Welcome to the Lake Tahoe Spiritual Living Center!

It’s time to say goodbye to 2010 and ring in 2011.

Are you ready?  Are you ready to welcome a fantastic new year?  And are you ready to say goodbye to an old one, without regrets, shame, or anything else negative?  Even if it was a tough year for you, thank it for giving you new opportunities to learn.  Find the good, no matter what.

I’ve seen a lot of cool quotes in the last couple of days, so I’m going to pass them along to you to help you ring in the New Year.

“All of life is beautiful and it starts with me.”  Karen Linsley, RScP   (this came out of my meditation yesterday)

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.”

–  Edith Lovejoy Pierce

“We have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour. Now you must go back and tell the people that this is THE Hour. And there are things to be considered.

Where are you living? What are you doing? What are your relationships? Are you in the right relation? Where is your water? Know your garden.

It is time to speak your truth. Create your community. Be good to each other.

And do not look outside yourself for the leader. This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold onto the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and they will suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination.

The elders say we must let go of the shore, and push off and into the river, keep our eyes open, and our head above the water. See who is in there with you and Celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally. Least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.

All that you do now must be done in a sacred manner, and in celebration.

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for…”

The Elders, Hopi Nation, Oraibi, Arizona

“…let the dust & grit of this past year be the manure for the blossoming of your authentic nature. Let go of all doubt that the AllGood is seeking to express through you.”  Michael Bernard Beckwith

Happy New Year everyone!  And don’t forget, if you are looking for a nice way to transition from the old year to the new, come join us tonight at the Lake Tahoe Spiritual Living Center from 7 to 9 pm!  For more information, call me at 530-906-9336.

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!

Yesterday I wrote about a non religious interpretation of what Good Friday could mean for you in your life.  Seeing all that happens in our lives as good is a way to get into freedom, empowerment, the solution.  But sometimes it takes a bit of time to get to that place.  We need some time of contemplation and inner  searching.  We might need some time to grieve, we might need some time to heal before we can rise again, to a new beginning.

If you acknowledged yesterday that there were some things in  your life that you could perhaps view in a different way, to give  you freedom and allow you to get to a place of peace, then today would be the day to rest and do the necessary processes to get to peace about the situation.  Think about it:   if you were to forgive, it would make you feel better about  things. 

We all have roads to travel.  And we travel those roads to get to where we are today.  So many times I hear people declare:  “I’m not traveling down THAT road again!  It didn’t work!”  But if  you hadn’t traveled down that road, you wouldn’t be where you are today.  Are you grateful for where you are today?  Are you limiting yourself by buying into a story that happened previously?  These are the kinds of questions you can contemplate during  your time of rest.  Then you can decide how to proceed in a way that best serves you.

Take your time of rest and heal, for tomorrow will be a new beginning with new possibilities!

A fantastic storm came through town yesterday, it snowed all day long.  Today I awoke to several feet of new snow, freshly flocked trees and a winter wonderland.  As I gazed through my window it occurred to me that storms are quite necessary in the over all scheme of things.  They bring the moisture that is necesssary for our region to survive, and they bring snow, which in this area during the winter, is very necessary economically.  We all benefit from the storms that come our way.

Just as our  region benefits from the storms that pass through, so can our lives.  We all have storms in our lives and we can benefit from them.  Or not.  It’s up to us.  I think the temptation is to sometimes use the storms as reasons to limit ourselves.  We take those storms, make them the stories of our lives, and declare that we are never going to do that again.  The only problem with that is that we limit ourselves when we do.

Wouldn’t it be better to examine the possible benefits of the storm and use that to enrich our lives?

Take a look at where you might be today if you hadn’t weathered any given storm in your life.  What lesson would you have missed?  What aspect of the wonder that is you would be missing today if you hadn’t done all you’ve done, and gone through all you’ve gone through?

Examine your storms today,  and see if you can’t extract the lessons from them, release the negative feelings that may be surrounding them, and use those storms to enrich your life.

Sometimes life can be like a deconstruction zone.  I say DEconstruction, as opposed to construction, because before you can construct, or build something new, you must first deconstruct what exists, in order to make room for the new.

Deconstruction is not fun.

Sometimes it’s forced upon us.  It might look like a partner wanting a divorce, a sudden dismissal from a job, or an accident.

Sometimes we see it coming, and take steps to avoid it, go around it, prevent it from happening, until we realize that really isn’t working so well.

But the bottom line is, if the Great Reality Deep Within is calling for something new in your life, that something new is likely to be preceded by a period of deconstruction.  Your soul knows what is best and it is your Soul that is One with the One, one with Spirit, and Spirit, like our Souls, will not be denied.

