Rediscovering Spirituality in Religion
March 3, 2010 by admin
Filed under Spirit, • Headline
“I’m spiritual, not religious.” If I had a dollar for every time I heard this, I could personally pay off the Canadian and American national debts and have enough left over for a lifetime supply of Chai Tea Lattes (my insanely expensive Starbucks addiction). Hyperbole aside, the revival of interest in “spirituality” in recent years has been accompanied by distrust for and disinterest in “organized religion,” especially among disenchanted Christians. People have discovered the transformative power of spirituality: the power to realize their highest goals and ideals, the power to overcome negativity, and the power to forgive. But what does it mean to be “spiritual, not religious”?
On the one hand, it reflects indifference and discontent with organized religion. People doubt religion’s ability to provide answers to our questions in today’s world. Also, they see how organized religion has contributed to global conflict and local abuses. On the other hand, it reflects a renewed interest in the ancient wisdom of sages from various religious traditions, re-tooled to suit modern sensibilities. But what would it mean to be “spiritual” without being “religious”? Let’s explore some problems and prospects.
Promisingly, interest in spirituality cultivates inner growth and self-realization, often leading to social and personal betterment. It helps us find “true north” on our ethical compass when we’ve lost our moral bearings. Moreover, it recommends openness to many different religious traditions and promotes tolerance. Problematically, however, it disconnects spirituality from its source, resulting in an arbitrary process of combining aspects of spirituality from different religions (or no religion). When we remove spirituality from its religious context, we lose its source of power. Individualistic spirituality, devoid of community, responsibility, and accountability, comes up empty.
We should embrace spirituality and tap into the renewed interest in spiritual awakening. It will enrich our lives and rejuvenate a world longing for deeper meaning. We should realize, however, that spirituality apart from religion will not yield lasting fruit. Once severed from its fountain source, the wells of wisdom will eventually run dry. Vibrant, lasting, and sustainable spirituality is grounded in a particular religious tradition and community. We rediscover spirituality not by turning away from religion, but turning toward it, probing more deeply for fresh theological resources. Christianity, for instance, has a rich and deep reservoir of approaches to spirituality that remain largely unknown and untapped by the modern skeptic and searcher. We would do well to rediscover these, since spirituality devoid of religion makes for shallow ground to cultivate our souls.
VividLife.me Contributor
Mark Scott Ph.D (Harvard)
Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology
Concordia University
http://theology.concordia.ca/faculty/scott.php
Dude, Where’s My Car
February 18, 2010 by Chris Oldcorn
Filed under Growth, • Feature
“Dude, Where’s My Car” was an Ashton Kutcher movie about two guys who lose their car after a night of hard partying. I know that I am the guy who tells you to go try stuff to make your life better however I am not suggesting you try to emulate this movie. This is not one of those situations but does provide a funny opening. Here are some of the beginning lines from the movie (not Oscar material):
“Dude, where’s my car?”
“I don’t know, dude?”
“Ok, let’s think. It was here.”
“Dude, your right. But, where is it now?”
“I don’t know? Dude”
Ok, so I think you get the gist of the movie not exactly Shakespearean dialogue. It would never be an Oscar contender but does provide a good 90 minutes of laughs at two of the dumbest people ever conceived in movie history.
Now, to the point of this column. My school has been under construction with several new buildings that took over two parking lots. The school did not create any new parking spaces elsewhere on campus to make up for the lack of parking. This has created parking chaos. People are actually parking on the grass and getting ticketed by the school for doing so even though there is nowhere to put their cars.
Originally, my attitude was that I would drive around forever looking for a parking spot. My reality was my attitude. I was one of the lucky ones to get parked on the grass and ticketed (I went in to the parking office and got them to rip up the ticket as I have a prepaid parking pass which is supposed to guarantee me a spot). After weeks of complaining and being bitter about parking, it was beginning to make me resent school and anything to do with it due to all of my difficulties with parking. I have to drive to school because I don’t live near a bus route.
I decided to take my own advice. I woke up and said, “Someone is holding my parking spot until I get there.” Sure enough, I went to school and someone backed out of a spot near the door and I pulled right in.
