All is Well and All is Good

“Blessed is the person who is too busy to worry in the daytime and too sleepy to worry at night.” - Unknown

... And blessed is my morning meditation practice to dissipate the fears that creep into my mind in the middle of the night!

Today I listened to the self-hypnosis CD Peace of Mind (Barrie Konicov) and it enabled me to let go of agitation. And, when I let go of worry, God can more easily get my attention - and I can get His help. The good ‘ol “Let go and let God.”

Today I live a faith-filled day. I know God is in charge, Divine Order IS and it does prevail: all is well. Ahhh.

“Today I claim my Truth. The presence and power of God work in, through and as my life, blessing others and blessing me. I recognize the interconnectedness of all human beings and trust that every situation and person has the potential to contribute to my life in a positive way. I create order in my life and seek only the good, assured that as I seek, so I shall find.” - Excerpt from Daily Word, July 1, 2010

Taken Care of By Source

“The one factor that has been unknown by most humans, that is understood by the beasts, is that Well-being truly does abound, and that you are blessed beings who live in an atmosphere of grace, and that unless you are doing something to pinch off the Well-being, it will be yours.”
- Abraham, Excerpted from the Saturday, 08.18.01 #465 San Francisco, CA workshop

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field... will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
"Therefore do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?' or "What shall we drink?' or "What shall we wear?'... For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
- Excerpted from Matthew 6:25-33

Dear God-
Grant me a truly knowing heart that You are The Source of my being and help me to seek first Your kingdom. May I rejoice in Your Well-Being, like the animals roaming this earth and like the lilies of the field blowing carefree in the breeze.

Converting Energy

I was surprised to read Dr. Norman Vincent Peale talking about energy. He writes:

“You can actually make worry work for you. If worry attacks you, you may as well make use of it. Instead of letting worry be destructive turn it into a constructive use. Worry is an energy, a form of energy. When you worry you are using energy destructively. When you are practicing faith you are using energy constructively. So make worry work for you. Make it work for you by letting it make you think straight.”
- Set Worry Straight, with Faith


Dr. Peale says that when we worry our mind is thrown off balance. It is hot and it needs to be cool so we can use the power that God gave us.

I know that worry and faith cannot coexist and I opt to be in faith and not in fear.

Dear Spirit –
When I fall into fear and worry, please give me the comfort of Your presence and the confidence to trust You. May I convert negative energy into positive energy to help me live in this world of illusion, knowing that Your goodness, love, and abundance are always with me regardless of appearances. Please calm my mind, bring peace to my heart, and strengthen my spirit so that I may live in joy. Show me Your way and help me to follow it. So it is. Thank You.

Worry and God

If I truly believe in God, why should I worry about anything?

In Kathryn Slattery’s experience as a worrier, she realized, “Worrying gave me a false sense that I was "doing something" about a problem, when in fact I was actually wasting valuable mental energy and accomplishing nothing!” How very true. When I worry, first of all, my mind is preoccupied with the future which isn’t yet here. I’m not accomplishing anything by worrying - in fact, I am adversely impacting my physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health.

Kathryn looked to the Bible, which has a lot to say on the topic. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says, “Do not worry. Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? So do not worry.” As Kathryn points out, it’s worth noting that the apostle Paul does not encourage us to “Worry without ceasing.” Instead, he writes, “Pray without ceasing.” Prayer is both the opposite and the antidote to worry. I cannot worry and pray at the same time, just like I cannot be in fear and faith simultaneously.

Kathryn has a friend, who when she finds herself worrying, uses it as a reminder of how much she needs God. On her nightstand she keeps a plaque that says, “Stop worrying and go to sleep. I’ll be up all night anyway. Love, God.” Yes, God is always up, always awake and present. And, God has the power to accomplish anything, unlike moi.

If I believe in a Higher Power - God - that is all loving, all good, all powerful, etc., why indeed am I worrying?

Dear Spirit of the Most High -
May I pray without ceasing, faithful in knowing that You have a Divine Plan and all is exactly as it should be. And so it is.

The End of the World?

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending... - Revelation 1:8

Julia Attaway writes about meeting conflicts surrounding parent-teacher conferences and her children’s activities schedule in a recent Daily Guideposts story.

“After the initial shock of discovering my scheduling mega disaster, I forced myself to take a deep breath. There’s only one thing that helps me when I’m faced with mind-boggling conundrums like this and that’s to remember that logistical problems aren’t actually problems, they’re puzzles. They belong in the crossword-solving part of my brain, not the worry center. No one is going to die or be scarred for life or even require a trip to the doctor if I don’t figure this out. The only true danger is that I’ll stress out and start being unpleasant to my family. So I tossed the problem onto the back burner, where so many insoluble difficulties simmer into solutions.

