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Tag: positive thinking

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Yesterday was Chinese New Year. It is the year of the pig. Unfortunately I have no pig photos for you. I even know a pig. His name is Winston. Winston apparently likes his belly scratched, but he is also a bit wary of strangers, so I have yet to experience the pleasure of scratching his rather large belly. The last time I saw Winston, his mama had put him on a diet and Winston was not a happy pig.

However, it is said that most pigs are happy, as well as good tempered, kind hearted, positive and loyal. And prosperous. I guess that accounts for Winston needing to go on a diet. He has an abundance of food!

If you are wondering whether this is going to just be a rambling about pigs, not to worry. I’ve got a point; two actually. It’s just taking me a while to get there. First point: You get a do-over. It is New Year’s all over again. How are you doing on those resolutions which never work? Take the do-over. Or did you take my advice and set intentions instead of resolutions?

Either way, you get a do over. Thank the Chinese for it.

The other point of my post is the prosperity piece. Pigs are a symbol of prosperity. Now, I did a bit of research, as I like to do, and discovered that this prosperity thing only applies under certain conditions. If if you were born in a year of the pig, watch out. Apparently, not so much prosperity coming for you. What are those years you say? According to Wikipedia, they are: 1947, 2031, 1995, 1971, 1923, 1935, 2007, 2019, 1983, 1959. Don’t ask about the 2031. I have no clue.

But here’s the thing. I’m a Science of Mind New Thought kind of person. This means I believe in the power of thought and the Law of Attraction. This means that if we set an intention for prosperity, then prosperity we shall have. Of course, there is a lot of other stuff that goes into that, but I’m just going to leave that right here for you.

Today, you get a do-over on New Years, and you can rely on the pig. Go for it. Prosperity.

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imageRecently I heard a story that I've been thinking about....a lot.

I just finished teaching a class called Prosperity Plus at the Center for Spiritual Living in Carson City.  This incredibly powerful material was put together by Mary Morrissey, and my students experienced many shifts in their thinking, some were subtle, some were more like the "wack-upside-the-head" variety.

I also experienced a shift that I want to share with you.

As a minister in New Thought, one of the things I get to do is take ancient wisdom, such as the Bible, and translate it metaphorically so that people can hear and understand the lessons, and apply them in their lives.  The Bible was written by many people, in the language of their times.  Back then they taught in metaphor.  The Bible was never meant to be taken literally, the mistranslations have not served us well.  I'm not an expert on the Bible, I learn new things all the time, and I learned something new in this class.

Mary Morrissey told us about the David and Goliath story in the Bible. You know, the story of the little shepherd and the giant?  David ended up slaying the giant, but what isn't often told is the inner process he used to do that.

See, we live in what is called a "condition based world."  This means we place more importance on our outer conditions, and we base our decisions and our actions on those conditions.

It's backwards.

There is an inner world, which is so much more important than the outer.  This is the world of our thoughts, beliefs and dreams.

David was able to slay the giant in spite of the outer conditons:  Goliath was huge, powerful, mean and had a lot of weapons.  He was also arrogant.  David was small, had only one weapon, and he refused to buy into the common fears of the time, that the giant was too big to slay and he certainly couldn't do it with his one little weapon, a sling shot.

But David wasn't into condition based thinking.  He knew the power of his thoughts.  He had heard that the king would give a castle, freedom from taxes and the princess to anyone who slay the dragon.  David heard about the princess and kept his eye on the prize.  All he could think about was the princess.  He kept his eye on the prize.  He would listen to the naysayers who told him it couldn't be done.  He kept his eye on the prize.

And he slayed the dragon.

Have you ever had anyone tell you it can't be done?  I have.  Very recently as a matter of fact.  I listened to them tell me it couldn't be done, for a little while, then I told them I didn't want to hear it anymore.  See, I've got my eye on the prize and someone telling me it can't be done is not the direction I want to take my thoughts.  I've got my eye on the prize.

