Table of Contents
Check InAre You Choosing from Love or Fear?Be Still and Know
Time Out Tip
Partner Resources
This & That
About Us
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Choices
If
we could raise one generation with unconditional love, there would be
no Hitlers. We need to teach the next generation of children from Day
One that they are responsible for their lives. Mankind's greatest gift,
also its greatest curse, is that we have free choice. We can make our
choices built from love or from fear.
- Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Check In
Greetings!
One of my favorite posters back in high school said: Sometimes I sits and thinks.... and sometimes I just sits.
Last week, sick with a stomach virus, I was given a chance to "just sits."
This week, given the possibility of an opportunity that would
completely change the direction of my immediate future, I took a
lot of time to "sits and thinks."
All this thinking and sitting led me to re-examine
how I make choices and discern whether I was trying to make this, and other decisions from love or from fear.
I invite you to take time to "sits and thinks" during this Lenten
season. And also to take some time to "just sits." I found that you can
learn a lot about yourself by just sitting and being.
Enjoy
the rest of the issue!
- Becky
Are You Choosing from Love or Fear?
We make
choices every day. We also make choices in each moment of our day. Some of these choices are made
consciously. Many of them are
made unconsciously. Becoming aware that we are
constantly making choices throughout the day is the first step in
discerning whether our choices are coming from a place of love or from
a place of fear.
Once we begin to notice how many opportunities there are to make a
choice, the next step in the discernment process is to listen to our
body and becoming aware of our emotions.
Choosing from a place of fear is often experienced as a reaction to
something - i.e. the "fight or flight" response. These choices are
often made unconsciously. The good news is that as soon as we
catch ourselves in this reaction, we can consciously make another
choice. And as we become more aware of these moments, we can learn to
"catch" ourselves before reacting and decide - consciously - to choose a different response.
Also, choices made from fear really don't feel
very good. There's often a heavy feeling in our stomach or in our
heart, or a tightness in our body. Choices made from love, on the other
hand, have a feeling of lightness or expansiveness, or they may feel
like a warm sensation in our heart.
There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. - Albert Einstein
Our
choices have a lot to do with our attitudes about life. Do we see the
glass half empty or half full? Are we thinking about what we don't have
or what we wish we had, and making the choice from a place of lack? Or
are we coming from a place of gratitude, thinking about how vast and
abundant the universe is, and knowing there is always enough?.
Whether made consciously or unconsciously, the choice is ours. And in each moment of our lives we have the opportunity to make that choice from love or from fear.
Here are some practice tips for learning to make more love-based choices:
- Start noticing how many opportunities you have to make choices throughout your day.
- Stop and ask yourself, "Am I choosing from a place of love or from fear?" - pay attention to how your body feels.
- Appreciate
and acknowledge yourself for the choices you do make from love, and for
the times you catch yourself in old habits and decide to make a new
choice.
Be Still and Know
This passage from Psalm 46:10 is one of my favorites. Be still and know that I am God. Be still.... not easy for a lot of people.
But during this reflective season, I encourage you to give it a try. Take some
time each day to be still - with your body and with your mind. Pray...
meditate... allow yourself to feel what's going on in your body...
become aware of your breathing... how it feels to fill your lungs with
air. Hold that air in for a few counts. Then notice how good it feels
to finally exhale and let it all go.
Meditation is the discipline of learning to quiet the mind chatter.
Learning to focus on the space between the words - the quiet between
the thoughts.
There are many strategies for doing this. One of my favorites is found in Wayne Dyer's book, Getting in the Gap. He uses the traditional Lord's Prayer combined with a manta using the sound of ah, which is the sound of God.
Basically, this is how it goes:
- get comfortable, begin to focus on your breathing, taking deep, slow breaths
- put your attention on the word Our - see it in your mind's eye
- pause
- move your attention to the word Father - again, see it in your mind's eye
- go to the space between the words Our and Father - put your attention there in the gap between the words
- sound the word ah - you can say it as loudly or as softly as you like, and repeat it as many times as you wish
- put your attention back on the word Father - then pause
- move forward to the next word, who - put your attention on this word
- move back and put your attention in the gap between the words Father and who
- sound the word ah again
- go again to the word who and focus your attention on it - pause
- move to the next word - art
The idea is to continue this sequence until you get through all the words of the Lord's Prayer, saying the sound, ah between each of the words. It will take you about 20 minutes, depending on how long you sound the mantra between each word.
It may seem like a lot of mental work at first. But it's a great tool
for quieting the mind chatter - those 60,000 thoughts that run through
our minds constantly. The prayer and the mantra give the chatter mind
something to focus on while creating a stillness within. I find the
whole process very calming and relaxing.
See Time Out Tip and Partner Resources for more meditation ideas.
Time Out Tip
Some
days, it just happens. You're on that down-hill roller-coaster ride and
no matter what you do, you can't shake the negative mood.
When that happens, or when you just need a quick time out to get
yourself back to a more positive place, take a slow deep breath... and
try this Stress Releaser Mood Shifters by Gay Hendricks.
Partner Resources
Meditation and Lenten Reflection Resources
There are thousands of meditation resources online. (One 0.14 second
search tracked down 12,800,000!) Here are some of my favorites, along
with some Lenten reflection resources too. Hope you enjoy them!
Unity OnLine - monthly guided meditations in video, audio and printed formats.
Sacred Space - a daily prayer site produced by the Irish Jesuits. Has weekly Lenten reflections. Here is Week Three.
Off The Beaten Track
- a weblog by Paul Willis filled with thought provoking, informative
posts around the subject of Christianity and spirituality. This link
takes to his collection of Lenten musings and resources.
BeliefNet - an audiovisual meditation using the 23rd Psalm. Has a study guide and links to discussion groups as well.
Information Resources
Got Questions about Meditation? Want to find out more? These resources will give you the "how-to's" about it.
World Community for Christian Meditation
An Introductory Guide to Meditation
Teach Yourself to Meditate
This and That
Have you taken the free Happiness Quiz? Are you ready to change those low-score questions into a "5"? Step up and take responsibility right now. Choosing Happiness - The First Step will help you take charge of your own destiny and begin creating the happy, fulfilling
life you deserve. Call me at 256-348-5236 or send
an email to set up an appointment.
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About Us
Create a Happy 'Tude is published the first week of each month. It's purpose is to inspire and
motivate it's readers to keep a happy, healthy, prosperous attitude by
providing articles, exercises, tips and resources.
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to stretch beyond your current limits and create a more authentic, happier
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Journey to Perfection
is my online journal (weblog) about trying to live a life with
intention, passion and open-hearted awareness. I invite you to visit
and share your own thoughts and comments as together, we continue on
our journey toward wholeness.
For information about our
programs or for more inspirational resources, please visit
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My personal mission
is to tell the truth, to live with integrity, to be my real, authentic
self, and to inspire others to do the same. If I can help bring a smile
to someone's face, offer a different perspective, or inspire just one person
to get a move on, then I will have taken one more step toward fulfilling
my purpose in life.
- Becky Waters,
Life Coach
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