Author: Sister Bridget Corfield

  • Gratitude from the Inside-Out

    Gratitude from the Inside-Out by T. Dorsey

    Being grateful for the good already in your life is a transformative energy that can bring more good your way.  Often referred to as the Attitude of Gratitude, it activates the universal principle, the Law of Attraction, which states, “Like attracts like.”  By putting your attention on the abundance already in your life,  you draw to you more abundance.

    However, when most people put their focus on existing prosperity, they usually list such things as family, friends, home, food etc.  This type of gratitude list consists of things external to the individual.  What are often omitted from such lists are those things internal to the individual.  I call it Gratitude from the Inside-Out. This type of  gratitude is as powerful(if not more so) than having thanksgiving for external things.

    Quiets Negative Self Talk
    I find that beginning my gratitude list with identifying my internal abundance ignites a powerful sense of self worth and self awareness. So often, we have within us an ongoing internal dialogue about the things we do not like about ourselves.  I call this voice the Internal Critic. Internally, we berate ourselves for not being good enough, not having enough, or not being deserving.   Listing the positive qualities that make you feel prosperous builds a strong counter-argument to the Internal Critic. The Gratitude from the Inside-Out List provides proof-positive that within you there is good. It is a testimony that you are worthy and deserving.

    Connects You to the Divine
    Gratitude from the Inside-Out strengthens your connection to the Divine.  Each one of us is an individual manifestation of the Divine.  Isn’t that what is meant by: “Man is made in the image and likeness of God?”

    The qualities of the Divine are also within in the individual. Think of it this way:  The Divine is the ocean. You are a drop of water from that ocean.  That drop of water contains the same properties found in the ocean.  The droplet is not as powerful as the ocean but contains similar qualities.  So the argument follows that if you express appreciation for what is within you, you are also expressing appreciation for the Divine.

    Additionally, the highest energy vibration is love.  Love is the energy that brings you closest to the Divine.  Gratitude from the Inside-Out is an expression of self- love.  Love of self is just as important as love of another.

    Self Love should not be confused with selfishness.  The latter is a derivative of the ego while the former derives from the heart.  The Gratitude from the Inside-Out is not about boasting and bragging. This gratitude list is about acknowledging and accentuating this truth:
    There is good in each one of us.

    Sample Gratitude from Inside-Out List
    So what might such a list look like? Here is a snippet of my Gratitude from the Inside Out List:

    •    I give thanks for my compassion for others
    •    I am grateful I am a good listener
    •    I am thankful I am caring
    •    I am grateful that my mind and body are strong
    •    I am thankful I am a good provider for my daughter

    To intensify the transformative energy that this gratitude list can create in your life, write the list and then speak it aloud while looking in a mirror.  Be sure to look directly into your eyes as you recite the list aloud.  This exercise often can be very moving and healing.

    Here again are the benefits of the Gratitude from the Inside-Out List:

    •    Activates the Law of Attraction
    •    Attracts More Abundance
    •    Quiets Negative Internal Voice
    •    Reinforces your Connection to the Divine
    •    Promotes Self Love

    In gratitude,

    T. Dorsey is an author, performing and teaching artist who uses stories, poetry and songs to inspire and heal others. After many years in corporate America, she followed her heart and stepped out on faith. T. Dorsey’s e-book, Journey to Purpose: Simple Guide to Discovering Your Life Purpose (http://www.JourneytoPurpose.net) is powerful tool that can help you find your life calling. 

  • Earth Hour is Coming! 8p-9pm March 29, 2008

    Our environment is so important! Join in this year’s EARTH HOUR event to help bring awareness about global climate change. Sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund.

    Turn your lights out for one hour on March 29th from 8-9pm.


    Earth Hour: March 29, 2008
    8 – 9 PM

    – Cities
    around the world will join together in literally turning off the lights
    for one hour to offer leadership and symbolize their commitment to
    finding climate change solutions.
    – Lights will be turned off at iconic buildings and national landmarks from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

    – Local businesses and restaurants will also be asked to turn off their lights.

    –
    People at home can take advantage of the hour by replacing their
    standard light bulbs with energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.

