The Global Conversation

Tag: co-create our reality

  • Upon second thought

    Thoughts are creative.

    “Does this mean all of our thoughts? Every single thing we think, every minute, all day long?

    No. And it is important to understand this.  Otherwise we’ll wind up making our-selves crazy, trying to monitor every single thought that runs through our mind.

    And that is an interesting phrase: “runs through.”  If a thought “runs through” your Mind, it does just that.  It runs through.

    MOST thoughts DO that. They run through our mind like water through a sieve.  Such thoughts have very little creative power.  They’re moving through our Mind too quickly to build up enough energy to impact physicality.

    It is only those thoughts that stick in our Mind that have power.  What gives our thoughts power is the repeated thinking of them.

    This places energy upon energy, building it up until it really MATTERS.  That is: energy becomes physical matter.

    SO!!!… if you notice that an idea is running through your Mind that you don’t like…. DON’T GIVE IT A SECOND THOUGHT. I mean that literally!

    It’s your second thought that gives it power. (To say nothing of your third, fourth, and fifth thought.)  If you repeatedly think something, you can be sure that you are magnifying its power.

    This is the same thing as a thought being held in Mind not only ONCE… but by A LOT OF PEOPLE at the SAME TIME. This, too, magnifies the power of thought.

    That is why collective prayer works.”  Neale Donald Walsch.

    Cravings, urges, compulsions, and obsessions are nothing more than our minds giving second, third, fourth, fifth etc… thoughts to an idea that should have just ran through our mind.  When we can harness the power of recognizing a thought that no longer represents who we say we are, and make a decision not to pay attention to it, we remove energy from the negative and turn it into a positive.

    And it is what we are Be-ing that is so very important in our existence here.  Most of us think we are doing sobriety and that can indicate that sobriety is only a temporary state for us.  When we decide it is our state of BEING, it becomes a permanent character attribute, one that we should wear on our sleeves so to speak.

    Creating successful transformations from any patterned behavior requires an initial period of discipline before the newly chosen behavior becomes the norm.  We perform regular functions so often, many times we find we do them without even thinking about them.

    This is what I have found to be true of recovery.  In the beginning I would entertain thoughts of using.  What kept me from acting those out?  I was also learning new behavior at the time.  The new behavior I was learning was to seek help with my thinking problem.  Sharing with other like-minded people, that I was having these thoughts, removed the power from them.

    Over time, many months to over a year, the thoughts of using drugs or alcohol became less and less.  To the point where, I can honestly say, I do not think about that anymore — ever.  I am keenly aware, however, that the absence of cravings or obsession does not make me somehow “fixed” of my addictive nature.

    You can see why a program of recovery from addictive or compulsive behaviors suggests that a person go to meetings on a daily basis.  When we place our-selves in the rooms with other like-minded people, we are not only building energy upon our new sober thinking, but we are using the collective thoughts of the group to strengthen our resolve.

    In order to manifest your hearts desires you must follow some simple steps.

    1. You must believe it is possible.
    2. You must acknowledge you are capable of creating it.
    3. You must set your thoughts in motion to creating this.
    4. You must be disciplined in keeping your mind focused on the task.
    5. Keeping in mind there is no such thing as time; remember to be grateful that what you wish already exists.  In the program we call this “acting as if.”

    Many times we allow our impatience to sidetrack us from our goals.  We tire of all the work and no apparent movement towards our respective task.  Ultimately, we give up and say things like, “oh well, it just wasn’t meant to be.”  I call hogwash on the concept of “meant to be.”  If some things are “meant to be”, then, others would be “not meant to be.”

    If that is the case then we really do not have free will and we are simply the pawn in some sick twisted game being played out by a higher life form.  If you believe the latter, you may want to ask yourself; what would the purpose of physicality be for the creator of all of this?

    I am aware of the challenges of being disciplined in our thoughts.  Negativity can creep in and  take  way our momentum.  I find a few things can help to keep us on our path.

