Thoughts and Quotes for Today 1.16.13 January 16, 2013

‎1. Whether our addiction is to drugs, alcohol, food, sex, shopping, technology, relationships, or even to thought itself, they are all guaranteed to result in suffering. ~ Gangaji

 

2. If we could teach our children that collaborating is a far greater attribute than competing, we might have a very different world.

 

3. The only limits I have, are the limits I believe…

 

4. “Every thought you have makes up some segment of the world you see. It is with your thoughts, then, that
we must work, if your perception of the world is to be changed.” ~ A Course in Miracles

 

5. I can be calm and centered today if situations get tense. My “inner self” will take my hand and give me the words I need. ~ Karen Casey

 

Thoughts and Quotes for Today 1.15.13 January 15, 2013

1. Stress is a signal that you’re asleep. Question your thinking and wake yourself up. ~ Byron Katie

 

2. You create an entire picture or movie in your mind, and in that picture you are the director, you are the producer, you are the main actor or actress. Everyone else is a secondary actor or actress. It is your movie.  ~ Don Miguel Ruiz

 

3. Freedom is instantaneous the moment we accept things as the ARE…

 

4. We all smile in the same language…

 

5. We Affirm: I am writing the story of my life today with my thoughts and words. This is a happy story of Love, Joy, Peace, Prosperity, Health and Wholeness. I am creating it in my mind as I go along and I get to choose how to edit the story. I use Divine Imagination in positive creative ways today as I create the story that I Love to tell and live.

Thoughts and Quotes for Today 1.14.13 January 14, 2013

1. Begin each day with a Grateful Heart… Thank you, Thank You, Thank YOU!!!!

 

2. ‎”You break free when you feel neither beneath anyone nor superior to anyone, when you shed the need to control people, when you create space for others to be who they are and for your real self to be what it is.” ~ Deepak Chopra

 

3. The most thoroughly wasted of all days is that on which one has not laughed. ~ Nicholas de Chamfort

 

4. The wish for specialness is at the root of the mistaken idea that we are separate. Ego wants to be special and wants external validation of its’ specialness via special and exclusive love. YOU ARE NOT SPECIAL – YOU ARE NOT SEPARATE FROM THE ONE! You are loved and you are love, but no more or less than all of the One, or all of the seeming separate parts of the One.

5. It’s all a lie. I’m just pretending to be a separate human being. It’s not the truth of who I am. I am Spirit. I am Free. And the way I see you is the way I see me.

Thoughts and Quotes On Peace and Love for Today 1.13.13 January 13, 2013

1. “I discovered that when I believed my thoughts, I suffered, but that when I didn’t believe them, I didn’t suffer, and that this is true for every human being. Freedom is as simple as that. I found that suffering is optional. I found a joy within me that has never disappeared, not for a single moment. That joy is in everyone, always.” ~ Byron Katie

 

2. “A teacher of fear can’t bring peace on Earth. We have been trying to do it that way for thousands of years. The person who turns inner violence around, the person who finds peace inside and lives it, is the one who teaches what true Peace is. We are waiting for just one teacher. You’re the one.” ~ Byron Katie 

 

3. “I like to say, “When I walk into a room, I know that everyone in it loves me. I just don’t expect them to realize it yet.” ~ Byron Katie 🙂

 

4. Before, without even realizing it, everything I did was to avoid pain or to please other people. I was caught up in doing, pursuing, searching, and achieving; and I was the last person I ever took into consideration. My life was driven by fear; Fear of displeasing others, of failing, of being selfish, and of not being good enough. In my own head, I always fell short. This way of living finally drove me to illness. Now however, after healing, I understand that I only have to be myself and follow my heart. I don’t worry any more about trying to get things right or complying with rules or doctrines. I make my everyday choices from a place of Love instead of fear, which means doing what brings me Joy instead of doing things out of a fear of the consequences. I now know that I can’t go wrong when I live this way. Ironically, I end up pleasing more people than my old ways ever did, just because I’m so much Happier, Peaceful and more liberated! And this way of living has a huge positive impact on my health as well! 

