Right now, there’s a lot of blame and attack going around. I know all too well what it feels like to be upset with situations I didn’t like and deceive myself by blaming it on other people. I made them the bad guy. In truth, I was sent into that situation to improve it and make it better.

I’ve learned that if I don’t like the way something is, I don’t give up on it and walk away, I stay and do my best to make it better. And I begin with my thoughts.

I hold the vision of God’s perfection in the situation. If the others won’t join me, and aren’t interested, then I can take my loving view somewhere else, but I still don’t give up.

I am here to be TRULY helpful. Humanity can seem like a hot mess, but it’s also the most gorgeous mosaic of exploration.

We’re the prodigal son, finding our way back home.

We are both the children AND we’re the parents in that story.

We get to welcome ourselves back home and to each other, because we are home for each other.

And that, to me, is beautiful. REALLY stunningly beautiful.

I wouldn’t miss this part of the journey for anything!

I wouldn’t wish to miss the part where we all come back to gather and remember our unity – even though it’s not easy, even though it’s really challenging.

I am willing to learn to LOVE completely, without conditions.

It’s a hell of a ride!

And I’m glad we’re in it together.

I’m glad it’s not possible to do it alone.

Last weekend, I was offering my Stop Playing Small Online Retreat and it was so clear that we’re all so alike. Many of us agreed that we have these beliefs in common:

I’m not good enough, something’s wrong with me, I’m unlovable, I’m bad, or some version of that PLUS

These spiritual things work for other people, but not for me

Why bother to do anything different if it doesn’t work for me?

I felt trapped inside those thoughts for SO MANY YEARS.

We all have.

This is our common experience.

Like everyone else, I felt trapped inside my own personality. I felt like a mean, petty, dog barking endlessly. No matter what was going on, I always came back to that feeling of being trapped inside myself with no way out.

It was my determination to find some way to find a happier life that FINALLY brought me to a deeper spiritual practice – one that I wouldn’t quit and wouldn’t give up on.

It didn’t help me to intellectually know that I was free on a spiritual level. That didn’t help at all.

I didn’t FEEL it.

And if we don’t FEEL free,

we won’t believe it.

We won’t FEEL free until we believe it –

and that’s the challenge!

That’s why I’m committed to PROVING God works in my life.

And since our minds are joined, when one can do it, all are lifted.

We can all FEEL the Freedom that is ours, by inheritance.

And then we can share it with others.

With our family.

Friends.

Workplace.

I determined that I would figure out how to do this Freedom work for myself and then share with others.

My problem was, deep down, I was certain it wouldn’t work for me.

HOW CRAZY IS THAT?

I was CERTAIN it wouldn’t work for me. And I decided to do it anyway?

I had to be WILLING to give up that sense of hopelessness and TRUST that Spirit could do something with my little bit of willingness.

I had such a strong belief that I’d be free WHEN … [fill in the blank].

I’d be free when … I could easily pay my bills.

I’d be free when … I had a better relationship, a better job, a better … whatever.

It’s SO easy to be convinced that freedom is conditional.

After all, that’s what the world teaches –

even though it’s not true.

The world teaches that all good things are conditional.

They come with a price tag.

A string attached.

In fact, nothing could be further from the Truth.

That which is real, has already been given.

That’s what A Course in Miracles says:

Ask and it is given, because it already has been given.

Freedom is a spiritual quality – infinite and eternal.

It’s ours already.

How could TRUE Freedom come with a price tag?

AND still, we can choose to block the experience of Freedom by our beliefs in lack, attack, limitation, and separation. In fact, we do it all day long. We can believe it’s impossible.

First, I had to be willing to get out of the cage of believing that my happiness was conditional. I just had to be willing.

THEN, I could become willing to actually begin to FEEL some Freedom. First you have to actually feel free – and that’s where many people get stuck. I was stuck for a long time.

I was utterly convinced that my feeling free and happy were completely tied to what was happening in the world, in my life, in my home, in my family, in my finances, in my body and in my job.

I had not a single clue HOW to get to the Freedom in my mind.

Reading spiritual books didn’t get me much closer.

In fact, it made me feel MORE like a failure.

I finally realized that all my studies could be a distraction from actually doing the real work of spiritual practice.

After all, I had all this information telling me that healing is at the level of the mind and yet my mind wasn’t healing.