    • Having a vision board
    • Having an accountability buddy
    • Being involved in a group of like-minded people.
    • Starting the day with a reminder that what you wish is already in existence
    • Ending the day with thanks for the experience of the journey
    • Taking at least one action per day towards your goal

    These are just a few of the ways we can remain true to our commitments.  If you have others please feel free to share them in the comments section below.  What works for you?  What hasn’t worked?  How can we support you?  How can you support us?

    (Kevin McCormack, C.A.d ,is a certified addictions professional and auriculotherapist.  He is a recovering addict with 26 years of sobriety. Kevin is a practicing auriculotherapist, life coach, and interventionist specializing in individual and family recovery and also co-facilitates spiritual recovery retreats for the CWG foundation.  You can visit his website here for more information. To connect with Kevin, please email him at Kevin@TheGlobalConversation.com)

  • What does a friend say?

    A good friend of mine is going through some major changes in her life – angry separation from family, decrease in career/income, and her gentleman friend called and told her he’d found someone new.

    She’s in a panic and turning to me and another good friend for support.  I offered her the WECCE book, which she started to read and then put down.  At this time she’s in no mood to hear that these changes may be for her own good and/or that she created them.

    I want to support her, but am unsure what to say to her or do for her.   I cannot in honesty say “poor dear”, because I DO believe WECCE (it’s worked in my life many times).  I can agree with her that it’s a frightening and sad time for her, but she’s not ready to hear that the choice not to be frightened and sad has to come from within herself.

    I’ve told her that I know (from experience) that there’s really nothing I can say to make her feel better, that’s a decision she must make for herself.  But that I will support her totally in her choices to create the life she really wants, and that I love her.

    At one point in WECCE Neil says to stay with a feeling until it no longer serves you.  Maybe that’s what she’s doing – staying with the saddness, anger and fear until it no longer serves?  Then when she asks for help, what does a friend say?

    Thanks, K

    Dear K,

    You have given her the book, and when/if it is time for her to read it, she will.  How lucky she is to have a friend like you who cares enough to not just talk, but to give tools!

    There is nothing wrong, by the way, with saying, “poor dear” to her at this point in her changes, K.  This human experience is all too real and all too painful, more so for some than others.  Saying “poor dear” now, does not mean that you must continue to do so, which would, of course, be enabling her to not even consider changing her mind about what is going on.  So, yes, for now she must experience sadness, anger and fear until it no longer serves her…but, of course, everything does eventually serve.

    The mistake that your friend may be making, regarding the “she created them” statements in the book, is forgetting that we are co-creators…and even then we are co-creating on a Soul level, and for a Soul purpose!  We most often have no direct control over the total picture, because we are rarely alone in that picture!  However, and this is the big “however”, we do have control over our own reactions to the events of our lives.  The big lie, if you will, is that we can not consciously control who we are, in any given situation.  WECCE, as you know, gives us tools on how to do just that.  It gives us tools to overcome past data and become conscious co-creators and not victims.  The biggest example I give is Nelson Mandella.  He was in prison for many years, unjustly, and yet he knew that this was just his external circumstance, and that it had nothing to do with who he really is.  The same can be said of Jesus, or Ghandi, and many others.  There were surely people in that same prison with Mandella, imprisoned falsely, who thought of themselves as victims.  The two thieves on the cross with Jesus…one found gratitude and love, the other stayed in victimhood.  They each made a choice.

    You might consider, when you are around your friend, and she is negative and in victim mode, asking her gentle questions and gently pointing out different ways of looking at things.  For instance, when she points out how horrible her boyfriend is, you might ask her if it isn’t a good thing that he isn’t lying to her any more so she can move on with her life in truth…or if it isn’t a good thing that she isn’t taking any more risk of disease.  I am sure you get where I am going.  There is always a positive side, if one is willing to change their mind.

    Of course, if the negativity continues, it may come to the point you refer to above, and you simply have to say, “I can see that you are hurting, but I can also see that none of the things that I have said mean anything to you right now.  I would like you to find the help and support you require, but it is clearly not coming from me right now.  I love you, and will be here when you think I can really be of help to you, but I can’t just sit here and let you live in misery and enable you to do so.”