Here Comes the Sun in Puerto Vallarta

 

Loving what IS in this Life… No past or future… 1.13.13

A Beautiful sharing from a 71 yr old on : ” Loving What Is”

There is, I think, only one universe. There may be more, but we at least know there is at least one.

There is also, I think, only one time we get to “go through” this life as a human being in this universe. I know there are a lot of people, as they read this, arguing one point or the other. For the moment, I will assume you agree there is only one universe we get to go through, and this is the only time we get to go through this universe as who we are right now. As some wise person said, “This is not a dress rehearsal.”

There is, finally, only one “present moment.” There´s the past of course, and the future, whatever it may turn out to be. But if you look up from whatever you are doing at the moment and look around and see what is, what you see in that moment is the only time you’ll ever see exactly what you are seeing exactly the way you´re seeing it. The moment is unique. A good example is seeing a rainbow—if you aren’t in the here and now you’ll miss it.

When I heard about Byron Katie and her remarkable book, Loving What Is, I knew I had found one of those guideposts I needed in my life. She´s brilliant in making her point that we have to love what IS and she made it so clear that I can use her expression day to day, moment to moment, to keep me sane as I go on 72 and look into the jaws of the future.

The wrinkles on my face dig deeper and deeper, the sags in my once-tight swimmer legs sends me looking for longer shorts, and I broke my wrist rollerblading, proving, once again, that I´m not as young as I thought I was.

All these realizations hit me all of a sudden one night as I was dressing for dinner. I had spent time carefully choosing what I would wear to “cover up” what is. Suddenly I looked in the mirror and realized that I love what is. I don’t want to be 18 again, or even 40. I want to enjoy being 71.

I thought about when I retired at 55 and began what was for me a long transition from workaholic to retired and making lots of changes in my life. At the time I wanted to write a book, Retirement, Heaven…or Hell—or a little of both? Did I want to get a job, write a book, or just hang out on the beach? As the years passed, I did a little of all of this but mostly it was a time to reassess who I was and what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. What became clear to me as I continued to get dressed was that I have no choice—I am going to finish this life, on this universe, in this body. I either enjoy the moment or I don’t. If I don’t make the choice to enjoy each individual moment, then I’ve lost the moment. My moment. And I can’t get it back.

It is gone, just as a wave takes away a sand castle.
Just as children grow swiftly from child to adult.
Just as butter melts on a hot summer day.

Within days of realizing all this new information, a friend of mine said to me casually as we were looking at a friend who had just had her’s done, “So, Cleo, are you going to have a facelift?” I thought about her question a few minutes, went to a mirror and pulled back my skin. I was shocked with how much younger I would look with a facelift.

And then quite quickly I replied, “I don’t want to look 40 or 50. I want to look just like who I am. When I am standing in front of someone or have a man in my life, I want them to know that who they see is who I am, sags and all—there are some things you just can’t hide.” The fact is, that although my skin may be sagging; my mind is learning Spanish, my body is body-surfing and kayaking and I feel more alive and free than I ever did at 40, or anytime for that matter.

Aging, therefore, is a brilliant plan because we get to let go of all of our “shoulds,” we can be happy for our wrinkles because they show how much we laughed and when all is said and done, I like who I am and that’s the best gift of a life well lived. So thank you Byron Katie. As I continue my life I’m proud to show the universe that even though this is the only time I’ll pass through it, I’m going to do so, enjoying every moment and loving what is.

 

Thoughts and Quotes for Today 1.12.13 January 12, 2013

1. What you think is nowhere close to Reality. Tiny ideas in time cannot begin to measure the eternal.

 

Calm Down and Cheer Up

By Jacob Glass

“Simplicity is very difficult for twisted minds.”
A Course in Miracles

Try not to try so hard, dear ones. We appreciate and maximize your efforts to the degree that you allow us to – and the way you allow Us to is by getting out of the way, following the Intuition We give you and keeping your eyes on your own paper. Yes, We want you to pay attention, but we do not want you over thinking everything quite so much. When We encourage you to relax, this is not about cultivating  unconsciousness or carelessness. It is actually a focused awareness – but on your own business. Struggling so hard to get it right, to figure things out, to be the perfect student or practitioner – this is valiant and yet hopeless. There is an easier way. Let’s call it, “Do your best and forget the rest” as We’ve heard one of your physical trainers say it. It’s not necessary to hit a home run every single time. There can even be joy in striking out if you have the proper attitude about the game.