Sometimes deconstruction can manifest the most trying of symptoms:  you may feel anxious, to the point of anxiety attack.  You may not be able to sleep, or be sleeping too much.  You might be having some muscle twinges or odd aches and pains.  You might feel as if you are on the verge of insanity, with wide mood swings, going from tears to hysterical laughter to ”normalcy” in the space of an hour.  And you might be crying at all hours of the day, at the most unexpected things and the most inconvenient times.  You are likely to experience fear, depression, sadness, despair, frustration, anger and self pity. 

Really, the deconstruction period  is not very pleasant at all.

However! 

There are some tools you can use to walk through the deconstruction period with dignity and grace.

1.  Get support.  Professional help can be invaluable during the deconstruction period.   Although I might be a bit prejudiced, I happen to believe that Practitioners are great for times like this.  I’ve used my Practitioner during deconstruction periods and I can tell you that it’s been invaluable.  Other professionals like therapists, life coaches and counselors can also be helpful.  Mentors can usually provide a unique form of support that you can find no where else.  And of course, family and friends are a great resource.  In addition, you  might want to think about cluing them in on why you are behaving so oddly.

2.  Spend more time with daily spiritual practices.  If you don’t currently do them, start now.  If you do do them, add more.  If you journal and read spiritual literature, add meditation and visioning. 

3.  Make sure you take care of  your physical self:  eat right and get plenty of exercise.

4.  Don’t make any rash decisions.  Acting on negative feelings will usually just lead us deeper into the problem, instead of into the solution.

5.  Set your intention.  You are in the perfect place during the deconstruction period to set an intention for what you want your future to be. 

6.  Have faith.  If you can’t have it for yourself, have a Practitioner carry that faith for you until you can get there and pick it up.

I can promise you this:  good things are in store for you. Walk through this period with dignity and grace and you will come out of this period  with a sense of peace and joy and things happening in your life that you never knew possible.  Know.   Be Still and Know. 

The Universe is conspiring for your good, even if it doesn’t feel that way right now.  Hang in there, this too will pass into the Sunlight of the Spirit.

I think there are times in our lives when we are in the hallway.  One door has closed, and we are waiting for the other one to open up.  Doors closing can look like careers changing, moves in the  works, relationships ending, lost jobs.  The hallway is a sort of a waiting period, during which we grieve, heal, and and prepare ourselves for that next door to open.  Because the new doors open up, always.   And when they open, they show us miraculous things and offer us great opportunities.

If you are in the hallway right now, be gentle with yourself.  Take care of yourself, don’t judge or shame or blame yourself or anyone else, just heal, grieve if you need to, and prepare for  the coming miracles.

What’s the first thing  you think about when you wake up in the morning?

Is it positive or negative?

If you thoughts are not to your liking, you can change them.

It’s easy to change your thoughts, what is sometimes a bit more difficult is to keep them changed.  But you will want to make the effort if the pattern of your thoughts tends to be negative or pessimistic.

Why?  Because you will manifest according to the pattern of your thoughts.

You can change your thinking by replacing a negative thought with a positive one, or an affirmation.  You can also change your thinking by turning towards a positive activity.  For example, if you are worried about a situation in your life and have done everything you can possibly do to improve it, then move on and do something different.  Take your mind with you and engage in an activity that is productive, even if it’s a walk in the woods.  That will be more productive than worrying!

Try it today:  anytime you have a negative thought, turn it to a positive one and notice how you feel when you do that.  I’d love to hear your stories about how you changed your thinking!

If you can dream it, you can do it.

Do you truly believe that? 

Let’s look at it from a logistical point of view:  The planet we live on is a glorious physical space, but it was created with a dream.  It was created with a dream of a Spirit of the Universe, wanting to experience the physical.  Whether you believe the Genesis story, or whether you believe the Big Bang theory, or whether you believe in evolution or some combination of those, my point is this:  Somehow this world,  humans, mammals, birds, fish and other assorted critters, waterfalls, forests, deserts, mountains and valleys….all came into existence.

You came into existence too, and whether you believe this or not, know that I believe this for you:  you were made in the image and likeness of a powerful Spirit, and anything it has done, so can you.  If you can dream it, you can do it.

Don’t believe it yet?

Why don’t you try acting as if?  Why don’t you consider the possibility that you don’t need to go along with the race consciousness?  (Race consciousness is a term created by Ernest Holmes.  It refers to the general mindset of the general public)  It’s not flu season, you aren’t going to get a cold just because the rest of the world has it, you can buy into the recession if you want but it isn’t necessary,  just because you get old doesn’t mean you get limited and sick.  Dare to get quiet with yourself, know your own truth, and go for the gusto of life!

Who says you can’t start a new sport or change careers because you are in your 50s? If you want to do something new than do it!

Is something calling to you?  Remember the baseball movie called Field of Dreams?  The main character kept hearing:  “if you build it, they will come.”  It made no sense on paper to build a baseball field.  He was ostracized and ridiculed by folks who could not or would not see the possibilities in life.  He heard his truth, and followed it.  That motto, “if you build it, they will come,” is one of my mottos.  Perhaps you might like to make it one of yours.

