Higher Awareness

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One step at a time

"What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step."

-- Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Does the prospect of changing and growing seem monumental to you? Just too much to tackle?

Then consider this approach. Take a simple step of affirming your openness to experience more or something new. Or a different first step might be to let go of judgment by embracing the neutral. Begin to see the people, activities and things around you as neither good nor bad.

A journey is made of many small steps. Don’t focus on a far-off destination if you’re not clear how to get there. Build a foundation that is solid for you. We get to new places one step at a time.

"You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."

-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"One may walk over the highest mountain one step at a time."

-- John Wanamaker

(C) Reproductions Permitted: www.higherawareness.com

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Feeling trapped? Slow down!

“If you're having difficulty coming up with new ideas, then slow down. For me, slowing down has been a tremendous source of creativity. It has allowed me to open up -- to know that there's life under the earth and that I have to let it come through me in a new way. Creativity exists in the present moment. You can't find it anywhere else.”

-- Natalie Goldberg

Feeling trapped in some way? Give yourself space. Space to do nothing but breathe. To intentionally relax those tight muscles. To just for a few precious minutes, let it all go.

The world will keep turning if you tune out for a short while. And your world will begin to recover its balance.

“It's important to be heroic, ambitious, productive, efficient, creative, and progressive, but these qualities don't necessarily nurture soul. The soul has different concerns, of equal value: downtime for reflection, conversation, and reverie; beauty that is captivating and pleasuring; relatedness to the environs and to people; and any animal’s rhythm of rest and activity.”

-- Thomas Moore

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Strengths and weaknesses

“The burden is equal to the horse’s strength.”

-- The Talmud

What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses?

If you make a list of the two and study them, you may discover they match.

Life needs us to bring our strengths to the world. To encourage us to do so, we have weaknesses that give rise to problems that require us to call on our strengths to solve them. Ingenious, don’t you think?

“Our weaknesses are divine gifts that when embraced will enable us to make our purposeful contribution to the whole, which is why we incarnated in the first place.”

-- Andrew Schneider

“We acquire the strength we have overcome.”

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Is your ego involved?

"There is no room for God in him who is full of himself."

-- Hasidic saying

On the spiritual path, we must be diligent to discriminate whether we are acting from ego or from soul. If ego is in charge, what we do is self-referencing. At the deepest levels, we are motivated by our own self-interest. We’re looking out for ourselves more than for others.

Although soul works through individuals, its focus is on the needs of others and on service to humanity.

“Do not feed your ego and your problems, with your attention. ...Slowly, surely, the ego will lose weight, until one fine day it will be nothing but a thin ghost of its former self. You will be able to see right through it, to the divine presence that shines in each of us.”

-- Eknath Easwaran

"Why aren't you happy? It's because ninety-nine percent of everything you do, and think, and say, is for yourself -- and there isn't one."

-- Wu Wei Wu

Love this quote. I have been accused of egotism because of my posting here on the site. Due to not being able to get out to meetings and my health issues, this is my way of doing service.

I do admit to having an ego the same as anyone else. I stood up in the front of my group sharing my story for a 3 year anniversary and said, "I just found out I have an ego. I was surprised, I thought it was a man thing." The looks were priceless!

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As an added thought, posting here is a way of getting out of self. Due to five labels of 5 types of arthritis, I suffer from chronic pain. When I am hurting, it often helps me to detach from it and come here and post or read old posts. I have always found that the answers are there if I look for them.

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Heal the past

"What you bring forth out of yourself from the inside will save you. What you do not bring forth out of yourself from the inside will destroy you."

-- Gospel of Thomas

We can transform painful memories by re-imagining them from the soul’s perspective of love and meaning.

Andrew Schneider says that all experiences have the purpose of serving the soul. An experience in the past blocked us because our fear at the time distorted our perception of what happened. To transform this limiting experience, we must bring what was then unconscious into the soul’s realm through consciousness.

We can do this by following these steps:

1. RECALL the past experience that might inhibit us.

2. OWN the experience (no judgment, blame, etc.).

3. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for it and the consequences (i.e., the experience was determined by my subjective perception of what occurred, dictated by my lack of wholeness -- specifically my fears).

4. GIVE IT MEANING (the soul was attempting to gain some kind of mastery or skill, but we didn’t know that at the time).

5. RE-IMAGINE it from the perspective of soul consciousness (showing its higher purpose).

"Letting go of our suffering is the hardest work we will ever do. It is also the most fruitful. To heal means to meet ourselves in a new way -- in the newness of each moment where all is possible and nothing is limited to the old."

-- Stephen Levine

This might not say Step Four but it is the same process needed to heal and the one I took to let go and heal my past. This is a mentaL, emotional, spiritual and physical disease and I had to work the Steps on all levels in order to heal. An emotional Step Four, a spiritual Step Four, etc.

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There's light in the darkness

"Each difficult moment has the potential to open my eyes and open my heart."

-- Myla Kabat-Zinn

“Even the most daring and accomplished people have undergone tremendous difficulty. In fact, the more successful they became, the more they attributed their success to the lessons learned during their most difficult times. Adversity is our teacher. When we view adversity as a guide towards greater inner growth, we will then learn to accept the wisdom our soul came into this life to learn.”