You make it very complicated when it is really quite simple, simple, simple. Don’t try to be God. Let God be God. Enjoy the ride more, even though you may not think you like where it is going. Savor the moments, the days, the people. Help Us Help you. Come inside to the Temple more frequently throughout the day for very short periods of time. Let Us soothe and uplift you with Our words and Our Energy. If you want to make a change, ask Us about it and when you receive the Answer, act on it with a calm cheerful energy as best you can. Keep a positive attitude and refuse to whine, worry or complain. Pet the cat. Adopt a rescue dog. Walk in nature more. Sing HAPPY songs very loud when you are alone in the car. Clear out a little bit of clutter each day. Strike up conversations with strangers. Offer to help a friend out. Ask for some help. Let the sun shine on your face for a few minutes each day.

The journey is ruined when you are anxiously chanting “are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet?”

 

Thoughts and Quotes for Today 1.11.13 January 11, 2013

1. Each recognized judgment is a hand-written invitation to forgiveness. ~ Thanks Pamela

 

2. In order to participate in drama, one must take ownership of the script.

 

3. Care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner. ~ Lao Tzu

 

4. “Learning how to be kind to ourselves is important. When we look into our own hearts and begin to discover what is confused and what is brilliant, what is bitter and what is sweet, it isn’t just ourselves that we’re discovering. We’re discovering the Universe. When we discover the Buddha, or awakened one, that we are, we discover that everything is Awake, and everyone is Awake. Everything and everyone is precious and whole and good. When we regard thoughts and emotions with humor and openness, that’s how we perceive the Universe.”  ~ Pema Chodron

‎(Helpful for New ACIM Students) January 10, 2013

WHO EXACTLY IS A COURSE IN MIRACLES WRITTEN FOR?

