Saturday, January 16, 2010

Faith or Fear?

I've been thinking a lot lately about the adage, "the past does not equal the future." Unfortunately, for most of us it does. As Ernest Holmes used to say, "We create with monotonous regularity the patterns of our past." It's 2010! Aren't you ready to break free of those patterns that keep recreating situations that you no longer want? I sure am!

When we rely on our past to guide us through our future, consciously or unconsciously, we are asking for the same outcome. When we create our future based on the pain of our past it does not result in happiness. Caroline Myss, author and teacher, tells us that "True healing requires that we find a route beyond our pain so it does not control us or cause us to want to punish or control others."

So what do we do? Our past does not go away. It's part of who we are. And make no mistake, it has made us into the wonderful human beings that we are today. But when there is unresolved pain or fear attached to our past it has a way of impacting our future. It also begins to create disease in our bodies as a result of the dis-ease in our minds. If you find problems in your relationships, career, family and health that continue to surface, chances are that they are signs of an unresolved past. This is good because this is the way we are directed to the root of our problems, our pain and our unhappiness. We can no longer blame anything or anyone outside of ourselves. There is a common denominator in every problem you have...you!

This is the good news. It means we have the power to change it. This is inner transformation. This will change our destiny because we are not doing the same thing and expecting different results - which, I believe, is the definition of insanity. Caroline goes on to say that, "this type of inner work demands we defeat our reasoning minds and enlist deeper resources within ourselves, namely the power of our souls. And getting in touch with that power is, without a doubt, an act of grace generously given to those who ask." I believe we are all asking. And when we do, answers reveal themselves in unexpected ways.

When you feel fear or discomfort as you proceed in a new direction in your life, you can be sure that it is linked to a painful past - it's hitting on a memory like cold water hits on a cavity. This is your sign. Your negative emotions are the best indicator of what's amiss. From this place there are so many things you can do to release its grip. You can do Byron Katie's, The Work; move up the emotional scale with the aid of tools from Abraham. You can pray and invoke your spiritual guides; or chant a strong and powerful Buddhist chant and then move forward with that new determination. You may simply need to forgive yourself or another by writing about it. It usually has nothing to do with another person. Healing happens at the level of the heart. Sometimes, simply becoming aware of something is all that is needed. It discharges the energy it has to miscreate in your life. We are constantly being directed toward our good and there is help, seen and unseen, all along the way. I recently reminded myself, by way of a friend's inquisition, that "If you knew Who walks beside you on the way that you have chosen, fear would be impossible." – A Course in Miracles

We are demanding that 2010 be the year that delivers the good that we've been holding at bay. We will no longer subscribe to the fear of our limiting beliefs. We must begin to act from faith not fear. Faith, that we are being guided to our most perfect grace; not F.E.A.R - false evidence appearing real. When we poke at that fear, it's reality will disappear and the evidence of it in our lives will be gone.

I have been addressing money concerns differently this year and already getting markedly different results. I am consciously choosing not to think with the mind and memories of my past on the subject. I choose instead to think with the power of my soul and invoke all the help that I know surrounds me. If fear comes up, I lean heavily upon my faith and know with a strong inner knowing that all is well and getting better by the moment. My next step will be one of confidence knowing that I am boldly being directed to my good. I choose faith over fear because I have taken responsibility for my past and everything that happens in my life - I can't even blame the economy for it - that would leave me powerless and impotent to affect my future.

My friend, Jack Canfield of Chicken Soup fame, puts it well when he says, "...fear is self created by focusing on something in the future that hasn't happened yet." And we base that fear on our past. Let's stop perpetuating and creating fear. Let's bless our past for all that it continues to teach us and move boldly into 2010, confident that we are creating the lives we desire.

I leave you this week with a quote from Thoreau, who said it best! "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined."

2 comments:

  1. As always an uncanny connection to the very issues I am dealing with at this moment. Thanks for being the carabiner, Zan.
    Jay

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  2. Love the article. When I read the title, I said to myself, "Here is another sign for me." I so appreciate you time. I appreciate your words of wisdom. I know anything is possible now. just keep falling back on faith and not fear. Right?
    thanx
    colleen

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