Day One = Success
Since that change in my mindset, I have parked so close everyday that my friends are starting to notice and think I am “lucky.” I don’t think it is “luck” and more of my mindset towards the parking issue. Luck favours the prepared mind. My mind is prepared to be programmed for the life that I want including good parking spots.
Each morning, we get up and have a choice. Do we view the world as ready to help us or hurts us? If we expect it to hurt us, we see every situation as negative. Whether, it is the coffee barista making our latte wrong or being passed over for a promotion at work. If we expect the world to help us, we see the positive in each situation we encounter throughout the day. For example, last week when I arrived at school a guy pointed to where he was parked so I could have his spot. That is a helping world.
So, here is the million dollar question: Do you live in a helping world or a hurting world? The answer to this question affects how your life will proceed from here. The choice is yours.
VividLife.me Contributor
Chris Oldcorn
Inspirational Speaker and Writer
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“Whatever you do, you are creating your own future.”
Run Your Business on Divine Time
Running a business that is successful takes work, patience and timing. So what happens when things don’t go our way? Well I think that we have to look back at the choices we have made and understand that those choices have an effect on what is occurring in our business at that very moment. Patience for something is important but understanding and recognizing it when it comes our way is another. Without patience we tend to worry, or have feelings of being insecure which can lead to bad choices. I have been told that I am very patience, however this was not always the case… so where did the change occur where was the discrepancy? Well some of it was timing of the person in my life and sometimes it can be a reflection on what they see at that moment.
I have come to learn that having patience requires faith and trust. It is the faith that everything will go as planned but that it may not always look how I planned it in the end. It is in the recognizing that it has the flavour of what you asked for that is the beauty of the result. Trusting that it is what you asked for and a knowing that based on what you know, that it is the best possible result for you. There are times when a delay is taken as a rejection of what we are asking for. But if we just have the faith that what we are asking for is around the corner and trust in that fact, that is when having patience brings forth the fruit of that trust.
So how do we take some of this knowledge and apply it to our businesses? Well the biggest challenge in business is waiting… are we making the right choices, doing the right things, having the right results and making a profit all at the same time? How do we know if we are on the right track? Well our results are shown in our profit margins, our employees are happy, and bills are paid, all the evidence is revealed that our efforts are paying off. There are times when we have asked for something however, and we get impatient, loose trust that it will come and what happens is we forget to have faith and patience and at times do not recognize it when it does come because it is in a format that we do not see.
What is missing is that inner peace and knowing. Understanding how to make the right choices at the right time in the right order and trusting your gut. We know that all successful business owners trust their gut, trust the divine, trust in spirit that things in the end will work out. I have learned to trust that every decision I make has a result and that when I ask for something that sometimes, God gives me the answer but in his own way and that it is my job to recognize that and have faith that it is on its way or that the answer is the best possible result.
We will always be tested that is for sure, but we must persevere and stay steadfast in our desired result. The challenge can sometimes be to remember that it is happening on spirits time and not our own…. This is where the patience comes into play! I am still learning to surrender even when doing business that the answer will come and the results I desire are on its way. Believe that as long as you do your best and have good intentions that the result will always be positive and assist you if you have asked for the right reasons. Life tests us at every turn, and the beauty of having true patience is if you are listening and aware when you are given results, that part of the success of life is simply to be aware of that. Remember that your business results will be based on what you do, what and how you ask, your patience level, how much action you take, and if you recognize the answer when it arrives.
VividLife.me Contributor
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? Feel Free. Simply include this blurb with it: Darcelle Runciman is a Mentor, Author, Speaker, and CEO of Strategic Biz Builder. Darcelle coaches entrepreneurs and business owners on understanding their brilliance and how to increase their profits for their companies by taking strategic steps to gain clarity and retain that balance that we all strive for. Darcelle works with groups, through speaking engagements, tele-classes, online products, and Adventure Mentoring Programs. For more information visit www.darcellerunciman.com or www.strategicbizbuilder.com.
The Pinocchio Effect
February 18, 2010 by mary
Filed under Spirit, • Headline
I’ve come to realize that, however well intentioned, for the most part human beings are not particularly honest.