Last night, around midnight, I think I figured out a way to handle Monday. The logistics require higher math to follow and a cast of thousands to execute, but the plan will probably work. And if it doesn’t, then it doesn’t. It’s neither the beginning nor the end of the world.

Lord, help me to remember that the world won’t fall apart if I’m not able to make things run perfectly smoothly.”

With so many additional tasks added to my To Do list related to our relocation, feeding my soul on the new communities’ many events and activities, growing our business, etc., I am grateful for the reminders Julia offers.

My take is: worrying is not necessary; prioritization is helpful; ask for help. Most of all, I am not in control of the world - Spirit is.

God, I know that Divine Order is at work and the world runs perfectly because of it and You, not me. Help me to know what is important in my life, and to take care of myself so that I may serve You well in peace and in joy.

Enough

It’s been a full, rich day. I spent most of it at my laptop, doing website design work and connecting with people via email. I emailed prospective clients introduced to me through mutual friends, communicated with owners of possible home rentals, caught up on how friends were doing in their new home state, and more.

It was a social day, a productive day. I did my active kundalini meditation and I spent some time reading Emmet Fox’s essays; they are always uplifting to me, and make me feel closer to God.

It was a day well spent and I felt like I had “done enough” which is often not the case. So it’s ‘interesting’ that I should read today’s Daily Guideposts this evening.

The author, Pam Kidd, had forgotten to give her elderly friend all of his birthday gifts when she visited him at an extended-care facility. “For weeks the magazines rode around in my car, taunting me. One more thing undone. And then, out of the blue, came a call: Claude had suffered a massive stroke. He was gone.

“Distraught, I went to the car and gathered the magazines, expecting also to find a heap of guilt. But the memory of Claude waving and smiling as he escorted me down the corridor sent a different message. You made me the birthday king, Claude seemed to say. Let go of what you didn’t do. Think about what you did!”

How very often at the end of the day I think about what I did not accomplish, instead of all that I did. And then, not only did I not do enough, but the “I’m not good enough” starts creeping in too.

It seems like today I got the message from Spirit before I had a chance to go down that path. Instead, I felt most satisfied with the accomplishments of the day. So although my experience today contrasted with the usual, I’m grateful for the story reinforcing the idea that it’s what I accomplish that counts, not what I did not.

Dear Spirit – Thank You for my feeling my accomplishments today and not worrying about the rest. I did enough, I am enough. All is well. Good night.

Imagination

“Worrying is using your imagination to create something you don't want.” – Abraham (excerpted from the 09.05.98 Asheville, NC workshop)

Imagination is powerful, a gift from our Creator.

May I honor Spirit by using my imagination in a positive, uplifting, helpful way for others.

Trust God

“Trust God or worry. Those are the two choices you have in every situation. Trust God and be at peace. Worry and experience stress. Your choices are that simple and you will make your life as peaceful or stressful as you choose to make it. Trust God and be at peace. This is all that is asked of you.”
- James Blanchard Cisneros

Well, I clearly was feeling worried, stressed, and not at peace. I was still in the research stage in a project, not knowing how long it was going to take me to actually start designing the project, and concerned about keeping my commitment to agreed upon goal dates with my client. Ego had clearly ‘eased God out’ and I was a wreck. Impatient with Rog, impatient with myself, with my body all tensed up.

I took some steps to help myself calm down, one in the form of checking in with my client and communicating my concerns. But I didn’t pause to check in with Spirit. I didn’t stop and say “God needs to be first, then all else will follow with ease and grace.”

Still, somehow God got through to me. I realized that I was doing everything I could and it was going to have to be enough. My peace was too important to keep on keeping on in this unhealthy, workaholic type of state, with ego having a field day. I surrendered. I was backing to trusting God.

Thank You, Spirit, for getting through to me even when I feel so closed and bound up.

On This Path

I am excited about a possible living situation in Cottonwood we will be exploring further this weekend. I’ve been taking things one step, one day at a time.

We needed to get the bankruptcy docs signed, then the house trustee sale/foreclosure postponement fell into place. I told Rog I wasn’t going to worry about how we were going to move – the next step was to first find the place.

So if this house situation works out, then I’ll be seeking God’s guidance and help in pulling off the actual move.

