Home for the Holidays

Having traveled for several weeks, I have a new appreciation of home, bed, kitchen and warmth.  We bought a motor home and took it on a trip to the gulf coast where it was raining and cold.  Motor homes are not very well insulated and so every time the door was opened, a blast of Arctic air entered and about the time, it felt as though we were about to get warm, the wind would start up and you could feel a draft of cold air blowing through the vehicle. 

Having three dogs, plus cages, and two adults in a 30-foot motor vehicle fills up quickly.  Just to make more room, I stacked the cages into the shower when we were not in motion.  But then, I was snuggled under an afghan with one or two dogs snuggled with me.  Nice way to vacation when cold.  Plus, a good book helps with a insulated mug of tea.

Everything is done in miniature in a motor home.  The kitchen galley is small so there is not much space for prepping anything.  Fortunately. I equipped us with enough frozen food so that the most we had to do was microwave, or toast bread for sandwiches.  Easy.

It is my firm belief that one of life’s greatest gift is the pleasure of warm, running water during the winter months, or the cool, refreshing water on a hot summer’s day.  I remember traveling through Mexico on early spring day, we came along a winding river and saw women washing clothes on the rocks, bathing children and generally basking in the warm sun while sitting on the river bottom.  I wanted to be in the water with them until I realized that they didn’t have running water at home.  They were there to do laundry, to get clean and to have a moment of socializing before other chores intervened. 

I complain that I have to vacuum the floors when on that same trip, we saw a woman sweeping out the dirt on her hard compacted dirt in her one room house with no door or glass in the windows.  Most of the houses had none of the amenities that I was use to.  The women had to go to the shops every day to get what they needed because they didn’t have refrigeration or stoves for cooking – only the small braziers sitting in front of their houses.

This is a time to appreciate all I have.  I have a washing machine and dryer so that I have time to write, to read, to, yes, clean my house, surrounded with warmth, even though it is 31 degrees outside.  I am so grateful to be surrounded in affluence, luxury and space.  Plenty of space so that all of us have room to move, stretch and relax.  Home for the holidays is the best ever.

In the Midst of Change

There are times when I am stunned into stillness!  This is one of those times.  Awhile back, I asked for something new and different.  I got it in abundance.

Not that I thought my life was boring, it was just that seemingly nothing new was happening.  It all changed when I asked for something new and different to show up.

We went out to “look” at Recreational Vehicles while checking out what we could rent to see if we would like to do some traveling in this manner.  We ended up buying a semi-new model.

Since we have three puppies, boarding them each time we want to travel is expensive.  Having an RV allows them to travel with us but presents us with a whole different set of issues. 

Having three dog crates in a thirty-foot vehicle with two adults is crowded.  We ended up stacking the empty crates in the shower just to get them out of the way while we were parked.

Yes, we have had our “shake-down” trip to make sure that all worked as it should and for us to decide what else we can cram into it.  We drove to a casino close to the Texas border and spent the night.  We came home with a list of necessities to get before the next trip, which is coming up at the end of the week. 

Now, we are talking about taking a months long trip into Alaska and seeing parts of Canada on the way home.  There isn’t enough room in the motor home for my new sewing machines, computer, knitting paraphernalia, books, Lego sets, gig saw puzzles and all else that I do to keep busy.  Thinking about all of the projects I want to do, I want to stay home.  And I am sure that when I am at home, I will want to be on the road seeing new sights and exploring new cities.

Ah, the fun of choices.  I am certainly grateful that I have lots of choices and that having this motor home proves to me that I am living my dream. 

Life is good.

Creating the God Consciousness

This is a class I created for a group of Spiritual Leaders to assist them in creating a higher consciousness of the Presence of God within themselves.  I now use it as a reminder for myself to take what I know to a higher degree.  I encourage you to do the same.

You are starting out on a great adventure, a wonderful journey.  You are guided by love, inspired by truth, and your future is what you make it.  Ernest Holmes

Ignite your energy with your genius.  What sets you apart from all others?

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Ignite your energy with appreciation.  What do you appreciate in your life?

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I,  ____________, commit to creating a magnificent life.

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Ignite your energy with gratitude.  What are you grateful for in your life?

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Ignite your energy with keeping your word.  Where do you need to “clean up” your life?

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Ignite your energy by seeing abundance all around you.  How can you become more aware of all that is around you?

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Ignite your energy by being SUPER positive in thought, word and deed.  What do you need to do to give up complaining?

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I,  ____________, commit to living a life filled with self-acceptance, delight and joy.

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Ignite your energy by loving and accepting all that is in your life.  How can your life get even better?  I wonder how that is possible?

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How much more magnificent can my life become?

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Ignite your energy by loving yourself – warts and all!  Here is how I can accept myself to a greater degree.

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Ignite your energy by Spiritual Mind Treatment.  Here is how I can “up” the power of my words.

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Ignite your energy by giving value to all around you. 

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Ignite your energy with study. 

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Ignite your energy by recognizing more good in your life.  Here are another ways of doing that.

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Spiritual tools make life easier and more rewarding.  Louise Hay

Ignite your energy in solitude.  Here are some ways in which I can get quiet.

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Ignite your energy in exercise.  What are the benefits of moving the body?

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The indispensable first step in getting the things you want out of life is this:  Decide what you want.  Ben Stein

Ignite your energy with deciding what you want.

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To live in a state of grace means to be fully in tune with your Spiritual nature and a higher power that sustains you…you trust in yourself and the universe.  Cherie Carter-Scott

Ignite your energy with making everything “sacred.”  Here is how I can do that.

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Ignite your energy by trusting yourself, the Universe and God. 

Allow, accept, relax and release the process. 