People lie for all kinds of reasons. We might BLUFF to win at cards or tell the infamous FISH TALE. Who could it hurt? Some use WHITE LIES to avoid hurting someone’s feelings. I’m guilty! We could tell an EMERGENCY LIE when the guy next door is in a rage about his wife’s affair. I know I don’t want to get involved! There’s the LIE OF OMMISSION, when we don’t tell the whole truth because some things are better left unsaid or when we’ve been asked to keep a secret. BARE-FACED LIES and LYING THROUGH YOUR TEETH are those lies that are so obvious, you walk away shaking your head. Then there is the damaging CONTEXTUAL LIE, which leaves someone with a false impression because the truth is taken out of context. And FABRICATION; in my opinion the most dangerous to both the teller and the listener because it is an outright statement told as truth when we make assumptions or when we have no valid proof.
We’ve all lied at one time or another and we started young! As children we learned from experience that not telling the truth would avoid punishment, so by the time we reached about four and a half years old we were able to tell a convincing lie. Apparently lying isn’t exclusive to humans either. I remember reading a story about an ape who had been taught American Sign language. He pulled a sink from a wall in an angry rage, and when asked who did it he blamed his pet kitten! So what is the message we are sending to those who learn from our example?
A lie is a low-level energy source floating around out there in the cosmos. When told there can only be two outcomes. It could be uncovered or remain undiscovered. In order to keep the original lie neatly buried, more and more negative energy gets piled onto it. With every new lie told this negative force gains size and momentum and eventually, BOOM! It’s out there for the world to see. Just think of all the mighty politicians who’ve gone to great lengths heaping lie on top of lie to avoid falling from lofty perches, only to have the naked truth revealed in shame.
We are highly critical of those great big lies from public figures, but have we stopped to examine how the lies in our own lives are affecting the energy around us? I’ve recently witnessed a close friend in turmoil over discovering his partner has been a high functioning, undercover alcoholic for most of their thirty years together. This lie has made him question if anything in their relationship has ever really been true. Then there is my business associate who is experiencing financial hardship. She was offered assistance from several people she trusted, only to find out from another source that her integrity is now in question by all of them. Most distraught, she is now questioning all of her relationships, because she no longer knows whom to trust.
As the ultimate believer in the law of attraction ~ not so much in the way the Secret depicts it, but from a Feng Shui perspective in that everything is energy and that we attract situations to us that vibrate at the same high or low rate as we do ~ my first questions are “What secret are you keeping? How honest are you being with yourself and others? What are you doing that attracted this dishonesty to you?” We are all the makers or breakers of our own circumstances so we draw to ourselves every single thing that happens, the good or not so great.
Honesty doesn’t mean telling everyone every thought that runs through our head in a day, however deception of any kind is a different matter. It breaks down confidence and creates distrust. Lies erodes our integrity and our relationships with others. More so, it obscures our relationship to ourselves and our Spirit, as our Divinity is only revealed through love.
So here’s a challenge. Are you up for making a sincere effort to be honest with all your words and actions for one full week? Please let me know how you do!
~ Go with the Flow!
VividLife.me Contributor
An award winning Television Producer/Director/Writer for over 30 years, Mary Giuffre sidestepped mainstream media and created SoulWater EnergyWorks to focus on the greater good. An Emotional Empath, Mary has been a student of metaphysics, energy and spirituality since her early teen years. Studies under a Native American Shaman, Energy Healers and many Spiritual Teachers have enhanced her natural ability to tap into the energetic flow of our inner and outer environments and she has been identified as a Master Energy Mover. Now a Motivational Speaker, Workshop Leader, Certified Practitioner and Mentor practicing and promoting Feng Shui For Your Spirit©, Mary’s finely tuned abilities adjust energetic balance to enhance harmony, prosperity and overall well-being, Creating Flow in Your Life!
Mary Giuffre ~ Specializing in Feng Shui For Your Spirit© Mentoring
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Comfort Zone or Jail?
February 17, 2010 by Janice Chrysler
Filed under Spirit, • Headline
Comfort Zone or Jail?
When we take time to look at life we may be surprised to discover how many “comfort zones” we have created for ourselves. It could be a job we do not like but are afraid to leave in case we fail at a new venture or perhaps there is a relationship that is actually toxic to us but are afraid of what it would be like to start again, be on our own or try and make new friends. A comfort zone is not always a warm and fuzzy place, just one that is familiar. Too often it is more like a jail surrounding us with walls of negativity.
