Beca Lewis's Blog: Beca's Blog, page 18

Do You Know What You Like, Want, And Feel? - The Shift

WE WENT AWAY FOR A MONTH. We had a few things in mind. Get away from the cold. Live someplace beautiful and quiet. Visit the west coast part of our family. Celebrate our granddaughter’s sixteenth birthday.

Our biggest intent was to discover what we really like, want, and feel. We figured that would include breaking some old habits, making some new ones, and keeping the ones that work.

We certainly got away from the cold. We loved seeing our family. We definitely stayed someplace beautiful and quiet.

Although I lived in California for thirty years I had never visited Fallbrook. where we stayed. (In the Morro Hills area.) We used Airbnb and Del found us a quiet, out of the way place, with a stunning view.

It was an extraordinary beautiful place to walk and say hello to lovely people, loud peacocks, peaceful horses, friendly dogs, and sky floating hawks, and have huge stretches of thinking and quiet time.

Did we discover what we want, like, and feel? Did we break old habits, keep ones we liked, and make new ones? Yes and no.

First, let me say, it is much easier to break habits when you are someplace new. Coming back to an old environment makes it harder to keep them. But, I am leaping ahead.

For me, I wanted to lighten up, meant in as many ways as possible. One of the first things we did was get me a Fitbit. I hadn’t thought of getting one, but Del had one and loves it, so I listened to him and bought it.

This turned out to be a great decision because I learned things I didn’t know, or had fooled myself about. I think of myself as very active. Discovered that I was not. That answered a few questions right there.

One intent was to walk every day and with the Fitbit it was easier to keep that intent. Fitbit says, “Walk 10,000 steps a day.” That turned into what was a general walking around plus at least three miles a day. I got better at it too, which meant I had to walk further as my stride increased from walking up and down hills.

We did yoga almost every day, and Del had lots of time to practice his Taiji.

In keeping with the lightening up, we also started drinking what we ended up calling our yum-yum drink, designed to detox. Of course, it wasn’t yum-yum, but it turned out to not be too bad after all, and I loved the lightening effect. It starts with three drinks a day, and after two weeks goes to just one.

Walking and drinking yum-yum and almost daily yoga are habits I kept, although I admit I didn’t walk on the cold days we returned to. And I have to continue adding distance to get 10,000 steps as I walk better and better.

Under the idea of lightening up, I didn’t cook at all. We drank two meals a day using Soylent. We have been doing that for at least one meal a day for over a year, and are big fans of it. Saves time, less costly then regular food if that means anything, and is a complete-in-every-way-food. I actually love the stuff.

We didn’t eat other meals in the regular way. We both ate when we wanted to. If we wanted to have chips and salsa from the best chips and salsa place in the world (that’s what they say) for solid food, we did. A lot!

Every few days we went out to eat. Our favorite place turned out to be a Thai restaurant in Fallbrook. It would be a habit we would continue if they would just put their restaurant here in out of the way Ohio.

I was able to be vegan the whole time. It’s easier in California. That made me happy. I have been a vegetarian for over 30 years, which has become easier even in Ohio, for which I am grateful.

We gave up the habit of eating sugar. I thought that would be hard. I was astonished to find out it was easy for me, except for the social part. Just like being a vegan it has a social drawback. But, not much of one.

Yes, I kept all those habits since we have been back. However, I noticed the habit of eating a sugar snack (like chocolate) at different times during the day called me more often then when we were away. But, not enough to say “yes” to it.

The hardest habit to maintain though was the one of not doing anything for long stretches of time. I continued to work while we were gone, coaching, writing, and teaching, and was still able to have those long drawn out quiet times.

But, now that we are back, the small details of life and work have returned and those long stretched out periods of time are hard to find.

But, at least I am noticing that I keep getting pulled back into too much doing. So I keep asking myself if I am doing what I want to be doing? Yes, for the most part. For both of us, that remains an open discussion, as I believe it should.

Although I worked on my new book almost everyday during that month, I haven’t gotten back into that habit yet. I will though!

Life is about expansion, not contraction. That requires a continual awareness to what we are doing, and thinking. That habit I hope to keep getting better at with practice and more practice.

Within days of returning we both went through the house and filled bags and bags with clothes and things to give to the mission. We realized that we lived easily out of two smallish suitcases for a month, so felt pulled down by stuff in the house. I started a new mantra for us, “I am not the owner of stuff.”

