LOVE AND GRATITUDE

I have written about love and gratitude in previous articles, and I cannot stress the importance of creating our life with the powerful frequency of Love and Gratitude. It can override any situation when evoked sincerely. We are living in trying times on this planet and societies have become steeped with fears, judgments, prejudices and control. Where did these beliefs/attitudes come from? There really is not any one culprit, however various religions have done much to perpetuate these and it is time for us to look at our religious beliefs. Religion and spirituality is not the same thing. Religion is man-made while spirituality comes within with a direct connection to that which created us. Some may call this connection God, Allah, Buddha or whatever name one wants to place on it. All plants, animals and water respond to love and gratitude. Even the earth responds to love and gratitude. This is ancient knowledge.

I have gone through a period of my life where I was judgmental, had prejudices , thought I was a victim, anger, jealousy, and I realized that those emotions and attitudes did not serve me. No, they made me sick and miserable. This is when I began my awakening as described in my book Awakening the Genie Within. I have discovered that to live a balanced life that my main tools are observation, love and gratitude.

We can change our lives by observing our beliefs, attitudes and emotions and discarding those that no longer contribute to our well-being or happiness. In speaking about love, I am not addressing romantic love, or parental love. I am writing about universal love and when we can place a non-biased love as a blessing on people, places, events, our food, our drink, our animals, plants and this Earth, we have altered the frequencies and a blossoming occurs not only in our self but also in others.

Love has many attributes such as kindness, acceptance, understanding, allowing, with no judgments or prejudices. I have learned that the more I put into action these attributes that my life has less chaos. I have learned for myself to mentally stand back, observe my reactions, and then choose to change them. It is a challenge at times to observe situations, which spawns herd mentality. It takes courage to step out of the box, but it can be done. Complacency stagnates love. It lulls one into a false sense of security. I have realized that there are times to speak out on issues, but there is also a time when to keep silent and observe until I realize that something wonderful may come from this.

Gratitude is a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation. It is also acknowledgement of a benefit received or will receive. I grew up in a household where we said a blessing for our food at every meal. I never understood why and it appeared to be a rote action. A true blessing is one said silently or vocally with focused intent. The blessing of food, drink or anything is also ancient knowledge. The pagans used blessings and gratitude long before the Christians. There are many stories of people who gave a blessing, a prayer of thanks for something they knew they would receive.

From my perspective if more people would begin blessing their lives and the people in their lives along with their possessions, jobs, the problems would fade away because showing gratitude for everything opens doors to new possibilities. Margaret Cho stated it quite well, "Sometimes when we are generous in small, barely detectable ways it can change someone's life forever."

What Is Missing in the World?

The world appears to be in chaos in virtually every country. Food sources are diminishing and food prices are skyrocketing as well as the price of oil. In addition, we have climate changes with devastating earth changes such as fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes and tsunamis, which wreak havoc on populations and perpetuate famine, drought and diseases. It isn't a pretty picture and one can become depressed by thinking about it.

There are those who predict these are the last days of the Earth and it could be as we know it to be. However, from adversity can come wisdom. Adversities propel open-minded people to create new ways and new inventions, while others sink into an abyss of hopelessness. It is almost impossible to allow creative ideas to flow into the mind when one is harboring worry, stress, anger, resentment, jealousy to name a few emotions that feed hopelessness. Today there is a proliferation of road rage and now this rage is spilling over into office rage and spreading world-wide. This contributes to sinking into the abyss instead of moving into creativity.

Something is missing and it seems to have been hijacked by governments, corporations and religions. What is this missing ingredient? It is personal responsibility based on a code of ethics. The oldest code of ethics originated from ancient Egypt where the pharaohs ruled using a code of ethics as given in the Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Coming into Day. This code is the basis of the Ten Commandments, the Golden Rule and the Sermon on the Mount and others in all parts of the world. From E. Wallis Budge's translation, here are a few excerpts of this powerful code.

I have committed no evil upon men.

I have not oppressed the members of my family.

I have not wrought evil in the place of right and truth.

I did not rise in the morning and expect more than was due me.

I have not caused pain.

I have caused no man to hunger.

I have made no one weep.

I have not polluted myself.

I have not diminished the bushel when I've sold it.

I have not added to or stolen land.

I have not encroached on the land of others.

There is much more to this code and bringing it forward to the present day, I am simplifying it to say: Do not lie. Do not cheat. Do not steal. Do not gossip. Treat others as you wanted to be treated. In Nikko, Japan there is a famous carving over the entrance to the Temple of the Three Monkeys portraying see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil.

During my many years on this Earth, I have changed my mind numerous times from believing I was a victim, no self worth, being jealous or envious to releasing all of that old thinking and emotions. How did I do this? I share this in my forthcoming book, Awakening the Genie Within to be released in August, 2008. My book is not really a memoir. It is a story of my awakening and moving from victim to being a woman who has gained wisdom from all of my experiences. I share the many tools, insights, stories that others can use to move forward in their lives.

Most people have no idea of the importance of the words they use and the thoughts they have. For each of us to move forward in our mental growth and evolution, we must shed the stagnation of beliefs we have held on to. These are limited beliefs perpetuated by religions, schools, governments and corporations. It is time for each of us to shed these shackles that chain us to the past and to live from a healthy environment of our mind. The time has come for everyone to release and give up prejudices, thinking we are better than someone else, thinking that one religion is the only way to salvation, and bigotry. I have learned that by giving these up that I am a able to love the spark of God or the Creator in everyone and not to condemn. This is what is missing in the world--freedom of the mind. Change your mind and you change your world.