Our Spirit can feel trapped when we remain in these comfort zones instead of following our dharma (purpose). How frustrated and restless we become when we have this inner knowing that we are not fulfilling a dream, a passion or a purpose! Many times we are forced into making a decision about our comfort zone either through a breakup in a relationship, a lay off at our job, financial circumstances or often through physical disease. Worry and fear can manifest in illness, stress and emotional disharmony leaving us feeling low in self-esteem, confidence and filling us with hopelessness. It does not have to remain that way and it can be overcome.
How do you look at life? Are you able to let go of the past and live life in the present? The locked doors and high walls that keep us in this comfort zone are usually our own fears; fear of failure, of being hurt emotionally, others knowing a secret about us, fear of not meeting someone else’s expectations, fear of success, and the list goes on, creating higher and higher walls and limits on ourselves. What if we were to look at any past experiences as life lessons, take a positive strength from them that could help us in moving ahead? What if we take on the attitude that it is better to have attempted to fulfill our dreams than living with the regret of never having tried? Will we be “comfortable” living with all the what ifs, could haves and should haves all our lives or will they manifest in resentment, remorse or grief?
The first step in freeing ourselves of this jail is to get in touch with who we are in this present moment; not where and who we were years ago but how we feel right now. We needn’t be afraid to write down our dreams or imagine what things will be like once we achieve our goals. Actually doing this puts the wheels of change into motion. It is important to remember that our thoughts become our reality. Should we choose to think negatively we will attract this into our lives and thus continue to build the wall higher and higher around us. One positive thought, will become one positive action and the destruction of the wall of negativity will soon begin causing it to crumble and fall bringing with it our freedom from this jail.
Once we realize what we desire and believe that we deserve this in our life then we are well on our way to being open enough to ask the Universe for help. Through meditation we allow ourselves to be more at one with our Higher Self and Spirit. We will recognize the life lessons we have learned and why. As our intuition increases and awareness grows we will see many of our fears dissolving as we begin to trust that all is how it should be and we will be given opportunities along life’s path to help us in fulfilling our dharma.
VividLife.me Contributor
Through Hypnosis, I assist others in bringing a sense of control back into their lives and then they are able to make changes necessary for their personal growth. Past Life Regression has helped many people, including myself, to understand our fears, habits, and life lessons we need to learn. These are things which have brought me to where I am today - practicing Hypnotherapy and Reiki from my Marmora office, providing private and group sessions and workshops along with weekly meditation classes.
Life is a learning field for all of us and we are all on a journey. Through out the trip we cross each other’s path for a reason. I am grateful for all my life’s experiences as I feel it has taught me to become who I am today and I know, the trip is far from over!
Signs from Above
Having grown up in a spiritual household I have always been aware of the presence of signs, however, it was a personal journey to reach the point where I could use them to help guide me. I realized that signs are not given to us by accident, and that every single one has a meaning. Once I realized the power of working with signs, I felt strongly guided to share this information with others.
Our book ‘Signs From Above’ shares real life stories about how people have used signs to receive messages and guidance from not only the Angels around them but also from past loved ones and even pets.
What are signs? Signs are anything, no matter how large or small, that your attention has been directed towards in a seemingly unlikely way. Signs can be an object or a situation that evokes a feeling or thought. Signs always come connected with energy and an association with an event from your life.
Signs serve several purposes; they can signify anything from telling you to make a definitive yes or no decision on a problem, to reminding you that the Angels are with you, to simply confirming to you that you are on the right path.
Signs are the most effective way that heaven and the Angels interact with us on a daily basis. We are given several signs on a consistent daily basis; our only job is to be aware of them. Signs are meant to guide us, comfort us and help us stay on the path of our life purpose.
You might be wondering, “How can I see the signs that the Angels are giving me?”
My answer: Relax and let go. Working with signs is a very passive process; it cannot be forced. Since a sign can literally be anything it is important that you allow your attention to be naturally guided towards them. If you actively search for signs, you might misinterpret the actual message the angels have for you.