We will continue with that habit. Try it, it might help lighten up your life too.

You Can Rewrite The Movie Called Life - The Shift

Core values, family history, worldview agreements, and personal habits all come together to produce a movie we call our life.

If these ideas come together to form a pretty picture then life is good, when they don’t then life is not so good. In the not so good times, we stand in the middle of this movie, like characters on the screen, and try to change it.

We try to adjust the picture on the screen forgetting it is a projection. We forget that the movie and the movie viewer are one. It is a projection of our point of view and belief systems.

This is not a whimsical idea. This is fact.

In the book “Biocentrism” we read, “Moreover, if one accepts that the external world occurs only in Mind, in consciousness, and that it’s the interior of one’s brain that’s cognized ‘out there’ at this moment, then of course everything is connected with everything else.” (Robert Lanza MD with Bob Berman)

This means it is absolutely possible to change our lives. Why? Because our lives are the out-picturing of (but not the creation of ) what we believe and perceive to be true.

It also means that there is only one way to make a change and that is to shift our perception from within.

But, what if we want more than just a better life? What if we want to be what we really are? What if we want to experience ourselves as the outcome or idea of the infinite Mind, or omnipotent Light? What then?

To do this we must re-think reality and re-set our perception. We must stop identifying ourselves as human. We must stop believing what the five senses tell us and listen instead to the quiet voice within.

We stop acting as if the movie and script are real. We stop wanting the story to get better, and want instead to let go and live as the idea of God.

This is a radical thought and decision. It demands a root change. It follows the biblical word “repent” which means turn around and walk the other way.

We turn away from the movie playing in our heads which results in what we call our lives.
We turn away from identifying ourselves as human and re-set our thinking and perception.

It demands that we let go of how we want it to be, think it is, and then follow through with action and commitment to Truth.

This radical shift demands that we turn away from trying to fix things and people. We turn away from our story. We turn instead to the fact that what exists in our lives is, and who we think we are, is one and the same.

This is not a half way decision, it is a complete shift. Yes, it may appear to take time to reset habits and beliefs, but that too is only set within our agreement of what is true.

It may appear that others need to change first. Again, not true. What appears as they, or that, is really our own perception. There is no way to separate the thinker from what it is thinking.

Our responsibility then is not to create, control, or to make happen. Our responsibility is to stop separating ourselves from the ever present infinite intelligent flow or force we call God.

Our responsibility is to let go and be what we are, which in turn re-sets what we experience as our lives.

As we do this we can expect more beauty, peace, abundance, grace, happiness, love. We can expect all the fruits of good to be more present in and as our lives.

Not because we worked at becoming good and wise humans, but because we gave up the story.

We consistently listen and follow the still small voice within. We pay attention to the symbols that prove the presence of God. We continually re-set our perceptions to match our current, highest, and best understanding of the Divine.

And then, because we have refocused the projector, the movie we call our life, must conform.

The post You Can Rewrite The Movie Called Life by Beca Lewis appeared first on The Shift.

Life Is Not A Lottery - The Shift

[image error]A few years ago I decided to learn how to play solitaire. For some reason I skipped that part of growing up. Anyway, once it became an app on my iPhone, and I didn’t have to deal with a deck of cards, I got interested.

My reasoning was it would help me learn how to see possibilities and get focused.

At first it was a disaster. Sometimes it took me a few hours to figure out just one game. I was shocked at my lack of ability, and that’s what kept me working at it. After a few months I was playing well enough to not pull my hair out on every game.

And then Del told me something that changed everything. He told me I could choose to always play a winning hand.

It was a revelation to me. If I choose to play a winning hand, I know there is always a solution. I never have to solve an unsolvable problem. I could be my stubborn and persistent self, knowing that I will eventually figure it out.

It’s like life. No, not the solitary part, the winning hand part.

That’s what we have been dealt. A winning hand. I know sometimes we don’t think so, but it’s true. And knowing that, we know for sure that there is always a solution. If we trusted this truth wouldn’t we play the game of life with more persistence and faith.

Life is not a lottery, where the chances are a gazillion to one to being declared a winner.

We already are a winner.

Each of us has been gifted with all that we need in order to live a happy and purpose-filled life. No matter how difficult the game of life may appear at any given moment, knowing we have a winning hand, we will look for the solution.