Rog reminded me that "If you knew who walks beside you on this path that you have chosen, fear would be impossible" from A Course in Miracles. How true that is! And, so sweet and loving.

With more and more of the unseen manifesting in the seen world, I am getting my evidence – and my trust in God is building. Yes, I still seem to need the evidence of Spirit, that there is a Divine Plan, that God is taking care of me. I so look forward to one day real soon truly internalizing that I know who walks beside me, who is my ever-constant companion, guide, and helper. In that 100% knowing lies my true, ever-constant peace and joy.

Slowing Down

Do this! Do that! Oh, here’s yet another thing added to my plate for today. Do, do, do! What a crazy day this is already.

Yesterday it was worry and fear, today it’s feeling overwhelmed. I hadn’t done my morning readings, meditated, or blogged. But, I did find some nice deep breaths (my dear yoga instructor Mary often asks us to “find a deep inhale”) that centered me so I thought I was good for a while longer.

Then God really got my attention: my front tooth’s crown came off without any prior notice although recent problems with it made it no surprise. The whole day just changed again. That was the last straw - I slowed down, no choice. I called my dentist and arranged for an emergency appointment today, then I postponed one business meeting. And, now I’m blogging.

But was it really God who got my attention to slow down? Or, was it my ego (as Rog suggested)?

Slowing down has two aspects to it, one for peace (God), another for blocking our good (ego). There’s no question the morning has been hectic, too hectic for my liking. So I really did need to slow down, breathe, get centered. I’m grateful to finally be doing that. I can’t say I like the way it came to be.

But to be slowed down as a way to block moving forward is another matter.

Rog and I have been keenly focused on two things: simplifying our lives and growing our business in alignment with God’s will. Professionally, we have turned down contracts and clients so that we could be true to ourselves and Spirit. Several months ago we made the conscious decision to work with like-minded people and to only accept projects that would first and foremost provide us with the forum to creatively express ourselves, what God wants us to do, to be. Earning money was to be the secondary consideration. You know, do what you love and the money will come. With that decision I felt such freedom, and power, and joy; moving past years of angst and stepping into what God and faith were calling to me.

We’ve made great strides in downsizing expenses, material possessions, unfulfilling relationships, etc. It’s been a wonderful time spiritually - and a bumpy one financially. We have been meeting marvelous, new, like-minded people, and, we now have a batch of prospective clients who we know we’ll enjoy partnering up with and who Spirit will use as channels for financial prosperity.

And now, my front crown comes off! Of course, that’s not the only thing that’s happened in recent days to throw me disturb my peace. But, do you know how horribly ugly the gap in the front of my mouth is?! Not to mention the time and expense of the permanent solution that is required? Well, I’m not going to let this or my ego sidetrack me from my good.

I know what’s truly important and what I need to keep my focus on, and it’s not of a physical nature. So, I’m finding a deep inhale again, relaxing, and sticking close to God. All is well – it cannot be otherwise.

Worry, Sworry!

I awoke in a state of fear and worry. I hadn’t felt that way for quite some time, I’m glad to say.

Worried about finances, worried that I didn’t yet send out an anniversary card, worried that I still needed to respond to emails, worried that a contract wouldn’t come through, worried that the contract would come through... You know, Worried with a capital ‘W’. So silly of me – I should know better (I still have a little ‘shoulding’ work to complete). And, I do, intellectually.

Well, intellectually doesn’t do it for me. So what then does? Replacing worry and fear with faith. Faith with a capital ‘F’. So, I straightened out my desk! Okay, I know that’s not what’d you’d think of vis-à-vis faith, but I did feel better getting organized and seeing a lot more desk surface!

Moving on, I wrote an email to a person going through her own doubts and concerns and felt better connecting with another soul and being of service. I wrote in my email about knowing that Spirit was in charge and when I stay focused on that, I know and feel (ah, here we go now, getting to the heart) all is well. And, of course, that’s true.

Next, I picked up my morning inspirational readings and one of them hit the nail on the head:

In Daily Guideposts 2008, Dolphus Weary included in his story: “Peace grew in my heart from knowing that God is in control and that He provided all that we had and all that we would need.”

[A little synchronistic, you think?...]

And, I meditated to get to the silence within, where there is truly peace and I am at one with God.

These are but a few ways that I can get back to the Truth (with a capital ‘T’). There are many ways for me to get caught by my ego and let worry and fear run riot. But the ways to get back to the Truth are far more powerful than they and at my fingertips always. I just have to remember to ask God for help and take the steps that I can.

Thank You, Spirit, for always uplifting me when I call out to you.