Acceptance with Compassion

In a meditation the other day, I got a message for a dear friend; she needed to learn acceptance with compassion. Though meant for her, I thought, "Who doesn't need to learn this very profound lesson?" I know it certainly rang true for me. Accepting 'what is', with the gentleness of a compassionate heart, has been the number one theme in my growth. Releasing the conflict within myself of what was happening and what I wanted to happen. Getting to the point were I gave up the fight, and saw the fact of the matter. Acceptance was the first step I took toward positive change and healing. 

The article below sums up the power of acceptance quite nicely. Perhaps you will find it a valuable tool to add to your Spiritual toolbox.

The Spiritual Power of Acceptance  

by Matt Zavadil

Acceptance is important to living a life of abundance. This is the way to inner peace. The world teaches you that you must always be stressed out and worried about things in your life that you can't control. The "ego" part of you loves getting you all worked up over what's not fair. Your ego tries to convince you that it's important to prove yourself over and over. It tells you that you're not worth anything unless you're constantly striving to validate that worth.

This isn't true. One of the first aspects of acceptance is to know that you are fine just the way you are right at this moment in time. You have no need to prove anything. By living your life with this type of attitude, you begin to remove fear and doubt. These emotions impede your inner peace.

Your higher self has no need for them, as you already know deep inside that abundance is yours. Allow yourself to tap into this knowledge. Now, this isn't to say that you just accept things as they are and then become lazy. It's a way of thinking. A thought process. A knowing.

As you work toward making your physical goals reality, you exist in a state of mind of acceptance. This state of mind frees you from inner anxiety and anguish when things don't go as planned. You understand that some things you can change and influence and some you cannot. There is a feeling of inner peace that will come to you when you can live with that which you can't change. It is what it is.

When you live your life from this perspective, it opens you up more to that which you can influence. When this happens, you're able to be more productive than you ever could or would be when you listen to your ego and make yourself miserable over the unfairness of life.

Another aspect of acceptance that will lead you to abundance and inner peace is that it helps you eliminate judgement from your life. There's no need for you to pre-judge. This is one of the ego's best weapons against your inner peace. In this world, we are brought up with many stereotypes and thoughts on what others should or shouldn't be doing. Pre-judging others is prevalent. It's not your place to decide what is right for others. Notice how you feel inside when you pre-judge or judge another person.

Are you filled with inner peace and contentment? Most likely, you feel inner stress. Your body tightens up. Your ego is loving it! But, your higher self knows that an acceptance state of mind is much healthier for your spirituality. The next time you start this judgement process, be aware of it. Replace it with the thought that you don't want this poison inside of you.

See that other person as an extension of yourself. Understand that you are both of the same spiritual energy. Know that you are no better than this other soul; they are not beneath you to be judged by you.

Acceptance can be summed up with the old Zen saying,

"If you understand, things are just as they are.

If you do not understand, things are just as they are." 

Moving Moments of Beauty, Love and Truth

Louie Schwartzberg: Nature. Beauty. Gratitude.

www.ted.com

Nature’s beauty can be easily missed -- but not through Louie Schwartzberg’s lens. His stunning time-lapse photography, accompanied by powerful words from Benedictine monk David Steindl-Rast, serves as a meditation on being grateful for every day.

Question: What will it take for humanity to thrive?

Without judgment, and with an open mind and heart, you might find some food for thought in the newly released controversial movie, THRIVE. I am including the trailer version here for you to consider, but I would really recommend passing on one of Hollywood's movies this weekend and renting the full 2-hour movie of THRIVE instead.

That's what I did last weekend, and it left me with some curious insights, and a ton of questions about the reality of the world we live in. No conclusions, just questions. It stimulated thoughts and ideas outside of the box. It got me wondering about what was truth and what was just a lie we were only led to believe.

After doing some follow-up research, I found the usual naysayers blogs, comments and videos along with supportive blogs, comments and videos, which you will also find if you Google the subject. However, truth is more than just listening to what someone says or thinks. It even goes beyond what we define as "facts." That's why we need to keep asking the questions, while letting our hearts and higher-selves be our guide to truth and best choices.

THRIVE, the inspiration of Foster Gamble, president and co-founder of Clear Compass Media and movie host, certainly took an incredible amount of time, energy and resources to produce. What seemed clear to me was that Foster's primary passion for the movie, along with his wife and other guest speakers, was for viewers to focus more on their suggested solutions, rather than the implied possible causes of our demise.