Now that I can actually play, once I have completed a game, I play it again. I want to improve. I want to see if I can beat my own score by being more aware and focused.

Here’s what’s weird. I can never play it the same way twice.

Sometimes I notice something I never saw before. Sometimes I don’t see what I did the last time I played. Sometimes after a really good score, I get a bad one.

What changes? The game doesn’t change, I do. My focus is changed. My mood might be different. I am more or less distracted. And all of this can happen within the few seconds it takes to load the game again.

This is a lesson in the power of perception, how it changes attention and focus.

There is more than one way to win. Same way with life. It’s not a straight line. We have multiple ways to play and succeed.

However, we have to choose to collect our winnings. We do this by investing our time, focus, practice, attention, patience, and love.

No need to count on chance. With chance, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. As Einstein said, “God doesn’t play dice.” To Einstein, God revealed himself in the harmony of all that exists. Harmony. Not chance.

Choose to play your winning hand. Remember that there are many ways to play the game and there is always a harmonious solution.

The post Life Is Not A Lottery by Beca Lewis appeared first on The Shift.

Rejoice Because Life Continues And Love Remains - The Shift

Sometimes loved ones leave. Sometimes they leave by choice, either ours or theirs.

Sometimes they leave when it is time for them to leave.

Sometimes they leave a relationship with us. That means it is possible to see the again.

Sometimes they leave by dying, and we miss their physical presence.

Choice or time, physical or not, all forms of leaving have a few things in common.

One Truth underlies it all. Although loved ones may leave Love does not. We are never alone, or abandoned, or lost, or unloved.

Our emotions may tell us otherwise.

Besides missing them we often experience regrets. We think “I could have done more,” or we ask, “What did I do wrong?” These thoughts can be helpful, but only if we treat them as a learning experience and not as a producer of guilt.

Paying attention to how to become more skilled at relationships is a good thing. We can practice becoming better at love; but, we can’t stay in the feeling of pain and guilt. This will not make us better, it will only block out the joy of life.

We can practice expanding our life into love, whether the people we love are present, or not.

For years I have been applying wettable sulfur to the moss and the grass on our hill. I am providing an environment where moss can thrive, and the grass and weeds can not. My intent is to have a mossy hill.

This same idea can be applied to our relationships.

When we provide the environment that we wish to live in, then others will find comfort there. But, not everyone thrives in the same environment.

This doesn’t make one good, or one bad. Although relationships may make a transition to a different form, Love remains. We will experience that higher Love if we don’t allow regret or guilt or fear or anger to take control.

In 1st Corinthians 13 we read that charity never fails. What is this charity, or Love, that Paul is talking about? It can’t be human love because it does often fail. It must be the omnipotent Love that is ever present.

As we choose to practice a higher awareness of omnipresent Love we provide an environment for others to also experience the Love that never fails.

Those that are traveling the same road as us may continue to walk with us. Those that are traveling a different road will not. But, Love has never left us or them.

Sometimes the different road is the transition we call death. This can be very painful because we know we won’t bump into our loved ones somewhere in our life. We can’t call them on the phone, visit them in person, or even send them an email.

And yet, we know there is no death. We know this because we know that the infinite intelligence that we know as the Divine, or God, is Life Itself. We know this Life to be omnipresent and omniscient. We know that there is no beginning and no ending.

Sometimes this is easy to forget.

We are used to celebrating the seeming beginning of life known as birth, and mourning the seeming ending called death. But, neither is real. Both are a marking of time born within a perception that we have adopted as our own, but is not the Truth of Life.

Sometimes we are witnesses to that passage between the awareness of the life that we live in now, and a new awareness of life that those who are making a transition experience. This is always evidence for us that Life continues and Love remains. We can rejoice and find comfort and peace in that awareness.

At the end of that same verse in Corinthians Paul says, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

As we experience more of “knowing as we are known” we will experience less of the sense of loss at what only appears as a leaving.

We will experience more of the joy of knowing that there is no loss, nor leaving, there is only omnipresent Love Loving Itself seen as Life.

Life continues and Love remains.