Sound familiar?

I would read things that said, “When you heal the mind, the world of form, experience, relationships, finances, health and wealth WILL follow.”

And I’d think: Ok, I believe it. But HOW????????

Because I was praying a lot, the answer started to come to me.

I needed to stop asking the wrong questions, which were:

What’s wrong with me?
Why doesn’t it work for me?
Why can’t I get this?
What’s my problem?
How come this is easier for everyone else?
I’m I just fundamentally messed up?

And those are just some of the UN-helpful questions I was asking ALL DAY LONG. UGH!

As God would have it, because of the prayer I was constantly doing, I had a realization that I was asking the wrong question, and I wasn’t as willing as I thought I was.

Two things happened. First, I made a decision:

#1 I decided to put all of my eggs in the God basket.

Once I did that I had another realization:

#2 I started asking for results.

Ask and it is given. Pretty simple. Duh.

I started asking:
Show me how.
Tell me how.
Help me to see only the how and nothing else!

Help me to see only the HOW and nothing else!

I started really entering into a RELATIONSHIP with Spirit.

I started to ask and listen. I had to learn HOW to listen.

Everything began to steadily and then rapidly change for me.

It felt completely miraculous.

I stopped feeling stuck and started gaining momentum because I was given a series of things to do and I did them.

It wasn’t a picnic, it wasn’t easy.

Spiritual practice requires us to do something different.

I had to DEMONSTRATE my willingness to heal my life by doing something that would actually make a difference.

Spirit didn’t say,”you go binge watch the West Wing on Netflix, I’ve got this handled.”

It was NOT easy.

My happiness required me to become more and more willing to follow the guidance, the steps, the exercises, in order to have the healing.

What I did immediately, was I began to share what I was learning with others. I wrote it down and I thought about how I could share what was working for me in a way that would be helpful to others.

I’ll be honest, it’s been a lot of work for me. I keep working at making it easier for people. I keep asking Spirit to show me how to be MORE helpful, and to be more clear. So that people will get it and be really willing to let the pain go.

I do this every day. That’s my job. And I LOVE it.

I found the happiness that was there for me all along and I found Freedom and everything, everything, everything in my life has changed for the better.

There’s not one thing in my life that hasn’t improved.

And this is exactly why I’ve been inspired to share what has miraculously worked for me. I say miraculously because that’s what A Course in Miracles tells us – the miracles happen at the level of the mind FIRST and then we see the miraculous shift in our world.

Here are the basics of what I learned:

Be willing to TRUST.

Practice TRUE forgiveness.

Get into a RELATIONSHIP with Spirit.

Relinquish the judgments.

Pray and pray and pray some more.

These are the things that changed my life.

And now, I feel so ready and available for these massive changes that are happening in our hearts and minds all over the world.

It’s so clear to me that this time of quarantine is to give us an opportunity to go deeper, to focus on the work with more intent.

So many spiritual students tell themselves that if they had more time they’d deepen their spiritual practice, but then Spirit gives them that time, if they really mean it, and some people do deepen their spiritual practice, but most people don’t.

To me, this time right now is for our simultaneous preparing for what’s to come AND our awakening.

We are ushering in the golden age of enlightenment.

This IS what we’re doing.

It’s ALL HANDS ON DECK time.

And this is the part I wouldn’t miss.

This is what we’ve been preparing for our entire lives.

It’s GO time!

We can really do this. This is what we’re here for.

Today we have Sundays With Spirit and we’ll be offering a powerful message of Love in words and music. Our service is free, but you do have to register, so click now if you’re not already registered.

Let’s make a quantum leap together.  

If you’d like my help developing a spiritual practice of Self-care that clears out the old patterns of past beliefs in order to move out of the unconscious guilt and punishing yourself, blaming others, living like a victim or a martyr, feeling guilty and ashamed, and into feeling more connected with Spirit, please check out my Finding Freedom From Fear Spiritual Bootcamp class – it’s designed to be a rocket booster for your spiritual journey.  Starts September 9.

If you feel you’ve been holding yourself back and letting fear decide, this might be your answered prayer!  If it’s right for you, you’ll know.  Trust your intuition!

Not sure if one of my programs is right for you? You’re invited to schedule a free Exploratory Call with one of our certified spiritual counselors to get your questions answered and see if this program can bring you the results YOU would like!