LESSONS

Many say experience is the best teacher. When we remove the anger and the baggage that goes with our past, the “lessons” becomes clear.

There was a time when I wanted everything done my way. I would find reasons why things had to be done exactly in the manner I wanted them done. This took so much energy and the thoughts would continuously replay in my mind about what could go wrong thus stopping me from focusing on the now. I think during that time I was actually trying to “convince myself” that I just had to be in control. During this period in my life, I sought God in practically every church only to feel let down not only by the behaviour of the congregation but by the very “priests” who headed such organizations. It was not until I became despondent that I realized I sought God and happiness in the wrong places.

When I gave up organized religion and stopped following the dictates of the leaders of the various faiths and I decided to “unlearn” everything, it was then that I found not only God but my spirituality and the happiness that had evaded me. I learned to “listen” to others instead of thinking I knew it all, I then exercised my right to choice; I learned to “listen to my Higher Being” and followed my intuition. Although every Being has something to enlighten us on we must carefully dissect the knowledge that has been shared. Certain will teach us who we want to be and others whom we do not ever want to be. The wonderful thing about being rock bottom is that the only way is up. Even doing the wrong thing is better than doing nothing.

To achieve that sense of peace, joy, faith, and gratitude I had to stop judging others, expecting anything from others, or even blaming others for where I was in life. I had to focus fully on myself. I took responsibility for everything. I took ownership of the problems and I sought the solutions within. I could not ask anybody because others had distanced themselves believing I had gone totally mental! Now I know, we are equipped with everything we need for this physical journey. To hear God one has to totally “silence” the mind for it is when the mind is totally still that one can “hear” the answers to our prayers.

We all tend to seek outside of ourselves that which we already have in the inside. The joy, love, confidence, faith, etc. are within each of us. Why do we have the misguided expectation/conception that one or another material object, a job, a house, or even another person can make us happy? All these emotions are within each of us. All we have to do is “flip” our doubtful thoughts, focus on the specific emotion we want to feel and everything else falls into place.

I recently found myself in the hospital with terrible pain across my chest. My body was swollen. When the doctor informed me I had suffered a heart attack, for the first two weeks all I could do was wallow in self-pity. How could I who jogs, swims, and does physical work suffer a heart attack? One day after the two weeks I awoke and realized, my brother had had three strokes. His face was crooked, he was dragging his leg and because he decided he was not going to wallow in self-pity, he got himself off his bed, started working, got involved in what he loves doing, and now he is as right as rain.

I too decided to get off my butt and return to my jogging and physical work. Bodies are breaking down from lack of use, not from overuse. After numerous tests, it was discovered that all that was wrong with me was that I had overlooked testing for cholesterol and because my cholesterol was very high, the heart was enlarged and could not pump the blood throughout my body resulting in my swelling. Needless to say, many passed comments on how fat I had gone but I paid them no heed for I knew what was wrong with me. As I am not one to take medicinal drugs I googled the natural remedies and within a month had brought my cholesterol down to acceptable levels. If you have the same problem eat oats first thing in the morning with some flax seeds and during the day take a tablespoon of good quality olive oil. This will also assist alleviate joint pain.

Today I am “back to normal”, jogging, being happy and believing that miracles do happen. We have choice. I flipped my thoughts! I would rather be carefree, feel grateful and live joyously than entertain fearful and depressing thoughts which sap my energy and stop me from being creative.

What did I learn? We are all on different paths in our journey called life. The path to spirituality differs for each individual. Each has to find their own path. No matter how good you feel, find time to go for checkups and do the recommended tests. It will save you not only time in the long run, but lots of money. When we are happy we are productive. When we focus on the now things we want come to us effortlessly. It is important to do whatever it takes to pick up one’s energies. I have an exercise routine daily. I am only in control of myself. Nothing I can do about others. It is important for me to focus on my life and how I can fulfill my plans. Stop giving the opinion of others so much worth that you think about what they have said about you. Validate yourself. You can only depend on yourself. Realize that expectation inevitably leads to disappointment. Create without anticipating the outcome. Enjoy whatever it is you are engaged in. You cannot spend your time making money whilst losing your health, because you will later spend all your money trying to correct your health. Cholesterol is a silent killer, even children can have high levels. Life is precious, take care.

I share because I care.

Love always, kisses, hugs