PS

As my dad was in transition from this life to the next he wrote a poem about the stars guiding us home. My sister turned it into a song. The picture for this Ezine is a homage to him and to my sister whose friend said goodbye to her as a butterfly. If you are interested in purchasing it you can find it here:

Here’s the song:

Find Jamie at JamieLewisMusic.com

If you like this print – you can find it here

The post Rejoice Because Life Continues And Love Remains by Beca Lewis appeared first on The Shift.

To Dissolve Any Problem, Rejoice in the Spiritual Fact - The Shift

[image error] Considering all the bad news reported every day we could begin to believe that there is so much evil going on we will never be able to stop it.

Not true. That’s the first thing to know. It’s not true. It’s a lie.

There is only one evil. It has many faces. It plays many roles. It speaks many languages. But, it is just one lie.

It may appear that we must deny each version of the one lie. But, the truth is, we only have to recognize this one lie for what it is.

Then we can permanently disable evil, and dissolve its power forever.

We have reached a time in our world where doing just that is no longer a luxury, but is now an imperative call to action. For each one of us.

We can’t go to war against evil. Because then we would be using the same methods the lie uses. It doesn’t resolve the issue, it escalates it.

But in many ways it is a war and a battle. Not with something or somebody else, but with the idea that the one lie, or one evil, exists. We can defeat that idea, not from without, but from within.

How can we do this?

First we begin with the Truth there is only One power and it is all Good.

The one lie claims that there is more than one power.
The one lie claims that the One omnipresent, omniscient, omniaction, omnipotent is not Omni.
The one lie claims that there are two powers, one good, one bad.
The one lie claims that bad is present, and as capable as good.
The one lie uses terrorist’s tactics to scare us into submission or anger.
The one lie feeds on our fear.
The one lie’s intention is to make us forget that there is only One power and that one Infinite Good.

Yes, when we stop and examine its premise then the one lie makes no sense at all.

Of course we are always faced with the question. “If there is only One then where did this illusion of the one lie that there is two come from?”

It doesn’t matter if we don’t understand the how or why right now. The human mind cannot understand this illusion and it is a distraction and red herring to spend time trying to do so.

We know it to be true that what we perceive is what we experience. The corner stone of The Shift has always been, “What we perceive to be reality magnifies.”

Terrorism, in all its forms, wants us to see it, the one lie, as reality so that it can magnify.

Is this what we want? Of course not! We want to rejoice in the spiritual fact.

We want to perceive, magnify, observe, and live in abundant joy and harmony. Let’s follow this perception law to its ultimate conclusion. When we magnify good through good works, good talk, and the refusal to hate, the one lie of evil has no place to exist.

We dissolve it within, so that it will be defeated without.

As we attend to the needs of our neighbors in all areas of the world, we stand in Truth. We don’t let the outward become the inward.

We stand at the doorway of our thinking and say “no” to the one lie in all its subtle suggestions.

This means that we also stop agreeing with the one lie’s siren call of materialism. We stop participating in any tactics that can escalate into large scale terrorism.

If we examine our thinking on a continual basis we will uncover and uproot any outgrowth of the one lie, no matter what form it is taking.

How do we know when it is the one lie or the One Truth?

If it steals happiness, joy, security, and love, it is the fruit of the one lie.

If it reveals happiness, joy, security, and love as ever-present for everyone, it is the fruit of Truth, good.

We can stand together in this ultimate denial of the one lie.

As we do, we will expose and dissolve its false power. Then we will know as we are known by the One Divine Intelligence of Good.

….

PS:

(Get your free Truth 4 Today here.)

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If You Want To Be Happier, Let Go - The Shift

It was a beautiful fall day, a perfect day to work in the garden. My plan was to move two hosta plants that were growing in an area that received direct afternoon sun, and move them to the morning sun area of the garden, their preferred location.

I prepared the new holes for both hostas and then went to dig them up. The first hosta released its roots easily and quickly and within a few minutes I had it resting happily in its new home. The second hosta, planted in the same area, would not let go.

I struggled with trying to dig it out while talking to it saying, “Please let go, I am moving you to a happier place. You are hurting yourself by holding on. Please just let go!” Every minute that went by was harder and harder on both me and the plant, until finally I was able to pull it free.

Although now planted by the first hosta I know one of them will have an easier time of recovering from the move.

Isn’t this how we are sometimes? We won’t let go.

We won’t let go of how it was, or how we think it will be, or what we own, or what we want. We hold on with every fiber of our being while the infinite is moving us lovingly to a “happier place.”