Simply ask to be shown a sign that you are on the right path. Do not be afraid to be specific: Ask the Angels to show you a very obvious sign so you will have no doubt when you experience it.
The Angels are very enthusiastic about guiding us to make our day to day lives that much easier and blessed, so do not ever hesitate to allow them to help you in every aspect of your life. You may ask the Angels for signs regarding any decision, problem or question that you have in your life, no matter how big or small the situation. It is not our job to determine the importance of situations we encounter, as we cannot predict what outcomes even our smallest movement or decision will ultimately bring.
Once you see a sign, take a moment to feel the energy of the situation. What immediately comes to your mind? Signs are meant to allow you to take a moment to reflect and feel the energy. You might just use this moment to appreciate and thank the Angels for being there to guide us.
Let us not forget to show them our gratitude, to let them know that we welcome their guidance into our lives. In every situation and every day.
By Charles Virtue
VividLife.me Contributor
Charles Virtue, eldest son of Dr. Doreen Virtue, has combined his natural intuition with the knowledge obtained through a lifelong exposure to the metaphysical world to teach the Angel Certification Program and Mediumship-classes worldwide.
He is the co-author of ‘Signs from Above’-Your Angels Messages about Your Life Purpose, Relationships, Health and More’ (Hay House).
For more information please visit www.charlesvirtue.com.
Balancing Business and Spirit
February 4, 2010 by darcelle
Filed under Business, • Headline
The start of a new year can mean a fresh start and an opportunity to set new goals and priorities. So how can we prioritize and be productive at the same time? By spending time on what matters to you the most and recognizing that it is ok to have some downtime in your life.
One of the most common time wasters is procrastination. We are all guilty of doing it and what it creates is negative vibration which surrounds us until we complete the task. We postpone work, leave the call for another day, or reschedule appointments. What is it we are afraid of? Perhaps work, success, failure or all of the above?
Well the largest time waster can be from lack of focus. I have to say my partner is exceptional with his ability to focus, which is what I value and love about him. So how about the rest of us? Once we have structured our goals for the year, what will keep us on track to keeping those commitments we have made to ourselves. The most successful people keep their focus on their passion and what they want to achieve and do not sway from that. They do what it takes to commit and have created a plan for their day.
Planning is vital in eliminating time-wasting and procrastination. It helps you to accomplish what you set out to do and gives you guidance along the way. So create a plan and then apply action steps towards its achievement. It does not have to happen overnight however if you have a laid out guidance system for what it is you want to achieve in your work day you are more likely to be able to accomplish more than you would have if you did not write it down, or decided it was ok to leave it in your head. Writing it on paper the night before or first thing in the morning leaves your mind clear and gives you the energy and direction you need when you begin your task.
Making sure you understand what your own sabotaging behaviours are will also help you to keep focused and on track. The following list is things you can do to ensure you are taking positive action towards achieving your desired results.
- Focus on your priorities before you start your day.
- Tackle the hardest things first.
- Not answering the phone in the morning or letting people into your office until your difficult tasks are complete.
- Have clear objectives to what you want to achieve.
- Start early in the day.
- Focus on the most productive tasks.
- Make phone calls short and sweet.
- Clearly define your desired results.
- Accept personal responsibility in your life.
- Love yourself and don’t take life so seriously.
- Love life and have confidence.
- Keep on track to what it is you want.
- Don’t give up. Never. If it is your passion. Never give up.
- Keep distractions in check.
- Stay motivated by taking time for balance.
Honoring your spirit and taking time for yourself are true keys to more focused business and life. It is ok to ask for help in trying to achieve your goals. Have a mentor or a focus buddy that will assist in keeping you accountable and on track. Create more balance by nurturing your spirit and taking the downtime necessary for each day.
By spending time each evening to review your day and staying accountable to your results, enables you to see the wonderful accomplishments that have been made for that day. In the end, when you celebrate each tiny step forward toward your goal, you celebrate yourself.
