As
we look forward to the new year many of us will be looking to make
changes in our lives. Some of us will be looking to expand on
the good that we are experiencing with the hope of increasing and
sharing the more good that we expect to receive. And for some, this decision for change is
a result of being disappointed if not totally frustrated at the
conditions in which we find ourselves. This may take the form of
a bad relationship or marriage, disappointing career, lack of success,
health issues, money issues or just that blah blah feeling that reeks
of lack of enthusiasm for life. Nothing can be more detrimental
to our mind, body and spirit than a lack of enthusiasm for life.
And many people attempt to resolve this by fighting their way out of
it; mentally and emotionally.
Let's look at these words of wisdom from noted philosopher, William
James: “The
world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system
that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must
be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand
our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds.”
Our wanting to fight
the circumstances or conditions that we find ourselves comes
from a deeper thought
that maybe things will not change and if they do, perhaps they will become
even more difficult to experience. We fear the
repetitive negativity. We may not
acknowledge this and we may have never consciously admitted it to be
true for us, but in order to have an "effect" there must be
a "cause" and if the effect is a negation of our enthusiasm
and hope, then the cause is a belief in something morbid.
Are
we responsible for the circumstances and conditions
we find ourselves in? Absolutely we are. However,
this does not mean that shame, self-blame or self-doubt is desirable
or acceptable. We cannot go back in time to the consciousness
that caused our conditions and circumstances. Nor can we be
responsible for a consciousness that is no longer ours. Our only
responsibility is to begin today to cultivate and develop the
consciousness that empowers us to move forward with confidence knowing
and accepting that the right ideas, the right opportunities, the right
conditions will be revealed to us. William James wrote
that: "Acceptance
of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences
of any misfortune.” And
he also wrote: "We
have to live today by what truth we can get today and be ready
tomorrow to call it a falsehood.”
In truth, our fight is against "effects" as it is
impossible to fight the causes of the yesterdays. Can we even
remember or recognize that which caused our conditions? What
thought? What belief? What hurt or disappointment or fear
that triggered the thought or the belief that negated the joy and
confidence that we feel? I don't think so and to attempt to
identify a negative is far more complex than to identify the
"cause" that will create the positive changes we desire.
Take these words from the American mystic Ernest Holmes into your mind
and choose to believe they are truth about you:
“The
Spirit within me makes all things new. Every negative thought or
condition is erased from my experience. I am aware of my union
with Good. I am conscious of my oneness with Life. I
expect more prosperity, more happiness, more harmony than ever
before. I walk in the joy of ever-increasing good."
I
often
think of the words from the Master Mind Jesus when he cautioned us to
"resist not evil" ... in other words, don't try to solve a
problem at the level of the problem for if you do, the problem will
multiply ... or as Reverend Ike would say, "what you fight you
ignite" ... and this is the truth for all of us ... and thoughts
filled with aspirations of achievement and fulfilled desires will also
multiply ... and this is the truth for all of us too.
AND
SO IT IS!
Keep
the
faith!
Rev.
Henry Bates
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