Something has to give because that is how we expand and evolve. We can choose to give up how we want it to be, how it should be, how it was, how it could have been, or hold on and make it hard on ourselves.

The sooner we let go the easier our life is during and after the move.

It reminds me of the phrase, “what gives?” Isn’t it interesting that we use this phrase as we greet someone?

But, take a moment and think about what we are asking when we say, ”What gives?”

It could mean a few things. What are we given, or what are we letting go of, or what is giving way for something else.

As we let go, we get the answer to the question of what gives. We discover that what gives way is limitation. By giving up how we want it to be we can hear the Infinite say, “I am what gives.”

We have always lived in times when we have needed to let go and let God, but the past years have forced the issue for many of us.

Now we need to decide if we are going to hold on to how it was, or let go and move into a new awareness. We can throw away what the worldview says our life has to be and enjoy what is being given at this moment to us.

For many of us, when a new direction opens up instead of letting go we hold on. It’s painful to hold on. As people, places, and things evolve and change in our lives, we must let go.

We can not hold on to our material based version of love, abundance, supply, and peace because they are not the real thing. They are pre-packaged perceptions the worldview wants us to buy with our time, money, and hearts.

They are not what gives. What gives is the pure sense of happiness that is not derived from anything but from Itself. It gives completely, fully, and practically at all times.

As we let go we discover that letting go is not painful, but is full of adventure and joy and a security found nowhere else.

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You, Me, Us, And The Ethics of Reciprocity - The Shift

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I wrote a blog exactly six years ago on January 3, 2010 about breaking rules. I still agree with it. We have to learn what rules to break, and then break them if we want to move forward, be creative, and not live in a rut.

But, there is a rule we must not ever break because doing so is so dangerous it can, and will, destroy life as we know it.

This rule is so important it is more than a rule. It’s more than the law. It is even more than a commandment. It is the underlying way of being that we must choose if we want to not just survive but to thrive.

The rule is found in almost every religion and philosophy throughout time. It is called The Ethics Of Reciprocity. We often think of it as the commandment, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

It doesn’t read “Do unto others as they have done unto you.” But, that is the excuse we often use to do the wrong thing.



We break the rule every time we cheat and lie for personal gain without concern for anyone else.

Yes, we do that, in little and big ways. We download pirated movies. We keep the change that is more than what is owed us. We look away when others are being abused. We deny food and shelter to those in need.

We break the rule and we feel as if we can because “everyone does it.” That is a terrifying statement, because yes, everyone does it. We are trained that way. We are trained to believe that we are separate, and some people are better than others.

When we begin from the point of view of survival and choose the law of survival of the fittest, we break the rule.

If we take the word ethical out of the rule we break the rule.

The banking system, composed of people, hasn’t stopping doing what will once again destroy the world’s economy. Companies and governments, composed of people, will continue to destroy the world’s air and water.

Yes, we should be angry that those with power are breaking this rule. Go see the movie The Big Short, and get angry.

But, don’t get distracted and think it is all about them. Yes, they need to be stopped.

But, when we break the rule in big and small ways ourselves, we add to the problem.

We all make mistakes. That is different than consciously knowing what is wrong, and doing it anyway.

It is different than being so distracted, brainwashed, and yes – lazy – that we don’t pay attention to what is going on with ourselves, and with others, and then do something about it.

We can wake up and choose to do the right thing. Let’s do the right thing together. It is time to shift the story that greed, in all its forms, is stronger than what is good and pure.

We can let goodness flow over our own life so that it can, and will, roll over and destroy all is going on that is not good.

Let’s make this our intent. It is not as hard as it appears.

Let The Force Awaken within each of us and consciously choose to live The Rule of Ethical Reciprocity. It’s time. It’s almost past time. Choose now.

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The Force Is With You Always - The Shift

[image error]DON’T WORRY, just in case you haven’t seen the new Star Wars, I won’t give anything away.

Coming from a family of science fiction fans it was a given that we would be among the first ones to see the first Star Wars which opened May 25, 1977, and again among the first on December 18, 2015.

It didn’t disappoint. In fact, it was awesome. Yes, I remain among the millions of fans of Star Wars.