For me, I saw it mostly as a wake up call to humanity. A sort of catalyst to shake people up to start asking some important questions about ourselves, our community, the earth, our government, big business, the monetary system, energy alternatives, the quality of our existence...truth. It was a heartfelt plea for us to snap out of the nightmare we call reality, to start asking key questions, to search within ourselves, to shift our perspective of the world, and to ultimately take appropriate steps toward a renewed vision of thriving on this planet.

Perhaps 2012 is the end of old times and the beginning of a new paradigm. The world certainly reflects changing times; a time when we need to step outside of the old ways of thinking and existing, and begin considering the possibilities of a new way of life. During this collective transition, we must all ask the crucial questions. And with clarity of mind and a compassionate heart, we must move forward making new choices for how we will live as a peaceful and productive world society.

Foster Gamble asks, "What on earth will it take (to thrive)?" It is that question and many more that we must keep asking. And even when we think we have found some answers...keep asking. The questions connect the dots on our journey toward a new world; they are the breadcrumbs that will lead us to only one true answer... Thriving!

PEACE in 2012

Miss Anabelle is my sassy calico who has mastered the art of meditation.

Holiday Agreements (With YourSELF)

Now is the time to make sure that you are prepared for the Holidays in EVERY way; mind, body and spirit in complete agreement. As well as preparing food, gifts and schedules, prepare yourSELF so that the Holidays can be ALL that you want them to be. Make an agreement to be the person you want to be, and don’t let anyone or anything unsettle your highest intentions...read more by Ian Lawton Holiday Agreements.

Now, take a moment to say this affirmation of your highest self, a prayer by Marianne Williamson.

  

Illuminata, A Return to Prayer

Dear God,

In this one moment I recognize that there is within me a perfect Self:
A Self that is not dysfunctional;
A Self that is not weak but strong;
That is not limited, but unlimited;
That is not small, but huge;
That is not in pain but in peace;
That is not faithless and scared but all-knowing, all loving, and serene and calm, through the grace of God.
I have been playing with the toys of death and weakness.
I have been playing at sickness and playing at addiction.
I have been playing at dysfunction and limitation and war.
I have been playing at hunger and violation of myself and others.
I have been playing with toys that are dangerous.
But I desire to play the games of death no more.

In this moment, I ask You, dear God, to release me from my destructive thinking.
I take up now the mantle of Your magnificence.
Through Your grace, dear God, I am good and innocent and strong and pure, for thus would You have me be.
The love that emanates from Your mind to me, and from my mind to the minds of others, is a power so great. Within its embrace all negativity shall turn to good, all pain to peace, all fear to love.
I invoke Your light.
I receive Your heaven, which replaces hell.
I do not look back.
I do not stop my eyes at the veil of horror that surrounds the world, but rather I extend my vision to the possibilities for love for myself and others.
I step out of my childhood, into my adulthood; out of my weaknesses, into my strengths; out of my fear, into my love; out of my small self, into You.

Dear God, please make me new. 

Amen.

One Change, Changes Everything

---

ONE

CHANGE

thought

feeling

insight

action

moment

CHANGE

ONE

---

One change, changes everything.

What is holding humanity back?

Some say that what holds us back as humans is that deep down inside, we all fear death. I wonder if this is true or not?

If we aren't afraid of death, then perhaps it is living we fear. Being in the flesh. Maybe that is why we are so focused of the superficial part of the physical world.

Perhaps it is not our eternal true essence we are so uncomfortable with, but simply the illusion of our physical life that scares the heck out of us.

Striving for perfection, survival of the fittest, gathering and possessing, self-sabotaging behaviors, fleeting pleasures... Is it that we really don't have a clue what we are doing here in the first place?

Are we actually a dynamic spirit hidden in a finite body with a filtered mind trying to figure it out? Are we all just faking it, hoping to make it, as this living organism we call human?

In thousands of years, has the human truly evolved or is it only that we have changed the quality and quantity of the stuff we create.

Are we stuck in a continuous pattern of "a different face, a different place, same old thing?" 

Is it fear of living or fear of dying, or is it something else, that keeps us from experiencing true peace and joy in the world?

What is really holding humanity back?

Be Still

Be still.

Ride the breath of Life.

Move into the infinite space of All That Is.

You are the observer of Creation.

Creation is at the core of your Being.

Life is born from within you.

Every answer to every question is before you.

No surprises.

Wash away the illusions.

Look into the face of Truth.

Only Love is real.

It is the Joy of Being.

Be still and be Love.