Spiritual Solutions

I have been asked recently if I would post the well-known quote on Love by Emmet Fox, so here it is. It can serve as a wonderful opening reading for your time of meditation, if you go deeply into the truth represented by these words.

Love

There is no difficulty that enough love will not conquer;

No disease that enough love will not heal;

No gulf that enough love will not bridge;

No wall that enough love will not throw down;

No sin that enough love will not redeem. . . .

It makes no difference how deeply seated may be the trouble;

How hopeless the outlook;

How muddled the tangle;

How great the mistake.

A sufficient realization of love will dissolve it all. . . .

If only you could love enough you would be the happiest and most powerful being in the world.

-         Emmet Fox

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

——————————————————————–

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-seven years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions, at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

To subscribe for free weekday inspirational quotes, Rich Words, go to www.alanrowbotham.com

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend.

——————————————————————–

Tweet This Post

Living a happy, resilient and optimistic life is wonderful, and is also good for your health. Being happy actually protects you from the stresses of life. And we know that stress has been linked to top causes of death such as heart disease, cancer, and stroke.

Just about everyone has heard the hit single Don’t Worry; Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin. The song has a very catchy way of conveying to everyone its message of being happy. Bobby McFerrin’s simple message surely made a lot of people happy by telling them not to worry.

One of the better things ever said is, “The only thing in life that will always remain the same is change.” And we have the power to make necessary changes in our lives if we want to. Even if we find ourselves in an unbearable situation we can always find solace in the knowledge that it too can change.

Social networks or relationships are essential to happiness. People are different, so accept people for whom or what they are, avoid clashes, constant arguments, and let go of all kinds of resentments. If arguments seem unavoidable you can still try to make an effort to understand the situation and you might just get along well.

Happiness is actually found within everyone; increasing it is a way to make a life more wonderful and also healthier.

To be happy is relatively easy; just decide to be a happy person. Abraham Lincoln observed that most people for most of the time can choose how happy or stressed, how relaxed or troubled, how bright or dull their outlook will be. The choice is simple really; choose to be happy.

There are several ways by which you can do this.

Being grateful is a great attitude. We have so much to be thankful for. Thank the driver for bringing you home safely, thank the cook for a wonderful dinner, and thank the person who cleans your windows. Thank the person who brings you your mail, thank the policeman for making your place safe, and thank God for being alive. You may want to start a gratitude journal, and every day write down something you are grateful for. You will find more and more things to be grateful for.

News is stressful; get less of it. Some people just can’t start their day without their daily dose of news. Think about it, ninety-nine percent of the news we hear or read is bad news. Starting the day with bad news does not seem to be a sensible thing to do.

A spiritual connection is also recommended. Being part of a spiritual or religious group with its singing, sacraments, chanting, prayers and meditations foster inner peace.

Manage your time. Time is invaluable and too important to waste. Time management can be viewed as a list of rules that involves scheduling, setting goals, planning, creating lists of things to do and prioritizing. These are the core basics of time management that need to be understood in order to develop an effective personal time management skill. These basic skills can be fine-tuned further to include the finer points of each skill to give you that extra reserve in bringing about the results you desire.

Laugh and laugh heartily each day. Yesterday my wife and I watched the movie, Mrs. Doubtfire. I recommend that you rent that movie if you want a good belly laugh. It’s a good practice to watch funny movies on a regular basis. Heard a good joke? Tell your friends or family members about it. As they say, “Laughter is the best medicine.”

Express your feelings, your affections, friendship and passion to people around you. They will most like reciprocate your actions. Try not to keep pent-up anger or frustrations; this is bad for your health. Instead, find ways of expressing them in a way that will not cause more injury or hurt to anyone.

Working hard brings tremendous personal satisfaction. It gives a feeling of being competent in finishing our tasks. Accomplishments are necessary for all of us; they give us a sense of value. Work on things that you feel are worthy of your time.

Learning is a joyful exercise. Try to learn something new every day. Learning makes us expand and broaden our horizons, and could also give us more opportunities in the future.

Run, jog, walk, swim, and do other things that your body was made for. Feel alive.

