Staying in Pain-Stuck in the Mud

stuck-in-mudThis is something we say we don’t want ever, yet we seem to not be willing to let go of our stories easily. “He did this to me and my life is over” or “she/he cheated on me and I’ll never find another love” or “the bank turned down my loan, and now I’ll be ruined!” We create unnecessary pain for ourselves by wallowing in our stories and making the story our life, when it’s only a single incident, or moment that we can easily move beyond by letting go of that story.

When we stick our foot in the mud, we can’t remove it fast enough, even to the point of releasing our shoe to get unstuck. Why is it so hard to release our old life, if it isn’t serving us? Think about how much happier we could be, or about how much more prosperous we could be by finding new things that would serve us better. We say it’s fear of the unknown, but when the known isn’t working, why not embrace a change?

I recently picked up a couple of hitchhikers and in our conversation they shared they had been living in the woods for six years and had finally scored a camper to live in, but had no place to set it up to live in, so they continued to live in the woods, pick up odd jobs, when available, and move forward optimistically with their lives. They haven’t given up even though their location would seem to make advancing difficult. The word failure wasn’t in their vocabulary. There was no judgment in their voices, nothing holding them back, but there they are embracing the possibility that life will offer them something more than they have right now.

So, what are we afraid of? Reach out for what you want. If it’s not right for you, you can always change!

from Love, in Peace,

~revjim

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Prison or Paradise?

q-markMy question today is, “do you believe that you create your life by the thoughts you have? Can you, knowing that there is strife in the world, that there is killing in the world, really believe that you exist in a world of your own creation?

Thinking about that for a moment, are you responsible for that killing or that strife? Heady thoughts, aren’t they? Chances are each of us may be to some degree by our thinking the general lower thoughts of humanity that says, “they deserved that” or “they are bad people not good like me” and other things of the same ilk.

Does that make us bad people? No, not really, it just means we’re human beings with human frailties and judgments. We have thoughts that are historically human thoughts based on our geography, ethnicity, spiritual or religious upbringing, and many other factors that cause us “unknowingly to act the way we do. It can be difficult to know that we are being unjustified in our thoughts and actions sometimes as we float through life, because we do “feel” fully justified in our actions.

Sometimes we get involved in situations that we don’t even realize may be callous or hurtful to a group or section of the population that has, in truth, done nothing to deserve it. One example of this is or was military veterans returning from the war in Vietnam. During this time of political upheaval in our country our boys were returning from the war ill prepared for the horrendous greetings they had to endure at the hands of the young idealistic protestors of that unwanted conflict.

They, in essence, were treated as the enemy, when, in fact, most were conscripts of a war that nobody wanted outside of the government and corporations. Sadly, they were the easiest and most visible group for protestors to attack and get press. So, these men who spent most of their time just trying to survive in an untenable situation were smeared by the protestors and became a focus of the press, while the “directors and suppliers” of the war continued in business as usual.

So, did we contribute to that? Many of us did. I was guilty of it by protesting the war on campus in college, and even though I never called anyone a baby killer or threw red paint at anyone, I was still responsible for that general condition. And it wasn’t until I was drafted in my senior year of college that got to know the people who were the cannon fodder of the war, and realize that damage that we did to another human being in our idealistic unknowing.

And, this is not an isolated incident. It has been going on since the beginning of time. Imagine if didn’t consider our way of doing things better than anyone else’s way. Imagine what the world might be like if there was universal respect for everybody as individuals without regard for religious beliefs, ethnic heritage, sexual proclivity, or geography. Imagine if we wanted the highest and the best for each and everyone. Imagine the world without labels, without judgment.

If we as individuals can begin to see the good in each other and let this good by our guiding theme in our life, we can indeed begin to see the world as a safe place, as a place where our children are safe, where we are safe. This is how we can begin to live stress free in this world of our own creation. We don’t have to change the entire world ourselves. We need only change the way we see the world and the way we see ourselves within this world. The future is as bright or and dim as our thoughts. It is heaven or hell right now. We sentence ourselves to prison or paradise.

Where do you choose to reside? How do you choose to see your life?

~revjim

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We’re having a Zoominar September 28th
1st Century Mystics  October 4th
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Hope as a Possibility

hopeOften, people say don’t accept hope as a possibility, because it is also trusting in the alternate, the possibility that what we are hoping for won’t happen. I don’t put a lot of faith in this idea.

I believe that beyond all doubt, Hope “of achieving something” is moving in the right direction. To have hope IS a positive movement in consciousness. It is a starting point. While it may be difficult to “Know” you are the manifestor of your good, because you are an individualization of the Divine and your thoughts create your reality, it is possible to hope that your desire can come forth, because you believe it might. It’s a starting place, and once you have one realization, it becomes easier to believe it can happen again. When it does, it can then happen again. At this point, it becomes less about hope and more about “Knowing the truth of yourself as a participant in your future.” It is less about being at the affect of the world and more about co-creating your world. What do you hope for?

~rev jim

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