    I hope some of you join in, and share how you celebrated in the comments here 😉

    Light and Love,

    Sister Bridget


    Blog_ehlogo_2

     


  • If you need some ideas, click here. Also…..
  • You don’t have to sit alone in the dark.
    Talking about protecting the planet for future generations can make for
    a very pleasant evening. Couple your conversation with some organic
    chocolate (dark, of course!) and make Earth Hour a night to remember.
  • Earth Hour is on a Saturday night.
    If the weather’s good, try a picnic under the stars. Ask your favorite
    restaurant or bar to dim their lights and participate in Earth Hour.
    And if you’ll be at work, take a look at our tips for businesses and
    restaurants.
  • Plan a get-dark party for Earth Hour.
    The younger crowd can host a slumber party complete with scary stories,
    hold an acoustical jam session or bring friends together to do some
    dancing in the dark. Don’t worry about decorations–it will be dark!
  • Check in with a local astronomy club about star gazing events. The night sky provides its own light show–and here’s your chance to take a break and soak up the view.
  • You can still text in the dark.
    Make a list of all the ways you are going to reduce your energy
    consumption: unplug unused appliances; change to compact fluorescent
    bulbs; properly inflate tires; adjust your thermostat. Text your list
    to others and challenge them to make their own lists. Check other lists
    for ideas you may have forgotten.

    		•

  • How Does Reiki Work?

    Next in the few articles about reiki this week. I hope you are enjoying them. Please be sure to check out the ICRT website for more infomation about classes, and they have LOADS of free articles as well. Light and Love, Sister Bridget

    How Does Reiki Work?

    We are alive because life force is flowing through us. Life force flows within the physical body though pathways called chakras, meridians and nadis. It also flows around us in a field of energy called the aura. Life force nourishes the organs and cells of the body, supporting them in their vital functions. When this flow of life force is disrupted, it causes diminished function in one or more of the organs and tissues of the physical body.

    The life force is responsive to thoughts and feelings. It becomes disrupted when we accept, either consciously or unconsciously, negative thoughts or feelings about ourselves. These negative thoughts and feelings attach themselves to the energy field and cause a disruption in the flow of life force. This diminishes the vital function of the organs and cells of the physical body.

    Reiki heals by flowing through the affected parts of the energy field and charging them with positive energy. It raises the vibratory level of the energy field in and around the physical body where the negative thoughts and feelings are attached. This causes the negative energy to break apart and fall away. In so doing, Reiki clears, straightens and heals the energy pathways, thus allowing the life force to flow in a healthy and natural way.

    Do All Healers Use Reiki?

    All healers use life force or Ki, but not all use Reiki. Reiki is a special kind of life force that can only be channeled by someone that has been attuned to it. It is possible that some people are born with Reiki or have gotten it some other way. However, most healers who have not received the Reiki attunement from a Reiki Master are not using Reiki but another kind of life force. People who already do healing work consistently report an increase of at least fifty percent in the strength of their healing energies after taking the Reiki training.

    This was verified for me when I first began teaching Reiki. There were two clairvoyant healers I knew who had highly developed abilities. They could easily see the life force flowing through a person’s body, as well as see the aura and chakras. They could also communicate with a person’s guides and Higher Self. They were adept at moving negative psychic energy out of the body as well as channeling healing energies. In my twenty years of metaphysical work, they were the most accurate and effective psychic healers I had met.

    They told me later they had doubted there was anything I was teaching they couldn’t already do, but that they took the Reiki training anyway, simply to support me in my new work. After the attunement, they were amazed at the difference they could feel between the healing energies they had been using and Reiki. They said the Reiki energies were more powerful and of a much higher frequency. They noted also that Reiki didn’t have to be guided like the other healing energies they were using, and that the Reiki energies began flowing without having to enter an altered state. They also indicated the attunement process itself was a powerful healing experience, releasing restrictions relating to their healing work they had unknowingly acquired when they were healers in past lives. They were very pleased they had taken the class.

    Reiki Can Never Cause Harm

    Because Reiki is guided by the God-consciousness, it can never do harm. It always knows what a person needs and will adjust itself to create the effect that is appropriate for them. One never need worry about whether to give Reiki or not. It is always helpful.

