Archive for Well Being
live christmas everyday: it’s sustainable
Posted by: | CommentsSeasons Greetings Everyone,
Christmas is all about Jesus’ message of Unconditional Love. Hanukkah is a celebration of hope. KWANZAA is a celebration of right being and well being. The Winter Solstice honors the ground of Well Being in which we live. It’s that time of year when holidays give us permission to open our hearts to express in community by way of gifts and words, food and song, the Love that we actually feel in our hearts. The Holidays allow us to hope for More and Better in ourselves and in the world and give us an excuse to open our hearts which has an expansive effect on our minds. The feelings of Love, hope, joy and appreciation change our minds allowing us a glimpse into a higher perspective – at least for a short time. The object is to sustain those feeling the other 364 days of the year.
The Holidays entice everyone to participate whether religious, spiritual, secular, agnostic or atheist which points to the commonality of us all – we are equally endowed – each of us – with Source whose frequency is Love. This is who we all are at our very core essential Self. That’s why you see extraordinary acts of kindness and miracles around the holidays. We venture our inner state into the vicinity of Joy and Love where every possibility Is.
This holiday season no matter where you are or who you are with feel the vibration of Love. Make it your intention to feel what your Soul is feeling for everyone all the time – yes everyone! Allow your mind to follow your heart for this time; then make it your intention and resolve to feel this feeling and allow your mind to be changed by Love all year long. There is no downside, I promise.
Love is what sustains us. I love Us all so very much.
Kath
P.S. Enjoy the Video and mind the line..”My Mind’s Made Up By the Way that I Feel.”
giving Thanks: every moment
Posted by: | CommentsHello Everyone,
It’s Thanksgiving week. It pleases me that here in America (and Canada) that we actually have a national holiday put aside to give thanks. Although for the life of me, I dearly wish they’d cooked something other than turkey. Personal preferences aside, we honor that the attitude or vibration of appreciation and gratitude is part and parcel of a happy life.
Haven’t you noticed that people who are not focused in appreciation for what they have are focused on what they do not have? This is the old “glass half full” or “glass half full” attitude, a choice of focus which is wholly within our individual domain.
When you consciously begin to shift your focus of awareness to the fullness of having, the Universe by Law of Attraction begins matching your “full” and “appreciative” vibration with more things to feel full and appreciate. Pretty cool how that works. Don’t you just wonder and appreciate who set this up with such elegance?
So how do you go from the “I don’t have” attitude to the “I have and appreciate” attitude? Practice. Purposeful, intentional practice to apply the focus of your mind to loving, appreciating, adoring, thanking for every teeny tiny little thing that pleases you. Every moment of every day.
Start small. Declare your intention to see and appreciate this day/this moment. For example, you might want to start general if you’re experiencing some difficulties in your life. [This practice, I might add, will change everything else in your life so long as you're giving more "air time" in your mind to appreciation than the negative stuff.]
So appreciate the fact that the sun came up this morning! How we take that one for granted, eh? This a big WoW that goes unnoticed and unappreciated. This single phenomenon points directly to the overwhelming Well Being in which we live. As winter approaches, instead of the ordinary and commonplace complaining about the weather, why not try thinking along these terms? If it weren’t for the cold, apples, grapes, pears and many other foods we love would not be possible. Therefore, I appreciate the winter.
Not well? Then try appreciating the parts of your body that ARE well. If your left hip hurts, appreciate the right one which is happy and well. How about appreciating that your body has recovered from myriad dis-eases over a lifetime; and appreciate that. Your body turns your food into new cells everyday without nary a thought from you. Another big Wow. With respect to the human body, there are about a zillion big Wow’s. Consider a few of them. The number of chemical reactions, tiny synapses, and split second timing to move something, digest food, make love.
Got your eyes fixated on the political or economic scene? Well how about appreciating the abundance and community that you do have and experience everyday? The abundance of air comes to mind. None of us have to gulp it in the morning for fear there won’t be enough by 4 PM. How about the abundance of life all around you and including you. The flora, fauna, creatures of the sea? They live in community and do it well. Think bees, dolphins, ants….
