Welcome to the Lake Tahoe Spiritual Living Center!

The first step in achieving a goal successfully is knowing who you are.

And who you are is a Being of Light.  You are a part of Spirit.  You are Essence.  You are Life Itself.

You are all those Attributes of Spirit that we strive for in Treatment:  joy, abundance, happiness, peace, well being.

All you need to do to reach your goals is embody who and what you are.

As you go through your day, ask yourself if the way you are behaving embodies your Truth.  Did the way you just treated that person allow your Essence to shine through?  Does the way you treat yourself allow you to know who and what you are?

Embody your Truth, and you will reach your goals.

Who did you come here to be?  Why are you here?  Are you embodying the qualities that you wish to embody?

Here’s an exercise to help you discern who you are:

Think of a person you admire.  If you wish, think of more than one person.  Why do you admire them?   What are the qualities you see in them that makes you admire them?  Write down those qualities.

Now, consider that you would not have been able to see those qualities in anyone else unless you also  had them yourself.

And those qualities are you, they are what you came here to be.  Carry those written qualities around with you, and embody them in your life.  Every chance you get, especially in challenging circumstances, embody those qualities.  You honor your soul’s calling when you do, and become the person you came here to be.

Did you know that the Presence is with you, 24/7?  It’s not just something you think about when you are at your place of worship, or even something you think about when you do  your daily spiritual practices.  It’s something that is with you constantly, and if you increase your awareness of it you will feel happier and more at peace.  You can do this by seeing Spirit in everything you do, everything you see, everyone you encounter.  Just acknowledge the presence of the Presence as much as you can during your day:  while waiting at the stoplight, while on hold on the phone, while waiting for a web page to load on the computer.  Notice the Presence in the sky, the clouds, the breeze on your face.  Feel the Presence in your breath.  It’s all God.

In order to feel peaceful and happy in life, we must have a connection with that something that most people call God.  It doesn’t reallly matter what you call it, what matters is that you connect with it.  Make it a part of you, and you a part of it.  One of the ways you can do this is to remember some attributes of Spirit, and then BE those attributes.

One attribute of Spirit is joy.  How could you embody joy in your life?  Another attribute is peace. How could you express peace in your life, even if you aren’t feeling very peaceful?  Love could be called THE attribute of Spirit, the big whammy of them all.  How could you show love, be  love, express love, feel love?  In all of your affairs?

Do that, and you will know and be a part of God.

I was trolling on Facebook this morning for ideas and came across a book review for a book called Ten Laws of Enduring Success by Maria Bartiromo.  She is apparently an anchor for CNBC.  I do not watch television news so I had never heard of her before.  She has some good points, and admittedly I am going from a review, I have not read the book.  So I may be wrong when I say that this is all very good stuff, but it’s missing a key ingredient.  Here are her ten laws: 

Self-knowledge, vision, initiative, courage, integrity, adaptibility, humility,endurance, purpose and resiliance.

Like I said, all good stuff.  But where does this stuff come from?  You can’t just pull it out of thin air.  It comes from a place within  yourself.  The review does mention that, but even knowing that this stuff comes from within you doesn’t really help you know how to get it. 

You get stuff like this by consistently spending a period of time, every day, in communion with that sacred piece of yourself  that some people like to call God.  Yep, it’s in the meditation and other daily spiritual practices, where you connect with Spirit, that allows you to develop things like vision and courage.   And self knowledge is very valuable, but when faced with some real life choices in some situations, self knowledge will avail you nothing unless you also have a sense of a Sunlight of the Spirit to partner with.

Again, I could be totally off base here and she might talk about a spiritual connection in her book.  And again, her ten laws are indeed very valuable.  I just wanted to point out that to get to a place where you have those ten things in your life, you must first go to a place of Spirit, consistently, and connect with that, then those ten things will indeed come to  you.

So I went to see Michael Beckwith last night.  I considered it important enough to cancel the book study group for the evening, as did everyone who attends.  The Pioneer Center in Reno was jam packed with like minded folks, New Thoughters  from Centers for Spiritual Living and Unity churches from all over the place.  The energy, as is usually the case with an event like this, was incredible.  During the event I experienced laughter, tears and profound moments of knowing.   I’m so glad I went!

I wanted to pass along to you some of the things I heard Beckwith say.  He didn’t really say anything new (although he did present a new way to handle fear that I thought was interesting), at least not for me, but it is always good to hear spiritual truths again and again.  These principles are as old as time itself, and Beckwith has capitlized on a dynamic personality and way of speaking to carry the message.  It was enjoyable to hear him speak interspersed with songs from his wife, Rickie Byers Beckwith.  Add music to a powerful  message and you get an emotional evening, at  least for me.

I’ve always had this to say about fear:  that  there are only two states of being, fear and love, and that you are either in fear or in love.  And the way to love and out of fear is a connection with Spirit.  I was talking about this with my car mates on the drive home and they said that, should they come to me for help with fear, they would want me to tell them this.  But Beckwith presented an interesting take on it, and now that I think about it, I have done this myself, many times.  He said to take fear with you.  He said to do whatever it is you have set out to do, and just take the fear with you.  Don’t allow it to stop you from doing what you have set your mind to do, just do it and take the fear with you.

I haven’t thought about this for over 20 years, but I remember a time in my life when I was petrified.  I had experienced a major life change and was putting things back together, and was almost motionless with fear.   I found it impossible to drive in the snow, so I walked.  I went where I intended to go, took the fear with me, and walked.  I was afraid to go to the grocery store, but I did it anyway.  I took my fear with me in everything I did, because I knew that there were things that needed to be done if I wished to progress in my life, and so I acknowledged the fear, and did what I set out to do.  There can be value in doing it this way:  if you are in a place where you don’t have a connection with Spirit, and the fear won’t go away, then take it with you!