    In addition, because the practitioner does not direct the healing and does not decide what to work on, or what to heal, the practitioner is not in danger of taking on the karma of the client. Because the practitioner is not doing the healing, it is also much easier for the ego to stay out of the way and allow the presence of God to clearly shine through.

    Energy is Never Depleted

    Because it is a channeled healing, the Reiki practitioner’s energies are never depleted. In fact, the Reiki consciousness considers both practitioner and client to be in need of healing, so both receive treatment. Because of this, giving a treatment always increases one’s energy and leaves one surrounded with loving feelings of well-being.

    The above text is excerpted from Reiki, the Healing Touch by William Lee Rand.

  • What is Reiki?

    So, I have been trying for a while now to gather up a few posts about Reiki. I know I mentioned this last year, and then one thing lead to another, and I got a little obsessed about "takin’ out the trash", and then there was Febuary, so, now here we are and Im finally  going to do it. Anyhow, this week look for infomation about Reiki, with articles coming from the International Center for Reiki Training (ICRT is found at reiki.org ) I have taken all of my classes and attunements from ICRT certified teachers. They have the highest teaching standard and deliver extremely powerful attunements 😉 If you have any interest in learning reiki, be sure to seek out a ICRT certified instructor. You will be very glad that you did.

    Light and Love, Sister Bridget

    A Brief Overview

    Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by "laying on hands" and is based on the idea that an unseen "life force energy" flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one’s "life force energy" is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy.

    The word Reiki is made of two Japanese words – Rei which means "God’s Wisdom or the Higher Power" and Ki which is "life force energy". So Reiki is actually "spiritually guided life force energy."

    A treatment feels like a wonderful glowing radiance that flows through and around you. Reiki treats the whole person including body, emotions, mind and spirit creating many beneficial effects that include relaxation and feelings of peace, security and wellbeing. Many have reported miraculous results.

    Reiki is a simple, natural and safe method of spiritual healing and self-improvement that everyone can use. It has been effective in helping virtually every known illness and malady and always creates a beneficial effect. It also works in conjunction with all other medical or therapeutic techniques to relieve side effects and promote recovery.

    An amazingly simple technique to learn, the ability to use Reiki is not taught in the usual sense, but is transferred to the student during a Reiki class. This ability is passed on during an "attunement" given by a Reiki master and allows the student to tap into an unlimited supply of "life force energy" to improve one’s health and enhance the quality of life.

    Its use is not dependent on one’s intellectual capacity or spiritual development and therefore is available to everyone. It has been successfully taught to thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds.

    While Reiki is spiritual in nature, it is not a religion. It has no dogma, and there is nothing you must believe in order to learn and use Reiki. In fact, Reiki is not dependent on belief at all and will work whether you believe in it or not. Because Reiki comes from God, many people find that using Reiki puts them more in touch with the experience of their religion rather than having only an intellectual concept of it.

    While Reiki is not a religion, it is still important to live and act in a way that promotes harmony with others., Dr Mikau Usui , the founder of the Reiki system of natural healing, recommended that one practice certain simple ethical ideals to promote peace and harmony, which are nearly universal across all cultures.

    During a meditation several years after developing Reiki, Dr. Usui decided to add the Reiki Ideals to the practice of Reiki. The Ideals came in part from the five prinicples of the Meiji emperor of Japan whom Dr. Usui admired. The Ideals were developed to add spiritual balance to Usui Reiki. Their purpose is to help people realize that healing the spirit by consciously deciding to improve oneself is a necessary part of the Reiki healing experience. In order for the Reiki healing energies to have lasting results, the client must accept responsibility for her or his healing and take an active part in it. Therefore, the Usui system of Reiki is more than the use of the Reiki energy. It must also include an active commitment to improve oneself in order for it to be a complete system. The ideals are both guidelines for living a gracious life and virtues worthy of practice for their inherent value.