-- Barbara Rose

“No matter what difficulty you are facing, it is coming from Divine Light to bring you to a higher place within. Write down every conceivable reason that this situation can contribute towards your growth. Write down every way this experience can possibly set the stage for serving to uplift others. When you are complete, and have come to the other side of this experience, you will then know 'why' it happened.”

-- Barbara Rose

“The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one’s life.”

-- Dalai Lama

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It's okay to dream!

“Don’t discard your fantasies as merely wishful thinking. Honor them as messages from the deepest part of your being about what you can do and directions you can choose.”

-- Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer

What are your deepest heart-felt desires, dreams and visions?

Our deepest desires and dreams align with the essence of who we are. The more we align with that essence, the more our life holds meaning, purpose and fulfilment. Do you have a sense of your destiny?

"Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born."

-- Dale E. Turner

“Everybody builds a dream in their lifetime. You’re either going to build your dream, or somebody else's. So build your own!"

-- Christopher LaBrec

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Experience stillness

"My greatest wealth is the deep stillness in which I strive and grow and win what the world cannot take from me with fire or sword."

-- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

If our minds are always busy, they don’t get time to do basic maintenance – to sort, tidy up and take out the trash. If we don’t periodically clear out space in our minds, there’s no room for new ideas to take root.

Where do you find stillness each day and each week? Plan for quiet time, relaxation and stillness daily, even if it’s only for 5 or 10 minutes.

“For peace of mind, we need to resign as general manager of the universe.”

-- Larry Eisenberg

I believe the AA literature says we are to resign from the debatings society. I know I never had stillness until I could quiet my mind and get out of my own way and allow my HP to work through and in me.

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Who are you?

“Please… tell me who you are and what you want. And if you think those are simple questions, keep in mind that most people live their entire lives without arriving at an answer.”

-- Gary Zukav

How deeply can you answer this question? Please realize that you are the only one who can answer it. No one else can tell you who you are. You must discover this for yourself. And the challenge of knowing ourselves is no easy task.

We hope this question excites rather than intimidates you. There’s so much more to you than you know at present! Isn’t this intriguing? Perhaps it’s time to go exploring….

“Mysterious and intimidating to contemplate, the human brain is the most complex thing there is and the most difficult task it can undertake is to understand itself.”

-- David Noonan

“I don’t think God cares where we were graduated or what we did for a living. God wants to know who we are. Discovering this is the work of the soul – it is our true life’s work.”

-- Bernie Siegel

Learn to be aware

“You can live a lifetime and, at the end of it, know more about other people than you know about yourself.”

-- Beryl Markham

Who am I? To answer this, we must first learn to become more aware of ourselves. To be aware, we must STOP and PAY ATTENTION! We need to STOP and objectively watch ourselves in action.

We live most of our lives by habit. These habits keep us stuck in patterns that limit our experience of life. Once we detect a pattern we were previously unconscious of, we can choose differently, if we want. With awareness comes choice and with choice, we gain freedom.

“To be authentic is literally to be your own author …, to discover your own native energies and desires, and then to find your own way of acting on them.”

-- Warren G. Bennis

“Self-knowledge is the great power by which we comprehend and control our lives.”

-- Vernon Howard

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Focus on what you want

“A good intention clothes itself with power.?

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Our minds are incredibly powerful. We put that power to work for us when we consciously set an intention to be or do something. Get into the practice of consciously setting an intention for every activity in which you are involved.

Your intention might support efficiency ?for example, to complete a job or project by a specific time. Your intention might support your personal growth, e.g., to undertake a task that scares you. Or it might support more soul connection, e.g., to see beauty in the chaos of your day.

When we make an effort to set an intention, no matter how trivial it may appear, we are taking the time to choose what we want for ourselves. And clearly, this is essential for our growth ?to actively, thoughtfully choose what we want for ourselves.

“By becoming a conscious choice-maker, you begin to generate actions that are evolutionary for you.?

-- Deepak Chopra

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What wants to change?

"The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem."

-- Theodore Rubin

Our lives really begin to change when we learn to shift our perspective on ‘problems.’

From the spiritual perspective, problems offer our best path to growth. Like it or not, pain gets our attention. Pain also challenges the ego's perception that it is in complete control of life. This opens the door for soul’s guidance.

If we want to be rid of the pain, we must do the work that leads us to greater consciousness. Paradoxically, we can only get rid of the pain by moving through it.

The next time you feel “poor me,” stop and ask, “What needs to change? What does my soul want me to learn?”

“No one can go back and make a brand new start. Anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”

-- Source Unknown

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Open to the moment

“Why not concentrate on the now instead of hoping for better times in the future? Why not understand the now instead of forgetting it and hoping for the future? Isn’t the future just another trap?”

-- Anthony de Mello

Soul exists only in this moment. Every moment, no matter what the conditions, offers opportunities to touch and experience life in a new way. Our egos, with their fears and desires, easily get trapped in the past and the future, but the power to change exists only in this moment.