    I would encourage you to encourage her to look at what fear (panic) is doing to her, and see that it doesn’t really serve her in the way she might think it is serving her.  Those are emotions that only cause us to stay in place, whilst looking backward with longing…but she can change her mind about her future!

    Thank you for coming here, and thank you for being a good friend, K!

    Therese

     

    (Therese Wilson is a published poet, and is the administrator of the global website at www.cwghelpingoutreach.com  She may be contacted at:                                                              Therese@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

    (If you would like a question considered for publication, please submit your request to Advice@TheGlobalConversation.com, where our team is waiting to hear from you.)

    An additional resource:  The CWG Helping Outreach offers spiritual assistance from a team of non-professional/volunteer Spiritual Helpers responding to every post from readers within 24 hours or less. Nothing on the CCN site should be construed or is intended to take the place of or be in any way similar to professional therapeutic or counseling services.  The site functions with the gracious willing assistance of lay persons without credentials or experience in the helping professions.  What these volunteers possess is an awareness of the theology of Conversations with God.  It is from this context that they offer insight, suggestions, and spiritual support during moments of unbidden, unexpected, or unwelcome change on the journey of life.

  • Your season

    “To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind
    than to be hopelessly in love with spring” ~ George Santayana

    At this time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere it is wonderful to see buds tentatively expose themselves to the elements, taking their first step in the journey to full bloom. It is also lovely for us, not only because it announces the arrival of spring, but because it reminds us what this time of year—spring in the Northern Hemisphere, autumn in the Southern Hemisphere—can mean to everyone.

    We often hear about the “seasons of life,” like middle-age that is referred to as “autumn,” implying that spring is a distant memory, summer is long gone, and winter is just around the corner. Indeed, when applied to the human life cycle, the analogy of the seasons appears to imply a sense of inevitability and powerlessness over the age and eventual decay of our bodies, like the tiny buds that in their flowered state will fall into the Earth and then become part of it.

    However, it appears that although our lives do follow a cycle, beginning with birth and ending with death, it would be untrue to assume that what happens in between is completely at the behest of nature. After all, we are God beings who co-create our reality moment to moment, so assuming that each stage of our lives blindly follows nature’s intrinsic rules is not only misleading but reduces our consciousness to nothing more than little buds.

    I would argue that although we experience the seasons in our lives, we do so not as a linear sequence of events but rather as a mishmash of happenings derived from conscious choice. In which case the experiences associated with spring can occur at any age, like my neighbor who, at 62, learned how to drive following the death of her husband, or my own mother, who holds thrice-weekly dance classes at 75 years old.

    Then there is my nine-year-old cousin, who enrolled in piano lessons alongside his grandmother. And let us not forget the artists and composers who created masterpieces in their 80’s, or the middle-aged women who, after their children leave home, start a whole new life with as much gusto and energy as though they were heading off to university, which some also do.

    So when we look at those who started a new career, journey or relationship in later life, we see that their enjoyment is no less than if they were 30 years younger. I believe that this is because we can feel passion at any age. Enjoyment, pleasure and the thrill of achievement is not confined to youth, but can be experienced to our last breath. For this reason, there really is no age, season, or particular time for anything. There is only the space that is held by our conscious imagination that, depending on its openness to change, can create and recreate all manner of experiences for us to enjoy, to love, and to remind us that we are all seasons in every moment.

    Gemma Phelan Head SHot

    (Gemma Phelan lives in Ireland where she works as an editor. She is also the author of “A Different Understanding,” a book which explores alternative ways of looking at the world.)

     

    (If you would like to contribute an article you have authored to the Guest Column, please submit it to our Managing Editor, Lisa McCormack, for possible publication in this space. Not all submissions can be published, due to the number of submissions and sometimes because of other content considerations, but all are encouraged. Send submissions to Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com. Please label the topic: “Guest Column.”)