I am reminded of a Bible quote, “I will keep thee in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Me.” Me is Well Being. All That Is. Source Energy and yourSelf.
Not just on Thanksgiving, but today starting right now, begin to shift your focus of attention to seeing and appreciating how Full you already are. Make lists when you can. At stop lights look around for things to appreciate. In business meetings look for things you love and appreciate. And do this as a waking meditation all day long. I am charmed by that one’s smile. I appreciate this one’s wit. I love the color blue.
Thanks for the green light.
Thanks for the red light.
Thanks for this car, the highways, the people who made all this happen.
Thanks for the flat tire.
Thanks for the sun, egg, breakfast burrito and everyone who had anything to do with making it.
Thanks for what is becoming our new reality.
Thanks for my connection with Source.
Thanks for Universal Laws.
Thanks for my being a part of all this Creation and my contributions to it.
Thanks for ever little thing, both positive and negative, for without the contrast I could not wish for more and expand God Itself.
I’ll leave you with this. I often think about the moment when we’re passing from this physical reality back into Well Being. A ReEntry Angel escorts you Home. In your debriefing they ask you, “What were your favorite parts? What did you love most?” I started doing this one day and literally couldn’t stop. Here were a few of mine: I love flannel sheets. I loved skipping. I loved whipped cream…. now you go and make your list.
I appreciate each of you who are a part of the Applied Spirituality Community. You have no idea how much I celebrate you! But I hope you can know even a little how I adore you and appreciate your participation in expanding yourSelf in Life and allowing me to be a part of your becoming.
It’s truly my honor and pleasure.
I truly Love You; and I do mean You
Kath
relaxing into well being (a story, part 1)
Posted by: | CommentsHello Everyone,
Letting go of human mind is directly proportional to one’s ability to relax and Trust in Well Being. Life transformation is simple; I never said it was easy. If you, like me, have been working, working, working at having the life you want and find yourself exactly where you’ve always been, then it’s not that the Universe isn’t answering you, because it is. It is simply that we keep creating the same conditions over and over again like n the movie, Groundhog Day. Conclusion: there’s a persistent belief in the black box of human mind that dis-allows your relaxing into Well Being so you can realize what you want. Allow me to share my story with you…
I recently realized that this was the case with myself. So in Applied Spirituality theory, I’m supposed to “play”, “relax”, and “have fun”. Do I believe that’s right and natural? Check. That belief feels right to me, but then I spend 12 hours a day working with my face buried in the computer, writing articles and posts, learning the technology, studying myriad subjects but never really paying attention to HOW I FEEL when I’m doing all this. I just do it. So accustomed am I (habituated) to the work ethic: head-down and sacrifice now for the future. I couldn’t see my own forest for the trees until the negative feeling became so big that I could no longer miss it.
I experienced myself less enthusiastic, less eager, and really not accomplishing much. Yes, I still be worked 12 hours a day, but without results and admittedly not much fun. I wasn’t playing either outside work nor within the work. It had become dull and lifeless to me. Slowly I realized this. And when I finally did, it felt like a powerless place to me – dead end. Now what do I do?
The box my human mind had cornered me into was this: if I wasn’t working, then I felt guilty playing. Deeper than that, however, was another operating belief: amount of work=amount of my worth. Ye gads. So I was in a bind – you know, that proverbial rock and hardplace that I write about. There I was. My human mind blathering about I’m only valuable if I’m working hard and my Self telling me to play, play, play and enjoy my life and through that attitude of joy, everything I want would come. My human mind, naturally, was sneering that that proposition.
Yet, the observable evidence was irrefutable. Working hard without joy was getting me nowhere. I was NOT happy. Something had to change; and it wasn’t something in the physical world of doing, because I’d been “doing” a lot. I had to let go…of what? I had to change something, but what? I had to let go of my human mind belief that work=my value; but then my human mind kept saying that if I stop working so hard, then what? Where will the dollars come from? This was a Trust issue. Clearly a rubber meets the road Waterloo moment. Just me and Me. Which would I choose?