Avoid exposure to negative elements like loud noises, toxins and hazardous places.

These are the few simple things you can do every day to be happy.

Always remember the quote by Abraham Lincoln when he said, “Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

And always keep this in mind:

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

———————————————————–

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-seven years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at Spiritual Solutions.

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend.

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

————————————————————

Tweet This Post

In this current recession and uncertain economic future, we may sometimes feel that we’re just looking at our life as it bobs this way and that, according to whatever outside waters are propelling us. We think we have to work this many hours because of our house payment, instead of looking at it from another direction like moving into a smaller house or finding a job with better pay.

We say, “I’d just love to . . . write, travel, paint, ride horses, learn yoga, but I just don’t have the . . . time, money, energy . . .”

It could be that some of these “valid excuses” are just ways to hide from risks. In her book, Simple Abundance, Sarah Breathnach writes, “Many of us have unconsciously erected seemingly insurmountable barriers to protect ourselves from failing or succeeding. We may think we’re protecting ourselves by ignoring or denying our creative impulse, but what we are really doing is burying our authentic selves alive.”

Doing our own thing is risky; we don’t want to risk failure or, worse, looking silly. But look around. The happiest people are those doing whatever is their passion despite difficulties or fears.

My son, Geoffrey, and his wife, Andy, really want to move from England to live here in the United States. It’s over two years now since I made the application with Immigration for him to come here under my sponsorship as his father, and still we’re not getting anywhere with it. He and Andy sold their home and moved into a rented house in preparation for the move. They then came over again last year for an extended vacation, and looked for a job with a company that might possibly sponsor one of them to be able to get their green card, without success.

In the Fall last year, Geoff and Andy decided they wanted to travel through France and Spain for about six months while they could. They bought a motor home and moved out of their rented house so they could get used to living in the motor home while they were still in England. They quit their jobs. Then toward the end of the year, they crossed the English Channel on the ferry with their motor home, and since then they have been touring France and Spain, staying in Spain for Christmas and the New Year.

They have visited friends and made many new friends on their travels and signed up with an organization of organic farms which provides people with lodging and food in exchange for working on an organic farm. They’re open to all kinds of work to help supplement their travel. The other day Geoff told me they may stay longer if they get a job they enjoy doing.

The reason I’m sharing this with you is just to show you it’s possible to do the things you really want to do. They’re not just sitting waiting to come over here and fretting that nothing is happening with their visas.

What kind of barrier or excuses do you use to keep yourself from the life you really want to live? From what fears are you trying to save yourself?

So many people have worked to make their dream come true. They may have had to do a drastic thing like sell their house and live in a trailer so they could travel the world. Some may have had to cut some of their spending in order to quit their hated job and start their own business.

Maybe you will have to take the risk of saying “No” to someone in order to take time for an art class. Or you may have to toot your own horn and talk to someone you don’t know to sell your idea. You may have to get out of your comfort zone by doing without some luxuries for the moment. And, yes, cable is a luxury!

Read up on people that are doing what you long to do. Let them help you find solutions to your barriers.

Take Action

Write down your three main excuses for not living the life you want.

1.

2.

3.

Brainstorm ways to work around these barriers. Research online. Talk to people who have done what you want to do.

Look behind the barriers and journal what fears may be behind the excuses.

This week take one risk each day to forward your dream.

Whose life is this anyway?

I wish you every success, and remember:

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

———————————————————–

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-seven years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at Spiritual Solutions.

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend.

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

————————————————————

Tweet This Post

These ideas on genuine happiness come from a friend of mine. Enjoy!

Sometimes, when I feel like the world is just too heavy, I look around and find happy people who continue to live fascinating and wonderful lives. Then thoughts come popping into my mind like bubbles from nowhere – “How did their life become so sweet? How come they still can manage to laugh and play despite a busy stressful life?”  Then I pause and observe for a while… I figured out that maybe, they start to work on a place called ‘self’.

So, how does one become genuinely happy?

Step 1 is to love yourself.

My theology professor once said that “loving means accepting.”  To love oneself means to accept that you are not a perfect being, but behind the imperfection is the courage to discover ways on how to improve oneself and recover from mistakes.