VividLife.me Contributor
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? Feel Free. Simply include this blurb with it: Darcelle Runciman is a Mentor, Author, Speaker, and CEO of Strategic Biz Builder. Darcelle coaches entrepreneurs and business owners on understanding their brilliance and how to increase their profits for their companies by taking strategic steps to gain clarity and retain that balance that we all strive for. Darcelle works with groups, through speaking engagements, tele-classes, online products, and Adventure Mentoring Programs. For more information visit www.darcellerunciman.com or www.strategicbizbuilder.com.
Peace is Within
Nothing on the outside can affect your peace. This is a statement that had a profound affect on my life and it could have that same affect with you. It is something that you need to experience for yourself though. I know that I did.
Personally, I read a very simple book that shared this sentiment with me. It stated that no matter what someone said to me, no matter what someone did, no matter what happened on the outside – it did not have to affect my peace. This was a big statement for me to hear since at the time I was experiencing the opposite. I thought that everything was happening to me. I felt that I had no control over my own experience. And worst of all, I had lost the hope that there was more in life.
I read the entire book in one night. As I read this book, something clicked in me. Some major perspective shifted and for the next two months I experienced this principle fully. All of the situations at work that used to stress me out disappeared. In each moment I was simply aware that they could not affect my peace. I was able to deal with any of the “problems” that occurred by simply doing whatever felt right to do or was necessary at the time. There were meetings that I was a part of in which people were upset and sometimes even yelling. I remember simply observing this behaviour and observing any reaction within myself. Some part of me knew that everything was okay and none of it disturbed my peace. I was blissed out!
This was a beautiful experience that I had, especially since it followed over 10 years of depression. Interestingly enough, this perspective did not last and I lost the experience. I re-read the book over and over but I couldn’t quite experience it again. And that was the beginning of my spiritual journey. At that point, I knew that it was possible to experience eternal peace. If it happened to me, I knew that it was possible for anyone, including you! Reading books never brought me back to this experience although they did help. What most of the spiritual books did teach me is that meditation is a tool to experience peace within.
The beautiful thing with meditation is that it is not about reading about other people’s experiences. It is not about trying to figure something out. It is simply about experiencing life fully right now, experiencing the peace and silence within. All of the peace, joy and happiness that you’ve ever been searching for are already within you. None of it is found on the outside. Meditation can be a simple, effortless way to experience the saying “nothing on the outside can affect my peace.”
Love,
Agni
VividLife.me Contributor
After a profound spiritual experience in 2002, Agni committed his life to Enlightenment. During the years that followed, meditation became the main tool to experience the simplicity and ease of the present moment.
Agni is co-founder of Happy Monks. A company dedicated to helping people experience their full potential and enjoy a life of Peace, Joy and Well-Being. Agni teaches a simple, effortless and powerful meditation practice called Ascension that includes a series of techniques that can be used with the eyes closed (to clear the nervous system of stress and relax the body/mind) and with the eyes open (to be fully present and live life fully).
To receive a free report titled “The Keys to Living Your Life Fully” (which includes a meditation that you can start right away) visit:
Honouring Our Emotions
February 3, 2010 by mary
Filed under Spirit, • Headline
Incredibly generous people surround many of us. We’re so very fortunate to have loving friends and family members, who give of themselves heart and soul, putting their own needs on the back burner to make sure everyone else is satisfied first. I’m truly grateful to have these wonderful givers in my life, but have you noticed that the biggest-hearted people ~ those who give endlessly of their time, the caretakers, the volunteers, the non-stop doers ~ are very often those who wind up seriously ill?
Now, the immediate reaction might be, “Of course they get sick. They never, ever stop!” This is an obvious conclusion, but with no critical intention I would like to offer a different perspective on all this giving and doing. First, I’m not a doctor. I have no health care credentials, but from observation, my understanding of energy from a Feng Shui perspective, and confirmation from several energy healers, I believe in my heart of hearts that illness begins in our energetic body first and eventually manifests in our physical body and that we unconsciously allow it to occur.
Here’s how it happens. The majority of us were programmed from birth to “grin and bare it” regardless of our feelings. As kids our tears, no matter the tragedy behind them, were “jollied” away, or we were bluntly told to “stop crying and buck up”. Our physical size, shape or complexion often met with heartless teasing, our broken hearts with lack of compassion, and the loss of beloved pets or even a parent, were swept conveniently under the rug. As a result we’ve learned to suppress our anguish and without our knowing, this endless stream of neglected emotion continues to create havoc in our physical bodies as long as we remain convinced it’s better to push them down.