When I listened to ‘me’ I already knew the outcome because I was living that: unhappy, lifeless, and going nowhere fast. When I listened to “Me”, I wanted to believe that all my Good would come if I could relax into Well Being and play. I realized my resistance to going there was because I didn’t Trust. Oh boy! So clearly I knew the direction I wanted to go – I wanted to be enjoying my life and abundant. In order to do so, I would have to TRUST. My human mind wanted me to think it was either/or…my Big Self knew the Truth.
Visions of the old parable, the Grasshopper and the Ant came roaring back. More human mind programming. I was literally assailed by my human mind ego to warn me off from even considering what Me was proposing – go play. Whilst Me sat quietly and patiently awaiting my arrival, not trying to entice me, but waiting for me to allow It. My human mind suggested I work at deliberate creation processes. Work. Work. Work!!!! I did, for awhile, and then stopped. My knowing is that life is natural. The birds don’t work for their worms; my garden is growing outrageously without any efforting. The planet spins on its axis quite well, the sun comes up every single day without any effort. Then life, my life, should be effortless as well.
My pea brain was unrelenting…”Allow? ALLOW??? No Effort??? Are you NUTS? You can’t let up for a minute! You’ll go broke. You’ll be lost forever! Work! Work! Work. That’s the way. That’s the ticket. It’s the way it’s done’ it’s the way it’s always been done.”
And so it went for weeks…with me walking the line between them. Not really working; and not really allowing. The results…the same in the physical world. Not much progress; not falling backwards…just unsatisfying mediocrity. Yuck!
Clearly I had reached a personal place within me that was illuminating the next place I had to LET GO in order to move forward, to evolve and expand. I had to relax into Well Being. I had to Trust at a deeper level; and in order to do so…I had to let go. Oh arg, arg, arg! Have you ever seen a kid at the swimming pool up on the diving board for the first time? He wants to dive in or jump in, but he can’t…yet. The line of kids getting longer behind him as he is stuck between his desire and his fear. Yes, no, yes, no, yes, no……Well consider that a good picture of where I’ve been.
I’m telling you all this in the gory detail, because this is an example of how it happens within all of us. The bind. Leap into faith and trust (and be ruined according to the human mind) or stay the course and be miserable. When I could at last see the choice to be made clearly, it was fairly simple. I didn’t want to live a mediocre life. I never have and I never will. So that propelled me to consider: what it would take for me to relax and Trust into Well Being.
Every been here? Tell me your thoughts and experience. I’d love to hear from you!
to be continued…
ancient wisdom; modern ignorance
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Photo by Stephen Ferry
A friend sent me the link to the movie of the Kogi people living in Norther Columbia in the Sierra Nevada.
I highly encourage you to view the entire video; it is a well spent 53 minutes. The Kogi have separated themselves from the rest of the world for over 1000 years, holding the space of Well Being. They have found their wisdom and knowledge by direct education from the Infinite Intelligence. Whilst they appear to use simplistic language, they have a very profound understanding of Energy – obviously understanding it much more clearly than we moderns do.
What they simply know that we have forgotten is our natural place within the Universe. They understand that everything was created in perfect harmony and with equal access to Source Energy – equal honored place within the scheme of everything. Everything important, equally and in balance. We, however, have forgotten that we are another species of creature on planet earth. We are no more or less as homo saepiens. We can be crushed by tornado, tsunami, fire, or quake just as the other creatures and plants. We can be in harmony with All That Is, or not…and alas, we are not because we have forgotten that we are natural creatures, too. We have forgotten that we have access to Infinite Intelligenc – that we are integral to the Plan. We are included in the Plan; we are contained within the Plan; and we are subject to It’s Laws. That which causes the sun to come up every morning; the planets to remain in their orbits; the food you eat to become new cells is the ground of Intelligence, the basis of Well Being that Is from the beginning. It is the matrix of Life.
Every time we kill a snake; smash an ant, or remove the autumn leaves without regard to the natural process, we interrupt the balance of Well Being. But Well Being, the Natural Order of things will prevail no matter what we do. We, as a species, will simply be burped off the planet unless we grow and change in harmony with Universal Laws.The Earth will continue; it is the failed species that will disappear unless we adapt.