Your nature is God.  Your possessions are power, wisdom and substance.  Emma Curtis Hopkins

Here is how I can demonstrate my powers.

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Life is free.  All you have to pay…is attention.  All you have to spend…is time.  Dr. Cindy Flor-Lambert

Ignite your energy with completion.  Here is how I can clean up my life with completion.

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Indulging in Personal Development

This week I started a class in German cooking.  Wow!  The instructor came in speaking German and our recipes were in German. 

This is a real challenge for me.  Even though, my first language was German. I haven’t used it since pre-grade school days. 

I finished the first class with a headache, feeling stressed and with a strong desire to quit the class thinking that I didn’t have to put myself through this nonsense that this stage of my life.

The second class was actual cooking.  Again, I wanted to quit.  I had forgotten how bland and unappealing German cooking is.  Get this, chopped cabbage, covered with hot water, with fried bacon bits and the all time favorite, vinegar!  Blah!

The roast pork was different because of the spices - but edible.  Since taking other cooking classes, I have learned that I like a little more taste and accomplish it with using stronger spices.

Went to a bookstore and found a German and English dictionary along with a workbook on basic language skill building.  Now, I have to discipline myself to work through the lessons to see if they will assist me in understanding the dialect of the German our instructor is using. 

Back to the actual cooking…did find out that whipped heavy cream doesn’t need a lot of sugar to be tasty.  She used just a bit of sweet currant jam that was folded into it and then used as a filling and topping on what she called a cake.  It was very tasty.  But the “cake” was labor intensive and I would never make it unless I had a lot of time to devote to it. 

As with most cooking, everything is made from scratch.  The difficulty is translating the recipes and thinking metric instead of the English system (imperial).  Now, I have to brush up on my math skills too.

At this point, I am willing to go to class three…beyond that…who knows.  At least I am working on building brain skills that experts say is needed to ward off Alzheimer’s disease.  I can see me now, 105 years young, chattering away in German that no one but me understands.  Very gratifying.

Journey on the Spiritual Path

This month marks my 34^th year of being on a spiritual path.  Even as I write this, I wonder what I could have been thinking when I got started.  This is a path that can be very rewarding but also one of the most difficult ways of being.

Why I thought that doing what I started doing was going to be easy is way “beyond” me now.  There is nothing easy about keeping your word, staying positive, being honest all the time, especially with yourself, always staying with the possible solutions, being “true” to yourself, encouraging other people and always giving something of value to all you meet.  And this is just the beginning list.  It goes on and on and on.

Being a follower of a non-traditional religion is even more challenging especially around the Christian holidays.  I love having a live Christmas tree up but I don’t believe that Christmas was the birth of Jesus.  Easter is even more of a challenge. 

I remember the last year of ministerial school, our assignment was to “mind map” the Easter sermon.  I figured there could not be that much difference between “Easter” years since the story is the same, so I did one of the sermons from previous years.  I then talked some of my classmates to join me in going to an amusement park for the day.  We had a grand time but every year thereafter, I wanted to skip out on Easter. 

Right now I seem to be on a path of ordinary.  It is very restful and it allows me to read, nap, craft my creativity in various avenues that truly feed my soul.  As I write this, my puppy is having a very vocal dream and his feet are moving as though he is running.  When truly busy, I never had the time to enjoy hearing puppy sounds or tuning into my own listening.  Now, I am able to tune into what is my next best thing to do.  It is truly a time for me to be grateful for my life – all of my life.

It All Matters

“In the immensity of consciousness, a light appears – a tiny point which moves rapidly and traces shapes, thoughts, and feelings, like a pen writing on paper.  And the ink which leaves a trace is memory.  You are that tiny point and by your movement the world is ever re-created.”  Sri Nisargadatt

This explains to me how everything we think, say and do leaves an imprint in life – how everything matters.  How we think creates our feelings.  Feelings create habits.  Habits create a life. 

Recently, I had a session with an elderly person who took up the whole time complaining about some childhood experience.  While this was going on, my thought was, “It is time to get over it.”

More than ever, I want to reach my end time feeling good about what my life was like, the decisions I made, the accomplishments I experienced, the people who I allowed into my life, and the puppies who have adored me. 

The biggest event I want to cherish is the ability to learn new things and the talent I had to turn interesting thoughts into interesting creative endeavors.  I want to know how many more gifts I have within me and how will I get them all used up before my end life?

Regrettable times were when I took me too seriously or the situations I was in too seriously.  I should have learned earlier how to laugh longer, louder, or seen the humor about what a cosmic joke life can sometimes be. 

Enough!  Life is wonderful and I am truly grateful for all of the lessons I learned and those yet to show up.  I smile as I say, “Thank you God for all because I am truly blessed always.”

Economic Challenges

During these economic challenges with the government thinking that opposition is the solution to all of our problems, it is necessary sometimes to just shut all of that out of our consciousness.

Politicians think that they are getting paid to be leaders when what they are accomplishing is not close to leadership but more like standing in the way of progress.  I am not even sure I know what progress on a national level even looks like.

What I do know is that I need to keep my thoughts and mind in a place of higher quality and to know that God is my supply, substance and source of all the good in my life.  I know that with God in charge of my life, I don’t have to depend on anyone, let alone the government, for my sustenance and living.

Remembering that I am in charge of my life and that my thoughts create what shows up, is all important.  I again commit to creating the most magnificent life I can possibly imagine.  That means that I stand for who and what I am and that I am grateful for all of what life has presented to me.

I think that we have more choices than we allow ourselves to think about.  When I look around in nature, the abundance of it sometimes overwhelms my senses.  With that in mind, I need to remember that I have far more choices than what I have before me.  Maybe we need to support each other in the abundant choices that show up for us.