Conditions would indicate that what I am trying to do can't be done.  But I don't live in condition based thinking.  I keep my eye on the prize, and my thoughts are more powerful than conditions.  So I keep my thoughts tuned to the prize.

And I know that if I keep doing this, what some told me wasn't possible will happen.  It already is beginning to happen!  I just need to keep my eye on the prize, just like David did.

Are you living in condition based thinking?  Do you think you can't do that because you were told, or because conditions would indicate you can't?  Or are you keeping your eye on the prize, knowing that your thoughts are much more powerful than any conditions?

I'd love to hear your stories about how you got the prize!

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minicard_template_usLately I've had some clients that are extremely intelligent.  We're talking genius IQ level here.  Being smart has a lot of benefits, but sometimes we can be too smart for our own good.  Smart people tend to think....and think.....and think.....and many times the ways in which they think don't serve them too well. They are consumed with negativity, lack of confidence, doubt and all those other patterns of thinking that just don't contribute to a higher quality of life.

If you find yourself in the category of perhaps being too smart for  your own good, here are some things to try:

  • Remember that you can change the pattern of your thinking.  This isn't easy, it is like changing any other habit, it takes conscious effort at first.  You simply redirect your thinking, as you would the attention of a child who is misbehaving.  Every time you have a thought that doesn't really serve you, move the focus of your thoughts from negativity to something more positive.
  • Try not to be such a smarty pants.  In other words, try to move from the intellectual to the emotional or feeling tone.  Or, to put it another way, try to get out of your head and into your heart.  Again, this will take conscious effort at first.
  • Meditate.  Meditation is about focus, not about clearing your mind.  Repeated attempts to focus your mind will train the mind, so that it behaves better.  Focus on a word, such as the one in the photo above, or a mantra, or a phrase, or do a walking meditation where you remain totally mindful of your surroundings and the placement of your feet.

I'd love to hear about how you turn your thoughts from the negative to the positive!

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I've been thinking a lot lately about the equinox coming up, probably because I'll be traveling to Lake Havasu City at the end of this week to do a talk there on this very topic at the Lake Havasu Center for Spiritual Living.

We get an equinox, or solstice, twice a year.  Once in the spring around March 20 and once in the fall around September 21.  These signify the day when the daylight hours and the night time hours are equal.  For the spring solstice, the day light hours then grow at a rate of a few minutes a day, till the fall equinox, when the day light hours then begin to shrink at the same rate.

Traditionally, fall equinox celebrations centered around harvest time, and this makes me think of what I am harvesting.  And what I am harvesting today depends on what I have planted yesterday.

Ernest Holmes (founder of Centers for Spiritual Living) tells us that today's outpicturing is the result of yesterday's consciousness.  This means that the thoughts and beliefs I held yesterday are what is manifesting in my life today.  Is this to be taken literally?  Not necessarily.  More accurately, it means that the tendency of my thoughts will influence my life in that direction.

So if I have planted good thoughts, thoughts of gratitude and optimism and love, then that is what my life will look like.

Does this mean that shit won't happen?  Nope.  It does indeed happen, it is part of life.  But if my thoughts have been ones of love and acceptance, then I am better able to handle it when it hits the fan.  I am not talking about spiritual bypassing either.  I'm talking about focusing on what is good while taking responsibility.  A good example of this would be the cancer patient who chooses to create humorous situations, all the while going through the medically indicated treatment.

So this is a time to consider what is going on in your life, and consider the seeds you have planted in your consciousness.  Do you live in the past, basing your current decisions on what happened when you were a kid?  This might be a good time to revisit that and see if a change is indicated.  Do you limit your actions based on fear?  This might be a good time see what it is you are afraid of, and what is behind the fear.  It may no longer be valid.

The equinox means the days will be getting shorter and the flurry of activity that most of us engaged in during the summer will begin to slow down.  Fall is a time to regroup, and see if perhaps we want to plant some different seeds.

I'd love to hear about your seeds!  What have you planted that is growing in your life right now?  What do you want to plant from this point on?

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