Genuine happiness is also linked to contentment. When you are contented with the job you have, the way you look, with your family, your friends, the place you live in, your car, and all the things you now have – truly, you know the answer to the question “how to be genuinely happy.”

When we discover a small start somewhere from within, that small start will eventually lead to something else, and to something else. But if you keep questioning life like it has never done you any good, you will never be able to find genuine happiness.

Someone has said that life is about finding out about right and wrong, trying and failing, winning and losing. These are things that happen as often as you inhale and exhale. Failure in a person’s life has become as abundant and necessary as air. But this should not hinder you from becoming happy.

How to be genuinely happy in spite all these? I tell you… every time you exert effort to improve the quality of life and your being, whether it is cleaning up your room, helping a friend, taking care of your sick dog, fail on board exams and trying again, life gives you equivalent points for that.

Imagine life as a big score board like those which are used in the NFL. Every time you take a step forward, you make scoring points. Wouldn’t it be nice to look at that board at the end of each game and think to yourself “Whew! I got a point today. I’m glad I gave it a shot.” instead of looking at it and murmuring “Geez, I didn’t even hit a score today. I wish I had the guts to try out. We could have won!”

Genuine happiness isn’t about driving the hottest Formula 1 car, nor getting the employee of the year award, earning the highest 13th month pay, or beating the sales quota. Sometimes, the most sought after prizes in life doesn’t always go to the fastest, the strongest, the bravest or not even the best.

So, how do you become genuinely happy?  Every one has his own definition of ‘happiness’. Happiness for a writer may mean launching as much best selling books as possible. Happiness for a basketball rookie may mean getting the rookie of the year award. Happiness for a beggar may mean a lot of money. Happiness for a business man may mean success.

So, really now, how do we become genuinely happy? Simple. You don’t have to have the best things in this world. It’s about doing and making the best out of every single thing. When you find yourself smiling at your own mistake and telling yourself “Oh, I’ll do better next time”, you carry with you a flame of power to persevere that may spread out like a brush fire. You possess a willingness to stand up again and try – that will make you a genuinely happy person.

When you learn to accept yourself and your own faults you pass step 1 in the project “how to become genuinely happy”. For as long as you know how to accept others, you will also be accepted. For as long as you love and know how to love, you will receive love back tenfold.

Again, throw me that same question “how to become genuinely happy?” and I’ll refer you to a friend of mine who strongly quoted: “Most of us know that laughter is the best medicine to life’s aches and pain. But most of us don’t know that the best kind of laughter is laughter over self. Because then you don’t just become happy… you become free.”

God is Blessing You, right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

———————————————————–

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-seven years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at Spiritual Solutions.

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend.

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

————————————————————

Tweet This Post

Meditation is a state of being where your body and mind are consciously relaxed, yet alert and focused. People who practice meditation report increased awareness, focus, and concentration, as well as a more positive outlook on life.

Meditation is often linked to an image of monks, mystics, and various spiritual disciplines. However, you don’t have to be a monk or mystic to enjoy its benefits; you don’t even have to be in a special place to practice it. You can even do it in your own living room.

There are many different approaches to meditation, but the fundamental principles remain the same. Among the most important of these principles is that of removing obstructive, negative, and wandering thoughts and fantasies, and calming the mind with a deep sense of focus. This clears the mind and prepares it for a higher quality of activity.

Negative thoughts you have, whether of noisy neighbors, bossy office personnel or workmates, that parking ticket you got, and unwanted spam in your e-mail, all tend to contribute to the “polluting” of the mind, and shutting them out allows for the “cleansing” of the mind so that it may focus on deeper, more meaningful thoughts.

Some meditators seek to shut out all sensory input of sight, sound, and touch, and try to detach themselves from the commotion around them. If this is your goal, you may now focus on a deep, profound thought. We are all too accustomed to constantly hearing and seeing things, so it may seem deafening at first, but as you continue this practice you will find yourself becoming more aware of a deeper level of being.

Some body positions you may have associated with meditation, those with impossibly arched backs and painful-looking contortions, may seem threatening. But you need not worry; the principle here is to be in a comfortable position conducive to concentration. This may be while sitting cross-legged, standing, lying down, and even walking.

