Is It Time To Make A Shift?

What makes one day amazing and another disastrous? What creates the wonders of some moments and the fear, doubt and anger of the next? 

It is our reaction to situations. We are creatures floating in old belief systems, traditions, and idioms that we give our power over to, and it is time to stop!

Humans are individual expressions of Universal Truth, placed upon this earth to experience life. Why do you think we are the only living things that are given volition? We are the only living organisms that have the ability to choose consciously. How amazing is that? There is a power out there, pushing, flowing, and drowning us in the possibility and ability to make choices; good, bad or indifferent…we have the ability to change our minds, and in turn, create a shift in our consciousness, which produces an outcome in our physical environment. Think about that…We are born with the ability to think, mentally process, and communicate not only our needs, but our opinions, our beliefs, and our desires. That right there is a miracle. Not many other living creatures have the conscious awareness to make up their minds, choose, and deduce outcomes purely from their thoughts.

But even more incredible we have the ability to override our intuition. We have the choice to listen or not to that intuitive voice in our heads. And right there is the point of where we as individuals choose how to live our lives. We can keep falling victim to fear, doubt and anger, or we can make the conscious choice to think ourselves into a better life.

Yeah, I just saw you roll your eyes…but hear me out! It is all based in scientific principle; or what I like to call Cause and Effect. It has proven time and time again that people can control their experiences by merely changing how they react to the events happening around them in their lives. When we change our outlook or belief about a situation or event, that event or situation must change.

One of the most defining, and definite statements in the Bible is, “It is done unto you as you believe.” It doesn’t say it is done unto you as someone else sees it, or as someone else wants you to see it.

Our life is nothing more than what we keep thinking into it. It is an individual responsibility that you can either live life as a victim or an empowered individual. You don’t like your life or the experience you are having…change the way you are seeing it. Stop reacting from fear and hate, and begin to react from that deep seeded love, harmony and peace. Nobody is making you react to your life, but you! We all have met an Eeyore or two in our lives. You know the people who never catch a break, who never see the forest through the trees, who, if lightning was going to strike they would be the one it would hit. Trust me the world has enough Eeyores!

One of the brightest minds to grace the earth, Albert Einstein was quoted as saying, “You can’t fix a problem, using the same mind that created it.” How profound is that? We can’t change a situation that keeps happening if we keep looking at it the same way we’ve always looked at it. We must change our idea about it, in order to change the outcome. No matter how hard we keep forcing that square peg in that round hole it’s not going to fit until we either change the peg or find a square hole.

Instead of resisting change, begin to embrace it. Instead of looking at a situation from fear and doubt…find a way to come from peace and love. Try and see the good in every situation in your life. Start seeing all the things to be grateful in your life and focus on that. I promise your conversations will begin to change, your environment will change, and you’ll start seeing your life change to something better you had yesterday. Trust me it isn’t easy at first. If it was easy we wouldn’t be experiencing any destruction, disease, and disrespect in this world. But if we just start today, just start in our own lives, seeing the potential, love, peace, and harmony that exists in our lives, no matter how small a spark it seems to be, our lives will change dramatically for the good. 

Okay, enough of my ramblings. I want to leave you with one last statement to think about. Ready? What you think about today creates your tomorrow. What are you thinking about that you want to experience tomorrow?

Thanks for hanging out and reading my ramblings!

My Sunday Talk...@ the Center for Spiritual Living, Diablo Valley

The body of my talk Sunday Aug. 26th, 2012.

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” One of my favorite quotes by the brilliant Albert Einstein.

How often do we find ourselves believing we are less than or stupid? Whether it is in our physical being or our consciousness? How often have we allowed others to judge us by what we do, or how we look? And on the flip side, how many times have we judged others?

Let’s look at the first four words of the quote. “Everybody is a genius.” It doesn’t say only scientists are geniuses or bankers are geniuses or this race or that religion is genius. Einstein said everyone. EVERYONE is a genius.

In Roman times, the Latin origin of the word genius meant, the guiding spirit. The noun, genius is related to the Latin verb gigno, which translates, “to bring into being.”