But for me the most profound thing Beckwith had to say was his message that we each bring a gift to the world.  Although I have heard and read this message before, it never quite sunk in the way it did last night.  I know that we were made so that Spirit could experience the physical.  But to take it a step further, and know that I was made to bring specific gifts to the world, to really feel that, and to  be able to honor that, well, that’s been a bit of a journey, but I believe that I am now closer to that particular demonstration than I was before last night.

We all have gifts to bring to the world, and when we stifle them with shame, fear, guilt, low self esteem or any of that other negative hogwash, we are stifling our purpose in life.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to hide my gifts anymore.  I don’t know anyone else like me!  I don’t know anyone else with my unique blend of talent, skill, training and “isness.”  And neither do you:  you do not know anyone else like yourself.  You are a unique blend of things that, combined, bring unique gifts to the world.  You have things to offer us that no one else can.  Do not any longer allow anything negative to stand in the way of bringing your gifts to the world!  Set your intention and go for it!  Take fear with you if you must, but do not balk or hestitate any longer!

What are  your gifts?  You know what they are.  Write them down on paper, then share them here, in a comment.  Bring them out into the open so everyone can see them, and honor them. 

I have so many gifts to bring the world, I don’t quite know where to start!  I bring possibility to the world.  I can show that it is possible to experience a rewarding life beyond your wildest dreams, no matter how low  the deepest point  in your life has been.  I bring fun to the world, a sense of play in everything I do.  I bring oodles of training, lots of skill and a boatload of talent in two distinct crafts:  photography and helping others.  Not to mention experience!  I bring a sense of peace to the world.  I show people that it is possible to experience peace, no matter what.

So tell me, what do you bring to the world.  What gifts are you going to put on the table, to share with all of us?  How are you going to share those gifts?  How are you going to honor them?  I want to hear all about it!  Go ahead, begin the process by posting a comment.  Expose those gifts to the light of day, so that you can start to share them on an even deeper level.  I can’t wait to hear all about them!

“There is no great and no small, to the Soul that maketh all; and whence It cometh all thingds are, and It cometh everywhere.”  Emerson

This quote is awesome.  I like it because it calls that Great Oneness an “It” and because it also calls It Soul.  There are lots of names for what most people call God, and all of them are appropriate.  My favorite right now is probably The Force.

I quite frequently will suggest to my clients that they come up with their own definition of Spirit.  Even though, by Its very Nature, It is undefinable and we place our own human limitations on something that is Infinite, it helps to have a concept of It that is uniquely our own, the we can identify with.

But I’m getting off track  here! The point of today’s blog is that there is no big and no small to the Universe.  There is no request to great that Spirit cannot handle.  The Law sees 17 million dollars the same way it sees 17 dollars, there is no difference.  The limitations come from ourselves.

So when sitting down to affirm the good in  your life, be sure not to limit yourself.  Think outside the little box that we seem to place ourselves in.  Go big, aim high, set your intentions for the  grandest thing you can think of, and know that the Universe is conspiring for your good!

This morning I was perusing Facebook for ideas to write about and came across a video of Nick Vujicic.  I’ve seen this particular video before.  Nick is a guy with  no arms and no legs, he was born that way.  Yet he has found a way to be positive and happy, and to live his life’s purpose, which is to carry a message of being better instead of bitter.

We all have things that we could use as an excuse to be bitter about.  We could use those things to experience limitation in our lives.  We could keep the stories we wrote earlier, as children or perhaps a little later in life, and fulfill those particular prophecies.  You ever heard the phrase “self fulfilling prophecy?”  That’s when we have our stories, and we are sticking to them, no matter what.

Maybe it’s time to change the story.  Maybe it’s time to be grateful instead of into self pity.  Maybe it’s time to be better instead of bitter.  Maybe it’s time to live life with all the gusto and largeness and enthusiasm that each of us has inside of us!  On the edge!  FULL TILT BOOGEY!

Ok, I feel better now…how about you? 

You CAN change your story.  You CAN live a life of of action, instead of reaction.  You CAN live a life of limitless abundance and joy and laughter and good times.  That’s what we are here for you know.  We were created so that Spirit could experience the physical, and The Universe wants what we want.  So be very clear that it is joy that you want in your life, be very clear that it is abundance you want in your life, be very clear that it is all good that you want in your life, and So It Is.

It’s Monday, and the first  day of a new month!  Let’s play a game, starting today.  Pick one attribute of Spirit and see if you can embody it, every day, one day at a time, just for  this month.  Attributes of Spirit are those  godlike qualities that we all have.  Things like love, clarity, abundance, good health.  Just how godlike can you become? 

You already are, you know, but we have a tendency to forget it.  So pick an attribute, and bring that with you whereever you go  today.  Then do it again tomorrow.  And the next day.

I’d love to hear about it.  What is your attribute?  Why did you pick that one? 

It is important to remember not to use this exercise to beat yourself up.  I know we all  have a tendency to do that!  Just embody the good, that’s all.

I woke up this morning with a thought that we are all one with the One, all the time, but that sometimes our humanness gets in the way.  My next thought was that my wish for you today is that you feel your oneness with the One; that you do not feel any separation from whatever-you-want-to-call-God, that you acknowledge your glorious humanness today, but that it is glorious because it is like the One, and merged with the One, not separate.

I believe that is what life is all about:  to feel our connection, our oneness, with Spirit.  I think that is the bottom line reason for doing daily spiritual practices.  Daily spiritual practices allow us and enable us to connect, and it is in that connection that we know peace.  The peace that comes when we know that we are a part of the One, and It is a part of us.

So for today I wish you the peace that comes from unity with Spirit.  I wish for you a glorious meditation time, and a wonderful day!  Because you deserve it!