If I could teach one thing, it would be to remind everyone of their natural and rightful place within the scheme of Life. You belong, you are included, you are natural creature just as the snake, frog and tree. You are cared for and loved beyond measure; it was set up that way from the beginning. Everything you fear has no basis; for Well Being is the basis of you, the basis of this world, the basis of this Universe. It was set up, wired up, connected perfectly from inception.
I would encourage you to go out into nature and reclaim your place within it in your own mind, within your own consciousness. As you study nature you will come to understand the perfection of everything and that there is a way to be within nature that is with ease. That way is first in your mind, letting go of all fear and coming to your Oneness with the elegance of All That Is. Once you understand this and have expanded your human mind into the Mind of All That Is, you will fear nothing again. You will understand that as the lily in the field, you are loved and cared for personally.
The words are not just words, they require an integrated understanding which your Soul already knows. This is the spiritual journey; this is the Ordinary Heroes Journey: dispelling your fears and becoming Who You Really Are in your modern physical life. We are charged with expanding our limited human mind consciousness into the Mind of God and living that Reality on earth. This is not religion; this is the spiritual journey of expanding the human mind into the consciousness of Well Being. It is Applied Spirituality.
It requires that each of us do the work individually. Get started now.
homo saepiens: another species on earth
Posted by: | CommentsGood Day everyone!
I came across this video from the BBC production of Human Planet. The single most striking thing that came to me is that we, the human species, is just that – another species of creature on planet Earth. And as these documentaries illuminate, we have adapted and continue to adapt to living conditions on Earth. Just as all other species adapt or die, homo sapiens is obliged to do the same. In our terms: we are to reach for what feels better to us. When it is hot, we reach to feel cooler; when we are hungry, we wish for food; when we are poor we wish to be abundant; when we are sad, we wish to be happy. When we are in the dark; we wish to be enlightened. And so it is.
The Universe answers every request from every species all day, everyday as we are all hard-wired into the elegant language of the Universe. We, humans, call this Nature and later when we have discovered just how this is, we call it science. But the earthworm, the amoeba, the fish and fowl, trees and weeds alike are all equally hard-wired into the language of the Universe as well, and their wishes and desires are answered just as ours are. Thus, is the expansion of consciousness and the evolution of life on Earth. They are not separate phenomenon; but interlinked and intertwined one with the other, beautifully in a system of absolute Well Being.
Thanks for reading!
Kath
there is no death
Posted by: | CommentsGood Morning folks!
As I’ve been reading all the commentary about the disaster in Japan, it is clear that generally people think death is the ultimate punishment. “But they died!” Indeed, people die everyday; but there is no death. Life is a continuum and goes on eternally. In the Bible it says, “In my Father’s House there are many mansions” (John 14:2). This refers to states of Consciousness, Awareness. We return to Well Being from whence we came. To my mind, we high five each other and say, “That, was a great game!”
This morning I happened on a news item of a little boy, Colton Burpo, who had a “death” experience whilst undergoing surgery. He was 4 years old at the time. When he returned, he told of meeting his great grandfather, a sister who had been a miscarriage, and reports that Jesus had a smile that lit up the heavens. Some refer to this as heaven, I call it Well Being. It’s not just for the “good” people, but for everyone. Watch.
Many others have had this experience and come back to report the Truth of Life to the rest of us humanoids. I’d like to take it out of the religious context and put it into the natural context. Consciousness Is. Life Is…It is not a religious experience; it is a Life experience just as natural as winter becomes spring. As Colton describes heaven, we might want to rethink the death penalty. Maybe it’s the ultimate gift to send someone home…
Thanks for reading!
Kath
what are we to make of natural disasters?
Posted by: | CommentsGood Morning Everyone!
As if the 8.9 earthquake last week in Japan wasn’t enough. Then they suffer the tsunami that followed. Today health concerns take the forefront with the third explosion at a nuclear power plant. What are we to make of this size calamity? How is Well Being at play, because it is. But where? Natural events that have devastated human civilizations have been occurring since the beginning. Just recently there appeared the news story on Reuters that as a result of the tsunami, they believe the lost city of Atlantis may be found as a result. Most probably Atlantis was lost due to a similar natural event long ago. Most probably the inhabitants of Atlantis were similarly dismayed as we are today.