    The secret art of inviting happiness
    The miraculous medicine of all diseases
    Just for today, do not anger
    Do not worry and be filled with gratitude
    Devote yourself to your work. Be kind to people.
    Every morning and evening, join your hands in prayer.
    Pray these words to your heart
    and chant these words with your mouth
    Usui Reiki Treatment for the improvement of body and mind
    The founder , Usui Mikao

    Reiki classes are taught all over the country and in many parts of the world. If you are interested in learning Reiki, please check www.reiki.org

  • Anam Cara – redux

    I know I have posted about this book before — Anam Cara — A book of Celtic Wisdom — by John O’Donohue.  A little while ago Ient my copy of this to someone at work. And while I was poking around Amazon the other day, I went and ordered myself another copy. I got a copy for 99cents plus shipping…who can beat that??? Anyway, when I got home from work today, my copy had arrived. It being St Paddies day and all, I thought maybe I should spend a few minutes with it! So, I bundled up and grabbed my book and sat on the deck, trying to get just a SMIDGE of vitamin D, and when I opened the book, this is what I saw…….

    A Blessing of Solitude

    May you recognise in your life the presence, power, and light of your soul.

    May you realize that you are never alone, that your soul in its brightness and belonging, connects you intimately with the rythm of the universe.

    May you have respect for your own individuality, and difference.

    May you realize that the shape of your soul is unique, that you have a special destiny here, that behind the facade of your life there is something beautiful, good, and eternal happening.

    May you learn to see yourself with the same delight , pride, and expectation with which God sees you in every moment.

    Light and Love

    Sister Bridget

    Celt

  • Happy St Patrick’s Day!

    St_patrickbanising_snakeslarge_2  Happy St. Patrick’s Day , Everyone!

      Leaving good Damballah an offering of any white food could be a great way to get the celebration started.

    There are many legends and stories of St. Patrick, here’s his story.

    Patrick was born around 385 in Scotland, probably Kilpatrick. His parents were Calpurnius and Conchessa, who were Romans living in Britian in charge of the colonies.   As a boy of fourteen or so, he was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. Ireland at this time was a land of Druids and pagans. He learned the language and practices of the people who held him.   During his captivity, he turned to God in prayer. He wrote "The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was rosed, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same." "I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain."   Patrick’s captivity lasted until he was twenty, when he escaped after having a dream from God in which he was told to leave Ireland by going to the coast. There he found some sailors who took him back to Britian, where he reunited with his family. He had another dream in which the people of Ireland were calling out to him "We beg you, holy youth, to come and walk among us once more." He began his studies for the priesthood. He was ordained by St. Germanus, the Bishop of Auxerre, whom he had studied under for years. Later, Patrick was ordained a bishop, and was sent to take the Gospel to Ireland.

    I found some lovely prayers to St. Patrick as well.

    Dont drink too much green beer!

    Light and Love, Sister Bridget

  • Card of the Week for March 16th!

    OK, first things first! THANK YOU ALL for your wonderful comments and participation in this activity! I am sooooo jazzed up about this! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for joining in!

    I had such a hard time picking out one comment that stood out above the others. They were all so wonderful and insightful. So, I decided that I would put everyone’s name in a hat and draw out the winner of the free reading. Actually, I think I will do this every week now, because it just seems like its going to be tough to pick out one comment from so many great ones.

    So…drum roll please…….

    This weeks winner of the 5 card reading is J.C.  !

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Now, the card for next week comes from the same deck as last week — Wisdom for Healing Cards by Caroline Myss. BTW, have you ever check out Caroline’s website?  Lots of great articles and free video and audio lectures to be watched and listened too. Great way to while away the hours on a cold winter afternoon!

    This weeks card (I swear this is the card I pulled from the center of the deck…..) :

    Release the need to Complain

    Today’s lesson: Honestly assess whether you’re a complainer. No matter whether you share complaints with others or keep them to yourself, this tendency is a way of looking at a situation without seeing  the potential blessings. Your goal: to release the prediliction to complain, and instead, see the positive side of things.

    So, please feel free to comment on your thoughts about this card and how its advice effects you in the coming week. Comment and get entered to win a free reading.

    Light and Love

    Sister Bridget

    Wisdom for Healing Cards

  • Gratitude Affirmations!