Wow, of course we are all geniuses. Just by being born into this world, we get to own the definition, genius. When we are brought into being, Infinite Intelligence, or God, places within each of us the guiding spirit; that intuitiveness deep within us that keeps nudging us onto our spiritual path. Some people call it their still small voice, or an inspiration that floods their consciousness with ideas. Some of us might define it as that cosmic rack a pop on the back of the head. However you can relate to it in your own mind.

Isn’t that wonderful, to know that each and every one of us are geniuses! So as we relate to that, as we swim in the greatness and glory of being a genius, there is something else we have to understand and then embody.

The second sentence of Einstein’s quote… “But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.” Now I wanted to relate this to others judging us for who we are and what we do, but I couldn’t. I felt the need to relate this to our own consciousness. Because the only way we are going to change the world around us or the way it treats us is by changing our own consciousness about how we fit in it.

So often we judge ourselves and never think twice about it. Any time we say “I am” and put something negative or limiting behind it, we are judging the fish for not climbing the tree.

We all have a purpose. Proverbs 16:9. A man’s heart devises his ways; but the Lord directs his steps. And thank goodness we each get to live our purpose in a unique way. Just as a fish demonstrates perfectly its genius as it breathes and swims in the water; just as it’s body has “brought into being,” the ability to live life entirely in water...so are we designed to embody and live our lives in our own life experiences.

We are all familiar with the saying, It is done unto you, as you believe. It doesn’t say, it is done unto you as someone else believes. Or that your life is the result of someone’s thoughts or beliefs. We have all been given the freedom of thought, the power to choose how we live our lives. 

How empowering is that?

When Jesus said, “Go, let it be done to you according to your belief,” in Matthew 8:13, he was basically announcing that your life is the result of your thinking. So it only makes since that if you want a better life, get a better consciousness. 

I will tell you I like to challenge and ask questions, dissecting words and meanings about passages or books that strummed a chord in my spirituality. I always felt that if I am going to invest my time and spiritual(ness) into anything; I am going to question things I don’t understand and embody the things I do. That’s why I found Religious Science so perfect for me. I was encouraged to ask, study, and take from the belief system what worked for me as a youth in this teaching.

Einstein stated, “You can’t fix a problem, using the same level of consciousness that created it.” Pretty powerful huh? We can’t fix anything in our lives if we are coming from the same belief or thought patterns that created it.

If we want to have Peace in our lives; we can’t go around cursing people out for cutting us off on the freeway. We want success in our business, how are we talking about our occupations to others? Are we giving the best part of ourselves to everything we do, or are we holding our hands out expecting someone to fill it with what we think we lack.

When I came to the realization that I am responsible for what happens in my life; that what I focus on grows in my life, I decided to change my mind about everything around me. Because there is nothing more powerful than a made up mind. 

As easy as I make it sound, it’s anything but…trust me on that. 

Just as habits and conditions that we have embodied didn’t appear over night, so is it with changing our beliefs. It takes daily practice. It takes conscious living. And it takes the faith to do it. But we must be willing to recognize when we fall back into old patterns and forgive ourselves when we do. If we can learn and move from a situation a better person, we’ve accomplished something grand.

We don’t have to worry about how it is going to happen or try and map out how spirit is going to work in our lives. All we have to do is have total faith that IT knows what to do and how to do it. 

We stop judging our short comings and start basking in our accomplishments, no matter how small. Rejoice when our lives open up to something greater. You got up today and came to hear me speak. Celebrate the fact that you’re here. Give thanks for everything in your life, no matter how small. Because as you do that, as you transform your thoughts and ideas from judgment and condition, to Love and Peace, you begin to see what your true purpose is. 

When you praise the sun for shining another day, or the refreshingly deep breaths that keep filling your lungs, your consciousness opens up to the Universe and your life unfolds to your unlimited possibilities. Suddenly you will find yourself grateful for the new job you have, the abundance in your bank account, the health you are celebrating, and all the other wonderful things that have opened up to you. What will happen is you’ll see the genius in your life and you will realize it was who you were all along!