If the position allows you to relax and focus, then that is a good starting point. While sitting or standing, the back should be straight but not tense or tight. In other positions, the only no-no is slouching or falling asleep. If this happens, then you might try a different position more conducive to being alert.

Loose, comfortable clothes help a lot since tight fitting clothes or belts tend to make you feel tense.

Your place of meditation should have a soothing atmosphere. It may be in your living room, bedroom, or study, or any place in which you feel comfortable. If you plan to take on the more challenging positions (if it makes you feel more focused) you might want to use an exercise mat. In any case, you may want to have your meditation place arranged so that it is soothing to your senses.

Silence helps most people to relax and meditate, so you may want a quiet, isolated area away from the ringing of the phone or the humming of the washing machine. Pleasing scents also help can often help too, so using an aromatic candle can sometimes be a good idea.

You may have seen monks on television or movies making monotonous sounds while meditating; they are actually repeating their mantra, a simple sound which, for these meditators, holds a mystic value.

You do not need to use a mantra, though it should be noted that focusing on repeated actions such as following the breath and humming can help a practitioner enter a higher state of consciousness.

The principle here is focus. You could also try focusing on a certain object in your mind’s eye or on a particular thought, or, with your eyes softly open, focus on a single sight such as a candle flame, a pattern in the carpet or an apple on a plate.

Another routine could be to, while in a meditative state, silently name every part of your body while focusing your consciousness on that part. Be aware of any tension in any part of your body and mentally visualize releasing this tension. It works wonders in relaxation.

Mediation is a relatively risk-free practice and its benefits are well worth the effort (or non-effort, since we are relaxing).

One of the important side effects of meditation is that it has been found to bring about beneficial physiological effects in the body. There has been a growing consensus in the medical community to further study such effects. So in the near future, that mystical, esoteric practice we call meditation might become a science itself.

God is Blessing You, right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

———————————————————–

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-seven years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at Spiritual Solutions.

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend.

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

————————————————————

Tweet This Post

We’re now in the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Ox. This great article by Christan Hummel reminds us that it’s time to let go of the old energies that may be lingering in our homes to make way for the new. The start of a new year presents an opportunity to turn our attention to the energetic remnants lingering from the past.

Feng shui, the ancient Chinese practice of configuring one’s environment to harmonize with nature, includes an aspect called space clearing that is quite accessible to the non-expert. There are techniques that any of us can use to clear the energies of our home or office to let go of the past and prepare space energetically for the New Year ahead.

Although these tips are by no means comprehensive, they will provide a quick and easy way to align the energies of your environment with your intentions for the New Year. These six C’s of Space Clearing will empower you to sweep out the old and make way for the new in your environment.

1. Clutter. To our subconscious mind, clutter triggers images of stagnation, stuck energy and places where Life doesn’t move. It usually represents the things we are resisting and where we don’t want to put our attention.

Simply put: Clean out the clutter. Piles of laundry, papers, boxes, mail…whatever it is, when we see clutter, our mind equates it with chaos and dead energy. So make a point to dive into your clutter like a heat-seeking missile. Go straight for it, put it away, find a home for it, make decisions about it, and address it. You will be surprised at how energy moves in your life.

2. Corners. Feng shui teaches us to keep corners especially free of clutter–as these are the places where the Life energy, or Ch’i, of our environment comes to a stop, like traffic at a four-way stop sign. Put things in your corners that move energy: a fountain, wind chimes, or even a plant will keep the energy flowing instead of stagnating. Use your common sense and intuition. Trust how it makes you feel.

There are many rule books out there, but ultimately if you feel more harmony, peace, and joy when you look at that space, you will usually be on the right track. An altar is usually a nice way to redirect the dead energies of a corner. Put things in the corners of your home or office with intention, because these are special energy spots in the house.

3. Closets. They are the bowels of our homes and offices, the storage bins for old, dead energy. Clean them out! If you don’t use it, lose it. Keep your closets clean, neat, and free of unwanted, old, unused items. Yes, you looked marvelous in that dress five years ago, but if you haven’t worn it since then, pass it on to a friend, family member, or charity. Don’t allow your closets to become black holes, or they will absorb your energy.