    To summarize all the powerful effects of gratitude, these are:

    • Puts you in the vibration or energy of your desires fulfilled, making you a stronger point of attraction for their manifestation

    • Brings completion in advance, convincing the subconscious mind to deliver this imagined reality (recall that the subconscious mind makes no distinction between the actual and the imagined)

    • Dissolves internal resistances that lock in dysfunction and what is not wanted, so that change is made possible

    • Confers inner freedom to your being, as you are accepting and a ‘fluid’ energy able to move easily with life

    • Speeds up learning so you can move on in life

    • Puts you in vibrational harmony with the best outcomes in all situations, so that you’re choosing blessings rather than lessons

    • Harmonizes you with the Thinking Substance and the Mind the God, drawing you near to the source of all blessings

    • Gives back to the universe so that balance is maintained at all times (leaving you free of involvement to restore balance, i.e. karma)

    • Confers wholeness and a state of inner peace, which promotes healing

    • As a force of unconditional love, it activates the hidden workings of the cause and effect of love that operate in the universe, which is expressed in life as being in the grace of God

    Below is a set of gratitude affirmations that will help you develop an attitude of gratitude, which can accelerate the manifestation cycle for you.  These affirmations may be enhanced with the Affirmation Enhancer Tool, which is like ‘etheric software’ that contains clearing and rescripting protocols that clears all that stands in the way of integrating an affirmation energetically and awakening to the co-creative power inherent in the divine self and to a deep understanding of our divine right and our responsibility to manifest our life according to our true desires. The Tool enables a person to embody the energy of the affirmation instantaneously, at deep levels of being. It does this by dissolving the back-wash of opposing thoughts, hidden agendas and unmet needs that often underlie affirmations, cleansing the subconscious mind of all memories, programs and patterns that do not support the affirmation, releasing emotional and mental body patterns and programs that support the denial of the affirmation, and infusing the body, heart, mind and soul with divine ideal traits that will support deep integration of the truth of the affirmation. Accelerated manifestation is further enhanced by the creation of an imagination in the auric field that acts as future potential drawing a person to that affirmed reality that has been purified of hidden intent.

    Gratitude Affirmations:.

    1. I AM blessed in so many ways and am deeply grateful
    2. I AM grateful for my life and growing consciousness within it
    3. I AM profoundly grateful for the power granted me to command the formless intelligence all around me.
    4. The more grateful I am, the more my soul may live in close touch with God.
    5. My soul continuously rejoices and unites with my experience as I engage in gratitude.
    6. Gratitude opens the door for my essence to flow through my life, and spirit blessings to pour into all that I choose to create.
    7. Gratefulness is how I return energy to the universe for the bounty I am blessed with.
    8. The more grateful I am, the more blessed I am.
    9. The more grateful I am, the more connected I am to the source and power of creation.
    10. I am deeply grateful to the Creator who wants me to thrive in life.
    11. I now immerse in gratitude and cultivate it as a habit.
    12. In profound gratitude, I am in a harmonious relationship with the formless Substance out of which my life emerges. 
    13. By my gratitude, I am close to the source of abundance.
    14. My subconscious mind is continually finding things that I am grateful for.
    15. In my sleep, I am continually fed inspirations to support me to develop a habit of gratitude in life.
    16. I am able and willing to embrace all experiences and derive the gifts they hold for me. 
    17. I am grateful for life hugging me in a perfect reflective way.
    18. I release all resistance to any part of my life and accept it all, knowing it is there as ‘love in action’.
    19. I release all bitterness, resentment and dissatisfaction that I may see the blessings I’ve missed.
    20. In gratitude I am at peace with my life and able to withdraw from non-serving energies and focus wholly on creating wonderful things in great joy and expectancy.
    21. In gratitude I am fluid energy able to move easily with life and direct it according to my desires born of love.
    22. In gratitude I am inwardly free and unattached to specific outcomes; everything that comes to me is imbued with divine wisdom.
    23. With a grateful heart I see opportunities for growth and joy everywhere.
    24. My gratitude reaches God and God moves towards me.
    25. My gratitude reaches the source of abundance and the source rushes towards me.
    26. In gratitude, I love unconditionally and become infinite being with infinite potential.
    27. I am capable of doing what I do because others have come before me. I am grateful for the world I see.
    28. I engage and enjoy the luminous divine Essence in all who enter my life.
    29. I am grateful for all the players in my life. Everyone in my life is “love in action”.
    30. I appreciate all people in my life, for each one brings an opportunity for learning to me.
    31. I now experience being fully supported by everyone in my life.
    32. I am strongly and constantly grateful for all that is in my life.
    33. Gratitude keeps me connected to the power of the universe.
    34. Gratitude is love, and my heart opens to receive all the blessings coming my way.
    35. The grateful mind focuses on the best.
    36. I focus on the best in everything and everyone, and the best appears abundantly for me.
    37. My life is the image of what I give attention to. What a wonderful experience!
    38. I am thinking Substance taking the form of what I think about.
    39. I am a lucid dreamer, dreaming wonderful possibilities and potentials.
    40. The grateful mind expects the best.
    41. I continually expect the best in everything and everyone who enters my life.
    42. I am profoundly connected to the source and power of life through the love that I am.
    43. I am profoundly connected to the source and power of life through continual gratitude.
    44. I breathe in the beauty, abundance and goodness of life; it abounds.
    45. I see only abundance and supply all around me; how wonderful to be alive.
    46. I am loved my God and in deep gratefulness, I allow myself to take this love in deeply.
    47. Before going to sleep, I release all idle thoughts and focus on all my blessings.
    48. As I count my blessings, my blessings grow.
    49. As I am grateful to others, they are gracious to me.
    50. In gratefulness, I give back to the universe and I am fulfilled.
    51. Being in gratitude is heavenly.
    52. In gratitude I am in harmony with the creative energies of the universe.
    53. By continual gratitude, I am open to receiving God’s grace.
    54. I am deeply and continuously grateful, and thereby I align to the outcomes of greatest blessing.
    55. I am grateful and thereby allow more supply into my life for which to be grateful!
    56. I release all concern as to how to feed, clothe, or supply my world, and turn all my thoughts to expressing the love that I am in freedom and joy.
    57. The grateful mind expands to embrace even more of the blessings of life—I am continuously grateful and expanding.
    58. I dwell only on the best and the blessings, and I become the best, blessed, and a blessing unto others.
    59. Faith is born of gratitude; I have faith and am filled with joyous expectancy.
    60. I continuously expect great things and am deeply grateful in advance.
    61. I am so grateful to be alive!

