I don’t know about you, but this holiday season has felt like a rollercoaster of emotions. Lofty highs and rock-bottom lows and depleting energy in-between. I found myself feeling blue for no real reason or feeling lonely with plenty of people around. I feel like I have a label on my forehead that reads — Fragile: Handle with Care.
We are all a bit fragile during the holidays. There are expectations, demands, promises, hopes, fears, worries, and grief all swirling together. We have our own personal challenges to deal with as well as feeling the pain of humanity’s injustices.
Here is my simple practice to bring me back to balance.
• Breathe and remember the gift of life.
• Be mindful and acknowledge how I am feeling.
• Be grateful for all the blessings in my life.
• Love myself first and extend that love to others.
• Speak with loving kindness.
Here is a prayer that brings me back to Love:
I am grateful for this new day. I embrace this day knowing God is revealed as the radiant, energizing, joy-filled presence of Love. I know Love moves into the very cells of my being bringing light, harmony, and peace. I accept guidance to willingly let go of any resentment, hurt or disappointment. I invite the healing presence of Love to wash away any pain or darkness. I enter this day with a grateful heart and receive all the blessings Love has in store for me. And so it is. Amen.
Regardless of emotions or appearances in your life, please know that you are loved and appreciated.
May the light of the season guide your days with wisdom, fill your heart with joy and surround you with the presence of love.
“Life is simple. Everything happens for you, not to you. Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late. You don’t have to like it…It is just easier if you do.“ Byron Katie
I was hiking with a friend in the Mt Hood National Forest when she suddenly tripped, lost her balance and bumped into me full force. Fortunately, I was grounded and didn’t lose my balance. I picked up her hiking pole and we hiked on and enjoyed the beautiful day.
I reflected on this event later and realized its powerful metaphor for life. When I am grounded in faith, secure in my spiritual practice, steadfast in knowing truth, all sorts of obstacles can bump into me and I will not budge. Breaking news, upset co-workers or my own random thoughts and fears cannot sway me off my path. I feel stable, centered and can stand in the midst of whatever challenge is happening.
We are bombarded with overwhelming changes to our lives every day that can take an emotional toll on us. When our emotions are worn down and we feel distressed, we can be easily influenced and may make decisions that are not in our best interest.
Spiritual practice is more important than ever before— the need for us to stay grounded in principle and faith so we won’t falter and fall but will stand steadfast. Ernest Holmes reminds us, “Realizing that all action starts in and is a result of consciousness, prepare your mind to receive the best that life has to offer.”
When centered in principle we can make conscious decisions —choosing discernment over judgment, caution instead of fear. We can create healthy boundaries instead of borders. Consciousness is the key.
Are you willing to be grounded in peace and not pushed off balance?
Affirmation: I am grounded in my faith. I am fully supported by the Universe.
“We are at the “beyond reason” point of our evolution, meaning that the type and scope of the problems we are now confronting cannot be resolved by a mere gathering of “reasonable” people around a table.” Carolyn Myss
Carolyn Myss goes on to say that we cannot reason with Mother Nature, sanction our way through global warming, or “declare war on the melting ice caps in the Arctic in order to make them cease their melting.” We are at a crossroads in humanity.
Albert Einstein’s statement, “You cannot solve the problem at the level of the problem,” wakes us up to the fact that the challenges of the world are not going to be solved by people sitting around the table debating the best strategy. We are all being called to step up and contribute to the bettering of the world.
It is time to rise up and answer the call for greater healing.
But that doesn’t mean we have to quit our jobs, leave our homes and go in search of answers to world peace and global warming while neglecting our responsibilities. We can awaken to the fact that we each contribute to the change in the world as we deepen in consciousness. Every time we forgive someone, let go of an attachment, remove a mental block, transcend an emotional conflict, we are raising the vibration and contributing to the consciousness of the planet.
We don’t need to know how things will change, we just need to be willing: Be willing to be held accountable for our own healing. Be willing to have the difficult conversations. Be willing to know there is a Power and Presence for Good working in our life and in all humanity.
Be willing to envision a world that works for everyone.
Affirmation: I know that God is my Good and all things are possible in God.
“Use your intellect, imagination and feeling for the purpose of seeing and sensing freedom instead of bondage, joy instead of unhappiness, plenty instead of want, health in place of disease. The very denial of your good keeps that good from you.” —Ernest Holmes
Every year around election time, I pull out Ernest Holmes “Prayer for My Country.” I pass it around to friends and social media and pray it feverishly in hopes that people who think like me will step up and vote so that my candidate will win.
When I read the prayer recently, I realized that what I was doing was based in fear. I slipped back into my childhood ways of beseeching God — please bring me the bike I want for Christmas or please help our team win the football game.
Ernest’s prayer has nothing to do with elections, politics or winning. The prayer is acknowledging a vision of our country where “success, prosperity and happiness are now operating in the affairs of every individual in this country.”
In his recent talk (October 9), Dr. David Alexander stated the importance of embodiment. He said we are missing the point if we are trying to GET something. We already live in a divine flow of life. Ernest Holmes states, “God’s Creative Power of Mind is right here. We have as much of this power to use as we believe in and embody.” It is our work to align, believe and embrace this good.
I realized Ernest’s Prayer for My Country is an opportunity for me to stand in agreement with this vision, to heal my places of unforgiveness, release resentment and fear. My work is to surrender my belief in separation and my belief that my way is the right way. My work is to be of service to my community, take responsibility for my actions and speak with good purpose.
My work is to vote with a loving heart for our country and embody the vision “…this spiritual democracy shall endure, guaranteeing to everyone in this country personal liberty, happiness and self-expression.”
“In fear, we forget who we really are. Forgetting who we are, we forget Who lives within us. And in forgetting Who lives within us, we lose conscious connection to our power.” Marianne Williamson
My neighbor was standing outside as I returned from grocery shopping. She greeted me and said, “I have a question for you. The topic came up in my bible study. Do you think we are in the end of times?”
I felt dismayed she was asking this question on such a tough day. It was a challenging week hearing from friends and loved ones about their pain, loss and grief. The news can be overwhelming with stories of injustice, chaos, and uncertainty in the world. It was easy to fear apocalyptic prophecy in times like this.
I stalled while I took the groceries out of the car. I shook off my doldrums and took a breath. I knew I had to be centered in my response. I affirmed what I know without a doubt—There is a Power and Presence for good in the world. I refuse to dwell on appearances but stand in the true knowing of the Universal Power that is love.
I remembered the quote from Ernest Holmes…”In order to have faith, we must have a conviction that all is well. In order to keep faith, we must allow nothing to enter our thought which will weaken this conviction.”
Now I was ready to respond. “What I believe is happening—” She interrupted me mid sentence “There’s my ride, I have to go. Have a nice day.”
I watched as she got in the car and drove away. I laughed out loud. The universe has such a sense of humor. She uses every opportunity to bring me back to love.