We don’t need to know more or have more before we can live more deeply. We simply need to pay attention to what’s happening now. To open without judgment to the worlds around and within us.

“Nothing is worth more than this day. You cannot relive yesterday. Tomorrow is still beyond your reach.”

-- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

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The challenge of relationships

"It doesn't much signify whom one marries, for one is sure to find out the next morning that it was someone else."

-- Samuel Rogers

Despite our passion for romantic love, relationships are not the easiest way to find love and peace. They are, however, one of the most effective for finding our blocks.

Relationships naturally bring out into full view our desires, attachments and unconscious programs – our likes, dislikes, belief systems, judgments, compulsions, conformities, etc. Relationships challenge us because they take us deep into thoughts, feelings and experiences we have suppressed for a lifetime. That’s why they provide the very best arena for personal growth!

“Human relationships are the perfect tool for sanding away our rough edges and getting at the core of divinity within us.”

-- Eknath Easwaran

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Discover the treasures inside

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.”

-- Denis Waitley

Peace, joy, health and well-being can only be found inside us. They exist within us now, waiting to be discovered. Yet we tend to look to the outside world to satisfy our needs and longings.

Our outer life reflects back to us the way we think, feel and behave. The outer world is all effects. Go to the source inside for all of life’s treasures.

How are you searching for peace and contentment outside of yourself?

"The great Western disease is, ‘I'll be happy when… When I get the money. When I get a BMW. When I get this job.’ Well, the reality is, you never get to when. The only way to find happiness is to understand that happiness is not out there. It's in here. And happiness is not next week. It's now."

-- Marshall Goldsmith

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Being genuine

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

When we don’t know who we are -- or if we are afraid to be who we are -- we betray ourselves. We pretend to be who we think we are. Our self image is made up of our experiences, desires and other people’s ideas and expectations of us.

Maintaining this false self is a betrayal of ourselves. In all deep spiritual journeys, there is the experience of betrayal. Betrayal always tells us to adjust our life to be more authentic. What we identify with is all important.

There are large betrayals (e.g., your partner leaving you) and small betrayals (e.g., disappointments). They are all experiences of being wounded for the purpose of breaking down the defenses of the personality. When we allow the wounding and accept the betrayals as divine gifts, we greatly benefit.

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

-- Dr. Seuss (via Elena)

“What you must dare is to be yourself.”

-- Dag Hammarskjold

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Struggling with money?

“Managing your money does not depend upon becoming wealthy or declaring vows of poverty. Rather, it is about creating stability and sufficiency – a balanced flow of monetary energy through your life.”

-- Dan Millman

What would it take to achieve financial stability and sufficiency in your life?

Look honestly at your life. How could you achieve financial stability and sufficiency? Would you need more income? Would you need to trim back your lifestyle? Would you achieve this by refusing to purchase on credit? What can you do now that would move you one step closer to having control over the money in your life?

“We can respond creatively to what we experience as life-depriving and become richer in spirit for having met the challenge.”

-- Tad Crawford

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Responsibility brings power

"To be tested is good. The challenged life may be the best therapist."

-- Gail Sheehy

What holds you back from being all that you are?

In your journal, list at least 5 things that hold you back.

Now review your answers. Have you blamed people or factors outside of yourself?

It's important to understand that ALL obstructions are rooted in our internal blocks. Even the problems that appear to be outside of us are only reflecting back to us problems we have inside. Once we address our inner issues, the outer problems disappear.

Be personally accountable for everything in your life and watch your perspectives shift. We claim our power when we accept responsibility for our lives.

"Conscious evolution begins as we take responsibility for clearing our own obstructions."

-- Dan Millman

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Personal Power

“The deep root of failure in our lives is to think, ‘Oh how useless and powerless I am.’ It is essential to think strongly and forcefully, ‘I can do it,’ without boasting or fretting.”

-- Dalai Lama

Angeles Arrien says that whether we are male or female, we need to develop three kinds of power. People who hold these three powers cannot be ignored.

1. Power of presence – Being really present in each moment
2. Power of communication – Speaking my truth
3. Power of position – Being willing to take a stand

“A man’s true state of power and riches is to be in himself.”

-- Henry Ward Beecher

“We are no longer puppets being manipulated by outside powerful forces; we become the powerful force ourselves.”

-- Leo Buscaglia

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Who sets the standards you live by?

“If I get to pick what I want to do, then it's play... if someone else tells me that I have to do it, then it's work.”

-- Patricia Nourot

Are you continually struggling to accomplish what is expected of you? If so, stop to think for a moment: who holds those expectations?

Perhaps you’re trying to meet the expectations of a parent or a teacher or other authority figures who may be long gone from your life. But many of us toil under the critical eyes of a vague ‘somebody’ who always judges that we’ve never done enough or done things well enough. Who is this phantom judge? And do we need to care about what they think any longer?

We find both our own power and happiness when we begin to set our own standards around what has heart and meaning for us.

“Doubt yourself and you doubt everything you see. Judge yourself and you see judges everywhere. But if you listen to the sound of your own voice, you can rise above doubt and judgment. And you can see forever.”

-- Nancy Lopez