You cannot have a false sense of nothing. You cannot have a distorted perception of nothing. You cannot have a counterfeit of nothing. It must be a distorted sense of something. It must be a counterfeit of something. You cannot have a counterfeit $4 bill, because there is no real $4 bill to be counterfeited.
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“I would really like to understand where I’m misperceiving what the Course is saying about the body.”
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ANSWER: The difficulty lies in the fact that the Course, itself, is written for a readership of egos who do not realize that they are egos, who do not realize that there is any alternative to the means of perception which the Course refers to as ego perception. Therefore, for those who believe that “what they see is what they get,” and that that is all there is to everything, there needed to be a clear statement of the illusory nature of everything that was being experienced–that egos viewing life through the lens of the ego, were experiencing a distortion that could not be taken as fact, that could not be taken as real, because the perception did not allow for an awareness of God in it.
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This set of books was addressed to those who have embraced the Darwinian theory of evolution, of physical evolvement out of nothing by pure random chance–no underlying intelligence behind it or underneath it, but order that just happened to happen.
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The phrase, “ashes to ashes and dust to dust,” reflects this evolutionary, physical interpretation of everything that is going on as though what comes into existence is very temporary and then goes back into nonexistence–all of it simply being the effect of matter, of physical evolution.
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From within that frame of reference, the experience of everything is false. And this fact needed to be bluntly and clearly stated so that it might dislodge those who read these books from their confidence that they grasp what everything is, and that they are interpreting it and experiencing it correctly.
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So, the books speak unequivocally in this respect, and it is the reason that the very first lesson says, “Nothing I see means anything.”
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At the bottom line that seems very destructive and undermining of one’s ability to feel comfortable. “If nothing means anything, then what is the use in my existing?” But, you see, the intent of that lesson is to create such a stir as to “un-rut” people from their accepted beliefs and their firm convictions based upon those beliefs, so that they might be brought to a point where they would say, “If nothing that I see means anything, what does mean something?”
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You see, that involves a shift, a stepping back from automatic confidences and inner assurances, and causes one to look beyond, or somewhere else. In that looking, in that inquisitiveness, one puts oneself in the position of inspiration, of enlightenment, of the registering of what the Holy Spirit is conveying, the registering of what is Really going on, which has been blocked by one’s confidences that he knows just exactly what this physical world is, and is fairly confident that he knows where it came from and how it came about.
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In the act of inquisitiveness, of openness, it becomes possible for what the Father is to register with one. This is why the Course was written in such unequivocal terms. The terms do not allow one to hang onto even their highest concept of what the earth and what the world and what the body is. It doesn’t allow one to harbor pet theories–even more enlightened concepts of what it all is than everyone else has–because even those stand in the way of one’s being receptive to the truly undistorted perception of what everything is.
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You could say that the Course is the great “un-rutter.” But, something must come after what has been un-rutted. Now one has freedom of movement. One is not caught in a channel from which there can be no variation. Out of the rut there is total freedom of movement, so there must come an experience and an understanding of the territory in which this freedom is occurring.
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Now comes the opportunity to more correctly discern the world that has not disappeared, and understand it in the context of the infinite expression of the Father. In my working with those who find their way to have a conversation, this perspective is being provided as well.
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You see, as I have also indicated, you cannot have a false sense of nothing. You cannot have a distorted perception of nothing. You cannot have a counterfeit of nothing. It must be a distorted sense of something. It must be a counterfeit of something. You cannot have a counterfeit $4 bill, because there is no real $4 bill to be counterfeited.
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That which the ego has been looking at has been the presence of the Father. But the ego, in order to maintain its apparent and supposed existence, must deny the existence of the Father, and so the ego redefines everything in its own distorted way.
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Tell me, if you wish to take the first narrative of Creation given in the Bible, in which everything that was made was made, and the Father beheld it, “and behold, it was very good”–in other words, the Father saw Himself in it–why is it that there needed to be a second description of Creation, which truly refers to the ego’s process of re-identifying what the Father has made, in which everything becomes named?
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Everything already was. It was what it was, and what it was was known and experienced fully. There was no need to name it, except that the ego, in order to succeed in denying the Father, had to redefine that which the Father had already defined as His own Self-expression. The ego needed to redefine it in its own terms, thus apparently making that thing independent and different from what was truly the only creative Movement, which is described in the first chapter of Genesis.
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Now, the process of Awakening is a process of releasing the ego’s definitions, which are false, and, along with those false definitions, the distorted experience of That which has always been as the expression of the Father. One becomes freed from concepts or definitions and receptive to the clear, undistorted experience of what the original Creation was and is that required the ego to redefine It in order to apparently make a creation unlike the Father’s.
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Mind you, the ego is incapable of creating anything. Therefore its “creation” was constituted of a distorting of the perception of the only Creation there was, and, by virtue of that false definition, causing the only Creation there was to appear to be unlike its Source, and therefore independent of the Father.
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So, you see, literally everything the ego sees, which is constituted of its biasing of Creation Itself, is false, and cannot achieve great heights. It cannot exalt itself and become worthy of entering the Kingdom of Heaven. The biased perception of Reality will fade. It will dissolve. It will no longer be. But there will not be a void in its place.
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What will be left will be the original and ongoing Movement of Creation that the Father is and always has been being. But, I will tell you that your experience of It will be radically different from your experience of It now.
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The key factor that needs to be understood is that once one is unrutted, one cannot continue walking around in a state of denial, stating that “there can be no God in my experience because it is all illusion.” If one continues to deny the body or the forms in the world, one is denying the very place where the Father is being the Movement of Creation with absolute perfection. And if one is turning away from it on the basis that it is “absolute illusion” (which is like talking about dry water), one then does not have his attention in the very place where the Father is present to be recognized. That is nonproductive, and it inhibits the further experience of freedom that is now necessary since one has become un-rutted.
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I am not contradicting what the Course says. What the Course says still stands. You must understand that it is referring to everything that is seen from within the ego’s frame of reference. As one moves out of the ego’s frame of reference and accesses his or her own greater capacity to be aware divinely, the distortions and the limits of the ego’s frame of reference begin to fall away, and greater evidences of harmony begin to unfold. The undistorted perception of Reality “comes to view,” and it is experienced as transformation or healing.
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The fact is that one must recognize that unless he or she is totally awakened, whenever he or she looks at anything, he or she is not seeing its absolute divine Meaning. One is still seeing, to one degree or another, the distortion inherent in the ego’s frame of reference.