What makes so many of us fans for so long? Perhaps it is the level of imagination, the drama, the characters, and special effects. And it is the qualities of honor, love, courage, and loyalty. But there is something more.

It’s the theme of light versus dark, good versus evil. It is the mystery of the Force.

We can watch an imaginative interesting story, that doesn’t exist here on earth, and be assured that the dark can be defeated, no matter where it is found. We are grateful that so many of us know, and acknowledge, that the Force does exist and is always with us.

We love the proof that love is stronger than hate. That communities working together can defeat the dark side of the force.

We learn something too. We learn that the Force must fight the counterfeit force of darkness. It doesn’t just happen.

We learn that each of us has to choose to not go to the dark side, no matter what the temptation. We understand that we can’t be like Ben Solo, lured so far away from the light, by Snoke, the ugly face of the dark side, that he was given the new name of Tylo Ren.

We know that choosing the dark side will eventually destroy him because that is what the dark side does.

Although set in a Galaxy far far away, the lesson is personal and we can find its correlation within our daily life and the world’s events.

The dark side comes to each of us with its promise of power. In our world we call it greed, revenge, and control of others. It wears masks of deception. It claims to be on the right side.

But, Star Wars fans know that is a lie.

We learn that we too have to fight the temptation within ourselves to succumb to the dark side of power. We have to actively choose the light, and as simple as it sounds, do what’s right at all times no matter what the cost appears to be.

In Star Wars, FN-2187 represents the person that has been brought up on the dark side, and yet awakens to the light and then chooses to follow it. As he awakens he too is renamed, and becomes Finn.

He becomes a hero, awake and aware.

On the dark side, they are not. They are asleep. They follow orders without questioning the morality of it.

We are not asleep. We are awake and aware. As we awaken, the light within others also awakens.

The Force can be hard to hear when we are unconsciously tuned into the voice of the Snokes in our world. We have to stop and take time to listen, pause, and then choose to do what’s right.

Go see the movie. Carry its lesson home. Remember that the Force surrounds us all.

It is available to us all, but we have to practice to see it and apply it. We have to choose the right side.

It is the power of love that will always, always, always win, but we have to awaken to it, and make the choice to follow it.

Quotes From Star Wars:

“Remember, the Force will be with you always.”

“The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.”

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If We Want To Heal The World - The Shift

LOOKING OUT MY WINDOW I saw a beautiful red shouldered hawk sitting on the branch of a tree in the woods. The leaves had fallen so I had a clear view of what happened next.

The hawk was sitting so still that at first I thought he was part of the tree. He appeared to be simply enjoying the day.

But, obviously the blue jays were not happy that he was visiting their neighborhood. Within minutes there were a dozen of them on various limbs directing all their attention at him. I imagined they were communicating in bird language that he was being asked to leave.

He just kept sitting there, calm and regal.

Soon, a gray squirrel started walking back and forth on a limb a few feet in front of the hawk. Turning his back side to the him, he began flipping his tail. It was a sure sign to get out, and a warning to others of the danger.

The hawk continued to sit.

Next some of the blue jays decided to take action.

One got so bold that he flew right by the hawk’s face rippling the feathers on his head. Another, seeing the courage of the first blue jay, flew at the hawk so close he ruffled the hawk’s tail feathers.

I could feel their pride of accomplishment. “Look guys, I did it!”

Still, the hawk remained immovable.

Finally, the resident crows arrived and perched directly above the hawk’s head.

That was the tipping point. The hawk flew off, and everyone, having worked together as a community to eliminate a perceived danger returned home. No harm done to anyone.

It was protection, but not aggression.

Something must have been going on in the blue jay community that day that needed to be protected, because there have been other days when the hawks, crows, blue jays, and squirrels have coexisted in the woods together.

I have tried to place this idea within the context of the tragedies occurring across the world.

The residents of the woods have a calm understanding and appreciation of each other.

They don’t plan revenge, or kill for glory. Unlike humans.

We will never find freedom from the danger of terrorists, of any kind, if we respond with hatred, revenge, or a desire for glory. We simply feed the monster.

It starts within each of us, this balance of protection and understanding.

When we see anyone as less than ourselves, as not human, we become capable of acting inhumanly.

When we allow the masses and media to direct our attention to hatred and retaliation, we have stepped into an unending cycle of hatred that could grow enough to consume us all.

If you are reading this, I know you don’t want that to be the outcome.