Yellowstone Fire 1988
I believe perspective is desperately called for here to understand the Flow of Life. Modern man has forgotten or perhaps never quite understood in the first place that we are natural creatures living on the planet just as the critters in the forest and the creatures of the seas. Similarly, were the dinosaurs natural creatures, too. What lies beneath our fears as watch events unfold in Japan, Haiti, Chile, and the Southern California fires is our fear of death. Modern medicine has devoted itself to thwarting death, as if it were the enemy. But death is part and parcel, integral to Life in this Universe. Destruction precedes rebirth. I recall the devastating Yellowstone fire of 1988. It raged for days seemingly destroying everything. Yet, in 1995 I had the opportunity to go on a pack trip into this forest and witnessed a carpet of lodge pole pine seedlings becoming the new forest. In 2002 the Cedar Fire raced through the back country of San Diego County, which I experienced first hand. Nearly 3000 homes were lost and over 300,000 acres burnt. Everywhere one looked it was a moonscape. Yet the neighborhoods and natural forests are thriving now. In the spring that followed the fire, new wildflowers were seen as a result, such as wild peonies.
This world, our planet Earth is an integral part of a Natural Universe which is elegant in both design and operation. Things come and go; it is a giant recycling system. Death and birth, extinction and new species, here today and gone tomorrow are two sides of the same coin. Yet, nothing is lost because everything has its base in nonphysical Source Energy Awareness, Consciousness – God if you will. We delight in the variety and the game, as Consciousness; because we know there is no death. Just new actors, new props on a new stage of infinite variety of forms.
New Growth Lodge Pole Pines Yellowstone 1996
With each event creatures on earth, human, animal, vegetable and mineral send out rockets of desire for the very opposite of what they are experiencing in the physical moment. These rockets of desire are the expansion and evolution of Life. They are the eternalness of All That Is. This results in evolution on earth. We choose again for something we want that feels better. Perhaps with this event we move away from nuclear energy and get crackin’ on sound technology or wind? These contrasts spur us to a new direction, better, safer, cleaner, easier.Nothing is lost; we are perfectly contained in, based in, and indeed are Well Being Itself. Perhaps an event of this proportion assists us in realizing beyond our body/minds by assisting us to awakening to Who We Really Are – Source Energy all of it – all of us- in physical form having a physical adventure in the eternity. Ask and it is answered; be still and receive the answer. The rebirth has already begun. All is well. This is Applied Spirituality.
winter: the natural elegant order of well being
Posted by: | CommentsGood Morning Everyone,
I woke up this morning at 4:30 to a winter wonderland. Of course this was a complete surprise to me, as I don’t have television and rarely check the weather online. I like the surprises, because I get to practice “this is perfect”. For example yesterday when it was raining, I found myself visiting hospitals and medical offices inviting local healthcare providers to my seminar next week. I had “planned” on more of the same today; but a Panhandle Hook, a winter storm, is bearing down on Cleveland as I write making rush hour a real challenge for everyone and the weather advisory in effect until late afternoon. So much for my “plan”. Now I get to see how this is Really perfect.
Which brings me to the real point: why is it that we insist on going and doing when the Natural Order of things is saying “stop”. It’s winter! Some days we can get around with care, some days we can travel easily, but days like today are obviously telling us to pause. Yet, I know, if I walk out to Hwy 18, I’ll see a parade of cars creeping towards the Interstate where there will be even more cars creeping to Cleveland.
We all have plans, yes, I know that. However, these are “pretend” plans. In the summer we make plans A and B. Plan A is for a clear sunny day, and plan B is in case it rains. Yet in winter there is some strange compulsion to resist the weather, dam the torpedos and go, go, go no matter what. I was at a Christmas party just before the holidays just after a big winter storm. For the first 30 minutes of conversation the folks were comparing stories of how long it took them to get to work. One reported 3 hours and still another told the winning the horror story competition reporting 7 hours. I sat listening to this wondering what conclusions they had drawn by having these experiences?