4. Ceremony. This is sadly lacking in our modern society. Where we do have any kind of ceremony, it is usually around a sporting event, food, or commerce. Ceremony is a time when we honor life, the seasons, and those aspects of living beyond the physical. It brings us in touch with the worlds beyond the everyday, and reminds us of a vastness of Life beyond our immediate attention.

Make time for ceremony in your life and your home, and you will open a doorway into another dimension, allowing fresh new ideas, inspiration, and energies to flow in. It could be a simple ceremony, such as ribbon-cutting to initiate the new energies of your place, lighting a candle, or bringing in a new flowering plant.

Whatever the ceremony, when you do it with conscious awareness, that ceremony heralds in the energies of your intention in a much more profound manner than simply and perfunctorily performing the same act. Even the simple ceremony of smudging a new dwelling can be quite profound when done with intention. Lighting a candle each night and ceremonially letting the problems and worries of the day burn away is a simple ceremony and one which keeps the energies of your home clean and clear of the burdens of the day.

Ceremonies to acknowledge and honor the ancestors, through music, song, or dance, are another means to help keep the energies of your space clear and clean. Keep ceremonies simple and heartfelt, and they will hold the energies of your space aligned with higher dimensions.

5. Consciousness. The power of this cannot be overstated. Where we put our consciousness, we put our life energy. So find the places in your home or office where you have vacated your consciousness–those closets, corners, and dead zones that you pretend are not there, or wish weren’t. For some people, it could be a room where the kids used to live before they went off to school, or the pile of paper in the office that calls out for help but is just ignored. Put your consciousness into that space, with intention, and yes, even ceremony, and notice the MAGIC that happens when you do. Energy flows where attention goes!

6. Cycles. There is a rhythm to Life, a time for growth and a time for death. Cycles are important to observe: moon cycles are often used for planting, cutting hair, beginning new projects. Similarly, observing the cycles of the sun, being more active during the daylight hours and winding down in the evening when there is less energy available, puts us in harmony with nature. There are also the larger seasonal cycles, solstices, equinoxes, and the times in between them (what the Celts called the cross quarter days). When we are in tune with and align consciously with the rhythm of Life, we find more harmony and balance in our lives.

The season of Winter is a natural time to go inside–hibernate in the cave like the bear, reflect, pull our energies inward, allowing a kind of death to the old so that we can go forward in the Spring with new energy and enthusiasm.

Then, beginning on Feb. 2 (Groundhog Day) we enter the cycle between the Winter Equinox and the Spring Equinox, a time traditionally honored by the Celts as the time to plant the seed of the new idea so that it may sprout in the Spring. When we follow these cycles, we harness the Life energy of the planet and begin to dance to the same beat of Life. So by paying attention to the cycles of Life, we begin to work with them to receive the gift of their energy.

With some small investment on our part, we can dramatically change the energies of our environment making our homes a sanctuary to reflect our highest intentions and dreams.

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

———————————————————–

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-seven years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at Spiritual Solutions. 

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend.

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

————————————————————

Tweet This Post

When we lived in our previous home we had some French doors put in from our bedroom to the back deck and garden which overlooked the bayou. They had been delayed along the way and finally they got the doors in and painted and so on, and the head of the company came and apologized for the length of time it had taken. We got to talking – he was a young man – and he began to tell us some of his life story.

He shared with us that he was the eldest of nine children and that he’d had a pretty tough life but he had focused on this goal of developing this company. He remembered people along the way that had helped him; he said that his father had died when he was about five years old, his mother had remarried and he didn’t get along with his stepfather who, he said was a drinking man and was away a lot of the time and abusive when he was home. He said his mother always seemed to be working.

But he remembered a person who often came by to look in at the kids and bring them food if they didn’t have any; she would also come and take them to Sunday school – she was a Sunday school teacher. He remembered her as being one who had nurtured him and he told us he had just seen her again after many years and was going to have her over to dinner on the weekend.

As I listened to the story I thought that all of us

Read the rest of this entry »

Tweet This Post