    Anita Briggs writes articles about The Spirituality of Wealth, a program to develop the consciousness of abundance that contains activations of the Inner Mastery Tools and the Affirmation Enhancer Tool. Other articles written by the author related to affirmation can be found on the web.

  • Belief Systems, Attitude and Change by Jan Engels Smith

    This is a great article about core beliefs and using morning intentions and affirmations to help change your life! Hope you find it as wonderful as I did! Light and Love, Sister Bridget

    Belief Systems, Attitude and Change by Jan Engels Smith

    I, like many, spent several years in therapy. I had varying degrees of success, but I still viewed my childhood as something that wounded me terribly. I spent much of my adult life healing.

    I was in a workshop, one day, and we were asked to come up with a happy memory from our childhood and to hold it in our minds as we continued with the exercise. I searched and searched for a happy memory. If an event presented itself with even an inkling of happiness, it proceeded to run itself out in my mind to a disastrously unhappy conclusion. I had no purely happy memory. I, of course, felt like I was the only person in the whole group who could not get a happy memory, which magnified my unworthiness issues. It was awful. I realized that instead of healing in my years of therapy, I had learned to understand what had happened at an intellectual and behavioral level, but I was still feeling much pain. I had a hole in my soul, and my spirit felt fragmented. As time went on, my spiritual life developed more, and I was introduced to extremely different philosophies from those I had been raised with. New awareness filled my being. I started to understand that I had choice in this earth-walk, and that the experiences I had as a child were ones I had chosen in order to develop my soul and myself.

    I began to review my life from the perspective of choice. I had the choice to view my life’s experiences with judgments of blame and remorse, or to view them as opportunities for growth. Eventually I saw the bigger picture of my life’s experiences. This "eagle vision," as I was later taught to call it, is the ability to see personal experiences distantly but holistically.

    What was my soul working on in this lifetime? What were the patterns? What was I continually recreating in my life at a subconscious level that allowed me the opportunity to choose a higher level of being? Was my soul evolving in a good way, or was I stuck in my own predetermined drama? Bitterness, victimization, anger, and grudges are all choices that trap the soul and prevent it from growing. They inhibit the soul like a jail inhibits freedom. Understanding this, I consciously chose to see my entire childhood differently and to view my life as experiences that promoted the choice for my soul to evolve into a higher state of being.