We all have to find enough love within ourselves to give it to those that are both the innocent victims of the cycle of intolerance, and to the victims of propaganda and hatred, that convince them to turn to evil acts.

We can’t participate in any kind of intolerance. All the evil that has transpired on this planet has come about because we have not understood that there is not one race, or person, or religion, better than another.

We can’t let anyone take us down that road.

I don’t have any political answers. In fact, I don’t think the answer can ever be found in politics with its posturing and oneupmanship.

What I do know is that we, the people, have to lead the way; not through politics and war, but through compassion, understanding, and yes, loving protection.

Just like the blue jays, crows, and squirrel. Not prejudiced, Not motivated by hate.

But, with the same understanding they have, that we are all part of one Life. One.

What we need is more Love, more awareness, more tolerance, more compassion, more open heartedness.

We can be as “wise as serpents, and as harmless as the doves.” We can refuse to become carriers of terrorists thoughts and acts within ourselves.

It is not easy, but there is no other way.

Bible Matt 10:16

The post If We Want To Heal The World by Beca Lewis appeared first on The Shift.

Discard Worry, Move To Trust - The Shift

[image error] HAVE YOU EVER WORRIED about something? I’m kidding, I know we have all worried.

The question is, does it do any good to worry? And if not, how do we stop doing it?

In the movie The Bridge of Spies, during very tense moments, the American lawyer, played by Tom Hanks, asks the alleged spy he was defending if he was worried. It was a perfectly reasonable question since the outcome to his situation appeared so dismal.

His answer was always, “Will it help?”

In spite of the situation he trusted.

To not worry we have to trust that there is going to be an outcome that will work in our favor, and for the benefit of all involved.

Recently I found myself worrying.

We have been looking at houses to buy, and found one that might work. So I started planning what we would need to do in order for the process to flow smoothly.

But, there is only so much that I can do. Most of it is out of my control. I can’t design how it is going to happen, or even know if it is going to happen.

In the midst of this big moment of worry I heard this idea, “You are not the designer of the process.”

This got my attention because it was accompanied by a memory of a Thanksgiving long ago.

I was looking forward to designing the look of the house and the dinner; from the setting of the table to the welcoming decorations.

And then something happened. My youngest daughter asked to design the house and the table.

At first I resisted. It was my thing. But, then I realized it was not just her thing — it was who she is and what she would come up with would be much better than I could put together.

I needed to let go, and trust.

She did a beautiful job, and from that day on she was in charge of the decoration of our events.

She has gone on to spend her days designing beautiful gardens, homes, paintings, and jewelry.

It’s who she is. It’s what she does.

It designs much better than you or me. It designs all events, from the breath of the tiniest organism to the path of the furthest star.

Although I don’t know what the outcome of the house hunting will be, I do know that it will be better then I could ever make happen myself.

If I want to enjoy the process it would be best to be the instrument of the Master Designer and not attempt to control what is not controllable.

Although never directly answered in the movie, the answer to the question, “Will it help” is no, it won’t.

But, what does help is to be prepared. We can think through what might be needed and be ready to provide it.

We can trust that we are the instrument, the expression of the infinite good, called by many names, but is the One and only power.

Trust is not a passive activity. It is not apathetic. Apathy is the opposite of trust.

Apathetic thoughts may sound like this: “Since nothing will ever work out, why do it? Since I can’t control it, I am not participating.”

Apathy is never good. Apathy is selfish. Apathy is ego based. Apathy leaves our mental, emotional, and physical doors open to unwanted guests of all kinds.

When my daughter took over designing Thanksgiving I didn’t just sit there, I participated. I helped. I celebrated and shared it. I followed her directions.

We need to root out and dissolve any evidence of apathy in our lives. We need to move into the trust that the design of Life is beautiful and intelligent and always based in good.

We need to celebrate and share it. We need to follow the Master Designer’s direction.

If we mess things up, or when things don’t work well, we trust that there is always a solution. We know that the Master Designer is always designing the perfect outcome for everyone.

And because of this we can discard worry and move to gratitude.

Really, it’s that simple. It’s only a mind set, a perception that makes it hard.

What me worry?

Well yes, sometimes I do. But, at least I know how to stop it. I can move to gratitude, and so can you.

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(Of course you know the image is from Mad Magazine)

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