Discounted, overlooked, rejected or brushed off emotions are the energies that illness is made of. I know it works this way as I’ve experienced it first hand. I literally dealt with headaches every single day from childhood until ten years ago. When the pain decided my head wasn’t enough territory and eventually travelled indiscriminately around my entire body, I decided enough was enough. By uncovering, acknowledging and releasing those bottled-up emotions I set myself and my Spirit free.
You see emotion is part of our Spiritual selves. It is the energy that gets us from thought to feeling and it flows around and through our bodies. Not many of us can see it, but we can certainly feel it. When we receive good news, joyful energy runs rapidly through us. No stops. No blocks. Just free flowing elation. When we’re in that moment, we feel no aches or pains, just a jubilant high that comes with the energy rush. However when the opposite occurs, sad, upsetting, heavy or depressing energy tugs at our bellies, sticks in our muscles and pounds in our heads like a jackhammer, breaking us down and creating the perfectly weakened environment for disease.
So many of the wonderful givers in our society fall prey to illness and disease, not because they do too much, but because the allow themselves to feel too little. Their endless doing keeps their mind and body engaged with events outside themselves, so they’ve never gotten close enough to their own hearts to acknowledge their emotions. Worse yet, that old programming has them innocently denying their own trauma and downplaying their own pain by saying how much worse someone else has it, because they’ve never learned the value of releasing their emotional baggage.
Please don’t get me wrong. I don’t advocate selfishness. It’s important to share our time and what we have freely with others, however if we’re tired and hungry, we’re certainly not at our best, so how could we possibly give our best to somebody else? The same approach applies to our emotional state.
Taking time to honour our emotional and Spiritual selves by being instead of doing, listening for Divine Wisdom in meditation, rather than doing the all the talking in prayer, frees us from emotional bondage. When we allow ourselves to release past energies that no longer serve us, we ease our physical pain and encourage healing. Freedom from pain and illness, creates space for joyful emotion allowing us to truly connect to our Spiritual Source and our giving becomes an effortless task that no longer drains our physical being. Honouring our Self first allows us to truly honour another and that is the essence of Love.
~ Go with the Flow!
VividLife.me Contributor
An award winning Television Producer/Director/Writer for over 30 years, Mary Giuffre sidestepped mainstream media and created SoulWater EnergyWorks to focus on the greater good. An Emotional Empath, Mary has been a student of metaphysics, energy and spirituality since her early teen years. Studies under a Native American Shaman, Energy Healers and many Spiritual Teachers have enhanced her natural ability to tap into the energetic flow of our inner and outer environments and she has been identified as a Master Energy Mover. Now a Motivational Speaker, Workshop Leader, Certified Practitioner and Mentor practicing and promoting Feng Shui For Your Spirit©, Mary’s finely tuned abilities adjust energetic balance to enhance harmony, prosperity and overall well-being, Creating Flow in Your Life!
Mary Giuffre ~ Specializing in Feng Shui For Your Spirit© Mentoring
Sign up for my SoulWater Wisdom Newsletter at www.SoulWaterEnergyWorks.com & www.ActsOfJoy.com
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Whose Truth?
For a few weeks now, I’ve been engaged in an online conversation about TRUTH with a person I know to be wonderful loving Spirit. A Christian theist who believes mind, body and Soul in following what many believe is the only TRUTH, that of the Bible and I honour his choice.
However, what I know for sure is that facts are merely observations from one point of view. Ask any witness what happened at the scene of an accident and you will get several different interpretations, each completely accurate in the mind of the observer, so I’ve come to see TRUTH as being a very subjective thing. What many refer to as Personal TRUTH.
According to my friend, “TRUTH is absolute. Take for instance a simple truth in mathematics. 2+2=4. That is true for everyone.” He went on to say, “…when Jesus makes the claim that “I am the way and the TRUTH and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”, either this is true or it is not, not both. One must decide whether or not to accept the TRUTH… Are you absolutely certain there is no such thing as absolute TRUTH?!!”
Well, when it comes to knowing the unknowable, yes I am.