    Years later, I found myself in a group setting again. This time, we were asked to write a story about an event in our childhood. I know that the intention of this assignment was to process again the events that had led us all to counseling. But this time I had a totally different perspective.

    I wrote a story about a great fishing trip we had taken as a family and how much fun we had, how my family had such a spirit of adventure, and how many fabulous opportunities I had as a child. It was amazing what poured out of me. I had such a profound realization. I knew that my past had not changed, but my perspective on it had. The American psychologist William James once observed, "People can alter their lives by altering their attitudes." Those unhappy negative experiences, which I had dwelled on for so many years, took on the new flavor of being opportunities to learn how to love myself and others, how to claim my own worthiness, how to step away from the judgments of what others had done to me, and how to be thankful for the success in developing my own soul.

    This was a huge step forward in my own development. It was not the writing assignment that caused this shift in focus, but it brought it to my awareness. In the time between the two workshops, I had chosen to change my belief system. I had adopted a philosophy that created healing. With this shift in my perception, I was able to internalize at an intellectual, emotional, behavioral, and spiritual level. My life has been extremely different ever since.

    Another powerful example of attitude occurred when I was working with a client. I greeted my client as he arrived for his appointment, and realized immediately that he had a severe problem. His head was down, and his arms dangled at his sides. He was completely slumped over, and his eyes were closed. When I asked what was wrong, I received no answer. He came through the door, slowly, very slowly, dragging his feet and holding on to the railing with extreme effort and difficulty. It took him fifteen minutes to get in the door and to the chair in my office where he finally collapsed.

    Eyes still closed, slumped in the chair to almost a fetal position, chin resting on his chest. He sat exhausted from the effort of entering my office. I was being shown, quite literally, how terrible he felt-the fatigue, the pain, the exhaustion of movement, the weariness of being alive. I watched him with concern. After a few moments of sitting in silence and listening to his arduous breathing, I asked a few questions but got a barely audible response, "I can’t, it is too hard."

    I finally asked my client to say the words, "I can" for one minute. I said with authority, "Begin."

    He started mumbling the words, slowly repeating the phrase as directed. After about 25 seconds, he opened his eyes and his body started to move. His shoulders came up, he straightened his back, his head came up, and he actually looked at me. His voice was now stronger and clearer. At the end of the minute, his entire attitude, disposition, and posture had changed. It was amazing.

    We then talked about what had created his burden of depression. It was fear-his fear of the future and of not being able to handle the changes and the challenges confronting him. His fear monopolized his thoughts, literally crippling him with fatigue. He had been saying, "I can’t, I can’t, I can’t," and those words were destroying his life.

    This simple experiment to change the negative thought and the words he was saying to himself, changed his entire energy. My client literally transformed in front of my eyes. His life situation was still physically the same, but his attitude toward it was different. We continued the session with a new hope.

    Granted, this did not solve his problems, but it confronted the "I can’t" attitude, which was destroying his life. He had been physically displaying the manifestation of his thoughts. I had a choice either to enable his woe, comforting his obvious distress, or remind him of his other choice. The task was not mine, but his. He had to experience firsthand the power of his thoughts and how he could be in control. His physical condition was in direct response to what he had been saying to himself.          Thoughts will either support you or destroy you. Try the following experiment with yourself:

    Every morning when you wake up start saying,"I can"

    Jan promotes self-healing, empowerment, better communities, a healthier world and conducts workshops for shamanism and journeying. Jan’s a Licensed Counselor and shamanic practitioner. She’s done over two thousand soul retrievals. She is the founder of LightSong School of Shamanic Studies, a Chemical Dependency Specialist, and Marriage and Family Therapist. She is also a water pourer for sweat lodge, a minister, a Reiki Master.

  • Mambo’s Blog — Pink Bubble Meditation!

    Hey,

    If this somehow got by you, please go check out this post on Mambo Sam’s Blog! It fits right in with our card of the week !

    Light and Love

    Sister Bridget