The trees are asleep; the bears are hibernating, the flower and insects slumber, the Earth rests…yet the human mind has another story going on: domination. It is, of course, a fairy tale. When I first moved back to Ohio from San Diego, I was struck by how people hate the winter up here; and now I know why. They hate it because it interferes with their human mind plans. The human mind insists that this has to be done today; they can’t do without me at work; that project is too important; I’ll get fired if I don’t at least try to get to work. All these things point to the false beliefs of the human mind ego.The Truth is that Life continues. Another day will dawn. The work will still be there as will the opportunities; and if not THAT one, then infinite more will be there. Still, you don’t know that until you surrender to the Natural Order of things and not begrudingly, but gratefully and joyfully.
Don’t you remember snow days as a child? A whole day stretched before you to enjoy the bountiful snow in whatever way you chose. And you enjoyed it carefree…that’s the point…carefree. To do that, you have to “let go” and know that somehow this is perfect. It is a gift; and it will all turn out even better than what your human mind could have worked out.
Relax. There is this wonderful thing called Well Being. It keeps the planets in their orbits and your personal heart beating. Well Being has brought this storm to Cleveland today. There is nothing “to do”; rather it is time to just be and allow. Revel in this moment; enjoy the respite and know that all is Well. Watch and see.
Thanks for reading!
Kath
silencing the human mind
Posted by: | CommentsGood Morning Everyone!
My human mind awoke this morning wanting to drag me into its “story”. What story? My son deploys today, that story. Yammering on, I could feel myself getting dragged down into its negative thoughts. Whoa! It occurred to me that I had several choices here. I could continue letting my human mind drag me from pillar to post feeling worse by the second; I could stop it; I could watch it; I could welcome it; I could release it. I didn’t have to suffer. I had choices.
Well, whatever I chose, it wasn’t going to be feeling bad to worse. I began breathing in to the count of 3 and out to the count of 5 getting a good rhythmic rolling breath going, focusing on my breathe. Poor human mind can only focus on one thing at a time; and I was not about to be the victim to the “tail” wagging the “dog”. Then I decided to “welcome in” these worrisome thoughts, continuing my rhythmic breathing.
“Welcome worry, welcome fear, welcome sadness, welcome longing to be there. Come in for you are welcome here.” Breathing. Breathing.
“Welcome the belief that I need to change, alter, amend, conceal, edit or diminish you in anyway. Welcome.”
“Welcome the notion that these feelings and thoughts are personal to me. Welcome the idea that I alone, little me, i am alone in this feeling; it is mine. Welcome. Welcome.” Breathing. Breathing.
“So, could you let this go?” I asked myself. Breathing. Breathing. Yes.
“So, would you be willing to let this go?” Breathing. Breathing. Yes.
“When might this be?”
“Now.” Breathing. Breathing.
“Now could you welcome in the IMPERSONAL nature of these thoughts and ideas?” Breathing. Breathing.
“Yes.”
“And what is present right here, right now? Is there a separate you that is suffering from these thoughts?”
Breathing. Breathing. “No.”
“So then, what is present right here, right now?”
“Only Awareness. Life. Well Being. Awareness is breathing me. Life is.” Breathing. Breathing.
“How does that feel now?”
“Spacious. Limitless. Oneness. Well. All is Well.”
Thanks for reading!
Kath
essential Self: Conscious Awareness
Posted by: | CommentsHello Everyone!
At the root of every personal dilemma is the belief that we are isolated, alone, ineffectual and small. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are, each of us, Well Being, Perfection, Conscious Awareness. The Life that breathes us, enlivens us and every living thing. We are immense, but have suffered from the false belief in our separation from Source.
Jesus said, “I and my Father are One.” This was his statement of his realization of Oneness. We are each the same; one with the I AM.
“I AM is the Way, the Truth and the Life.”
The I AM is the Sea of Conscious Awareness in which we live, breathe and ARE. Notice. Who breathes you? What knows how to turn your food into new cells? What keeps the planets in their orbits? What? The same Conscious Awareness that is us; that is Who We Really Are.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said it this way: Trust Thyself; It is the I AM.
Thanks for reading,
Kath