I’m thankful that my Catholic roots instilled my belief that there is much more to us than flesh and bone and that we wouldn’t exist without our Spirit, however most of what I was taught just never rang true. I’ve always seen the Bible as a series of stories, which helped us from going too far astray. We were not there to actually hear the spoken words, so how could any one be absolutely certain they are true? Even when I was a church-going Catholic I couldn’t see taking the Bible as “Bible” when there was one text for us and a variety of different versions for the multitude of other Christian faiths! It all comes down to what we believe and belief is subjective. Taking us back to the formulation of Personal TRUTH. So here goes.
My best understanding of the Divine comes through my own heartfelt experience. My God is everybody’s God, completely accessible with all communication lines open 24/7 and no need for a go between. She is a perfect egoless Being requiring no worship. Why would a perfect egoless Being require worship? My God would never turn away His creations based on their Personal TRUTH. I just can’t imagine a line up of beautiful loving Muslim or Jewish Spirits floating around aimlessly in the universe because of their beliefs. I don’t need a doctrine to tell me this is true. It just doesn’t make any sense to my heart. Devote Christians can quote all the Bible verses they’d like. As I don’t put the same faith in those words that they do, they don’t hold the same meaning for me.
I do not accept that we are separate Spirits searching for God outside ourselves. However, I do believe that Jesus was God in the flesh, but I also think we are ALL sparks of the Divine, which in our humanness, with our inflated egos, over rationalizing and excessive thinking, we’ve pushed down the knowing until our Divinity has become unrecognizable to most of us. I believe that Jesus, like the Buddha and others before and after Them were enlightened beings ~ wide-awake, while many of us are still in various stages of fitful sleep. And I believe our current physical form is one of hundreds, perhaps thousands we experience before reaching our own enlightenment.
I experience my God as my Highest Self, my Higher Power, the Best part of me. I’ve stopped searching outside myself and found everything I need inside, as that’s where I feel at peace and where I receive the Best answers. This is not narcissistic, as my Spirituality connects all of us together. This isn’t about thinking I’m God. It’s about knowing we are ALL God, one Spirit with a longing for ALL of us to stop thinking we are separate from God.
I have not come to my beliefs without thorough investigation through mind, heart and Spirit. I’ve formulated them based on endless discussions, like the one with my friend, as well as reading the texts and the interpretations of many Religious and Spiritual sects from Catholic, to Aboriginal and Buddhist, to the teachings of a man whom I believe to be the most recent incarnation of the Christ Spirit ~ Meher Baba, who lived in India and dropped his body in the ‘60’s, to the wisdom of many of the Spiritual teachers of today.
I take great joy in exploring the unlimited realm of possibilities our Divinity holds, however I also believe that even when we transition from this physical state, complete knowing is not possible until we’ve reached our own enlightenment.
So here’s another thing I know for sure. As a Spiritual seeker, my Personal TRUTH is ever evolving.
~ Go with the Flow!
VividLife.me Contributor
An award winning Television Producer/Director/Writer for over 30 years, Mary Giuffre sidestepped mainstream media and created SoulWater EnergyWorks to focus on the
greater good. An Emotional Empath, Mary has been a student of metaphysics, energy and spirituality since her early teen years. Studies under a Native American Shaman, Energy Healers and many Spiritual Teachers have enhanced her natural ability to tap into the energetic flow of our inner and outer environments and she has been identified as a Master Energy Mover. Now a Motivational Speaker, Workshop Leader, Certified Practitioner and Mentor practicing and promoting Feng Shui For Your Spirit©, Mary’s finely tuned abilities adjust energetic balance to enhance harmony, prosperity and overall well-being, Creating Flow in Your Life!
Mary Giuffre ~ Specializing in Feng Shui For Your Spirit© Mentoring
Sign up for my SoulWater Wisdom Newsletter at www.SoulWaterEnergyWorks.com & www.ActsOfJoy.com
Executive TV Producer/Partner ~ inspirtainment inc.
www.inspirtainment.com & www.MaryGiuffre.com
Co-Creator/Partner ~ W.A.V.E. Web & Print Design www.WeAreVirtuallyEverywhere.com
If reposting this article please upload my full bio information as well.
