiritual liberation.
In the beginning, I had all kinds of struggles with judgments and opinions, attack thoughts and condemnation, complaints and criticisms, from morning to night about everything under the sun. The negative conversation was a constant, as it had been most of my life.
When my mother got that prognosis I made up my mind that I was going to find a way to 100% Peace, and complete unconditional Love with ZERO judgment for my mother before she passed.
I made a vow, a decision that before she passed our relationship would be completely brought to the highest light of Love.
And it was.
I didn’t know how it would occur, but I decided it was 100% my responsibility and I gave the Higher Holy Spirit Self the full load. I became completely willing to have a healing.
It was not my job to figure out HOW the healing would occur, it was my job to ALLOW it to occur.
It took me becoming completely without judgment, complaint, opinion and anchoring into the truth.
It required me to be VERY vigilant over my thoughts – which was SUPER DUPER challenging – it was the hardest thing I ever did and it is the very thing that brought my liberation, and my mothers.
So, was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY!
All those causes of pain and suffering that bothered me every day in the past – they can’t get me now. Yes, there are snags, moments, but they don’t last long and they’re no where near as intense as they used to be.
If I had to do it again – the hardest thing I ever did in my life – if I had to do it 100 TIMES AGAIN in order to get to where I am now, I’d happily do it knowing I could escape what my mind was then for what my mind is now.
If you had to be VERY vigilant over your mind in order to live without fear, worry, doubt, anger, resentment, hurt, guilt, blame, shame, depression, despair and every other kind of upset would you do it?
Some people would and some people won’t.
Some people don’t believe it’s possible, and won’t believe it’s possible so they’ll never try.
But, because I did it, I can now walk side by side with other’s who’d like to do it too.
It requires a tremendous willingness to liberate the mind from the habitual thought that keeps us feeling like a prisoner in an inescapable quagmire.
But, as we talk about all the time in my Masterful Living Program, once you have a few miraculous healing experiences you know that it can be done and that you can do it and there’s no going back. You can’t put the Genie back in the bottle.
So, right now, the painful, judgmental, attack thoughts people have generate the pain that pushes them to look for a way out, but we don’t have to do it that way anymore. There IS a better way.
The thing is, we’re very attached to our opinions, and the habit of forming opinions and investing in them. It’s not a good investment.
The teachings of A Course in Miracles lead us out of the darkness into the Light when we’re willing to LIVE and apply them. Studying is okay, it’s better than nothing, but application is what brings the healing.
The more challenging it is to the mind, the more healing is available. Step up. Say yes. Leap.
We have to PRACTICE the methods of liberation in order to liberate. Wishing won’t make it so.
I just recorded an episode of my ACIM podcast about rising above the chaos. We can do this and it’s important that we give it our best!
One thing that is often helpful is if we can gather together. I’m hoping to be able to bring us together for a fun spiritual retreat to do some deep inner work and also have some playtime and fun together. I feel as though many spiritual students are feeling frazzled by all the hatred and vitriol that we see in the world. It does seem to be epic!
Let’s each do everything we can to stay in our right mind and be the Peace we’d like to see in the world. This builds our own inner discipline while also bringing great benefit to others.
We can be anchors, grounding lines, and help stabilize things in this chaotic time. That’s miraculous!
Seek not to change the world, but change your mind about the world is a pathway to a peaceFULL mind.
Let’s have some fun together – Power of Love In-Person Retreat Memorial Day Weekend Friday May 23 to Monday May 26 – Art of Living Retreat Center in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina – click here to learn more!
MARCH 15 – WORKSHOP Activating Faith & Trust for A Happier Life My March Deep Dive Workshop topic is Activating Faith & Trust for A Happier Life. Many spiritual students find it very difficult to have faith and place their trust in Spirit, in intuition, and inspiration. Without trust and faith, it’s not possible to awaken and enjoy the daily benefits that being connected with Spirit brings. Trust and faith are possible and there are practical methods to access them. Join me on Saturday, March 8th for a deep dive into the HOW of activating faith and trust. Click now to register.
NEW ACIM PODCAST EPISODE: my topic is We Can Rise Above the Chaos. It’s very tempting to get pulled into the chaos of the world, and still, if we’re wiling we can rise above that battlefield. Let’s cultivate a peace-FULL mind. In this episode, I share tips and tools for how to stay in our right mind and BE the Peace we’d like to see in the world, so we can maintain our spiritual sovereignty and be truly helpful. We came into this incarnation to be available to be truly helpful right NOW. Let’s BE it!
Forgiveness is the way. If you’d like to have some forgiveness support you can register for my next FREE Forgiveness Workshop on Saturday, March 22.
TODAY: Sundays With Spirit – a celebration of Love, Inspiration and Music! Today at 5pm Eastern.