Conducted by the Northwest Foundation for ACIM

Thoughts and Quotes for Today 1.10.13

1. Your world view… That’s what shapes your experience of life not life itself. Change your world view change of your experience of life. ….

2. “Love Holds No Grievances” ~ A Course In Miracles

3. An Old Sufi Story:  “A man entered a village and went to see the Sufi Master. The visitor said “I’m deciding whether I should move here or not – and I’m wondering what the people here are like?” The Sufi Master said “Tell me, what kind of people live where you come from” The visitor said “They were robbers, cheats and liars” The Sufi Master said “You know, those are exactly the same kind of people who live here” The visitor left and never came back. Another visitor entered the village and asked the same question of the Sufi Master “I am thinking of moving here – can you tell me what the people are like?” Again the Sufi Master asked “Tell me, what kind of people live where you come from?” The visitor said “Oh, they are the kindest, gentlest, most compassionate, loving people. I shall miss them terribly” The Sufi Master said “Those are exactly the kinds of people who live here too”.

4. “How do you react when you think you need people’s love? Do you become a slave for their approval? Do you live an inauthentic life because you can’t bear the thought that they might disapprove of you? Do you try to figure out how they would like you to be, and then try to become that, like a chameleon? In fact, you never really get their love. You turn into someone you aren’t, and then when they say “I love you,” you can’t believe it, because they’re loving a facade. They’re loving someone who doesn’t even exist, the person you’re pretending to be. It’s difficult to seek other people’s love. It’s deadly. In seeking it, you lose what is genuine. This is the prison we create for ourselves as we seek what we already have.” – Byron Katie

Note from Byron Katie (What thoughts are keeping you awake at night) January 9, 2013

A note from Katie:

Dearest Family,

Almost every day I receive emails related to the state of the economy, to stress about income, jobs, and work.

For many people these are stressful times. Things seem to them more uncertain than ever, and they are often consumed by fear: fear of losing their jobs, fear of the conditions in the market, and most of all, fear about their co-workers’ and their own families’ welfare.

I invite you all to use The Work at Work in the same way as you use it in your day-to-day lives: to question your stressful thoughts, whatever they are in the moment. We can’t let go of our thoughts, but when we question them, they let go of us. And I don’t call it The Work for nothing! It is a lot of work in the beginning, and if it is freedom from fear that you are seeking, this economy is an opportunity for many of you to free yourselves in time from what seems like some very stuck areas.

For example, at work, or out of work, or maybe watching as your business shrinks in front of your very eyes, what are the stressful thoughts that take your mind over, replacing your confidence with fear?

What do you imagine that you need to do to boost your business or income?

Now what are you doing that you don’t need to do when it is at the expense of other people’s welfare and your own bankrupted spirit? Are you living mean-mindedly, unconsciously, as you sell yourself out by stepping on others competitively?

Make your list of amends, then make the amends, right out of your heart, asking yourself and others, if need be, how you can make it right, and then make it right.

Question any fearful thoughts that would stop you from making these amends or stop you from doing your real Work, and in the name of love, begin again.

A fearful life is what you can live well without. A fearless life is what you deserve, and enlightenment lived is security lived with or without the income that you think is worth selling your soul (your peace of mind) for. When you have The Work—your own truth surfaced—you have the way, because The Work works out of the answers inside you, the ones more important to you than anything else, the ones beyond physical welfare, that always bring physical welfare with them.

What thoughts are actually keeping you awake at night? What addictions take you over in the midst of your prior and present thinking? Transfer that thinking onto a Judge-Your-Neighbor Worksheet and do The Work on them or they will continue to work you. What thoughts keep you from giving your best at work, as well as out of work?

Let’s do The Work at Work where ever we are, in the name of the truth that sets us free: yours!

I love you, family, in every way, rich or poor, as my mind cannot believe any sane reason not to.

-Katie