Know that you are a powerful being, made more of Spirit than you might be aware of.  Connect with that Spirit and KNOW.  And go for it!

At this time of  year, many of us have decided to do it differently.  It doesn’t really matter what “it” is, for the purposes of our discussion here today “it” could be anything.

But how many times have you decided this?  How many times has the New Year come along and you’ve made a decision to do it differently, and even acted on that decision for a month or two, then fallen back into old ways of doing things?

Let’s make this year different. Let’s make this year the year that you implement the change you wish to see in your life, then you become that change.

In order to make a change in your life, I believe it is necessary to examine yourself.  I believe it is necessary to know what makes you tick.  What’s your story?  What’s your history?  What are your beliefs and the pattern of your  thoughts?  It is your beliefs and your thoughts that create your outer reality, and if  you want to change your outer reality, you must first change your beliefs and the pattern of your thoughts.

There is one other piece of the puzzle:  it is easier to change beliefs and thoughts if you know that you are safe and well cared for.  You may think that this comes from a relationship.  You may think that a feeling of safety and being cared for should come from a partner, lover, spouse or parent.  Nothing could be further from the truth. Expecting our love ones to make us feel safe or happy or anthing else places an unfair burden on them, and turns us into victims.  Instead, try placing the responsibility on feeling safe and well cared for in the loving arms of the one power that is capable of handling it:  The One.  Whatever you want to call it:  Spirit, The Universe, The Force, Mother Nature, God.  Wherever that Power lives, connect with it, feel it, know it.  Then you shall know yourself, and then you shall be able to safely and effectively make a change in your life.

So the formula for successful change becomes this:

1.  Examine yourself, particularly your beliefs and fears and how  you react when you are in fear.

2.  Connect with whatever-you-want-to-call-god, or deepen that connection, so that you feel safe.

3.  Change your thoughts, the general pattern of them, and change your beliefs.   Do this through a daily consistent regime of connection with that Power, and a conscious effort of replacing those  thoughts that  don’t serve you with thoughts that do.

4.  Envision how you want the new you to be.  Then affirm that.  Use affirmations, visioning, meditation, whatever works for you.

Soon you will find that you have indeed, become the change you wished to see in yourself.

To help with the process, I have scheduled  a Treasure Mapping Playshop at the end of this month.  Join us on January 30, from 10 am to 4 pm at the Center for Spiritual Living in Carson City.  Cost is $34 if you preregister, $39 if you register at the door.  At this playshop we will go through the process of visioning the change we wish to see in ourselves, and then playfully make treasure maps to guide us through that change.  Contact me for more information and to register.

In the meantime, prepare by examining yourself  and deepening your connection with Power.

I’m thinking that this month is a month of change for many.  First of all, it’s the start of a new year, and a new decade. Secondly, we’ve just come, as a population, out of a year of challenge, and it seems to me that what I’m hearing from folks is that they aren’t going to take it anymore.  I think the consciousness of the populace is going to force a change.

So, do you plan to implement any changes in your life?  Do you plan to use the new year as a perfect opportunity to jump on the  bandwagon of consciousness and do things differently?  If so, how do you plan to do that?

All change starts within.  It is no accident that the slogan of the United Centers for Spiritual Living is “Change your Thinking, Change your Life.”  It is no accident that all the stars, both current and past, preach from their books, CDs, videos and speeches that in order to manifest change on the outside, in the world of the physical, you must first change the insides.  You must first change your thoughts and your beliefs.

So, this year at the Spiritual Living Center in Carson City, we, as a group, are embarking on a journey of daily spiritual practices together.  All of us will be same tools in our daily spiritual practices, a book called Practice the Presence and the daily meditations in the Science of Mind magazine.

Practice the Presence is a daily reader and journal written by Edward Viljoen and Chris Michaels.  I feel a tie to Viljoen, even if I don’t know him personally.  He is minister at the Santa Rosa Center for Spiritual Living, which is also the campus where I am embarking on my Consciousness Studies.  He has also written some other books which I have read and enjoyed and learned from.  I encourage you to pick up a copy of this book and join us in our daily spiritual practice!  If you live in or near Carson City, you can get one from our bookstore, or order it from Amazon.com.  As each of us, in our own homes, read and write in this journal every day, we will be joining in the  One. 

I also encourage you to get a subscription to the Science of Mind magazine and read the dailies there as well.  The author changes with each month and I find those dailies quite valuable.   The rest of the magazine isn’t bad either!

These are outside tools that will encourage you and support you as you journey inward each day, to the place  where true change happens.   And each day, as you read the readings, and contemplate what  they mean to you and how they apply to you in your life, you can change your beliefs and thoughts to effect the change you wish to see in your outside world.

Happy changing!

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Treasure Map Playshop! Saturday, January 30th. Cost is $29 plus $5 materials charge. We will spend the playing, coloring, pasting, talking, laughing and experiencing profound moments! Contact me for more info and to register.