neale donald walsch
Someone posted this graphic on Facebook awhile ago, presumably in response to news that Kmart will be staying open for 41 hours straight, beginning early on Thanksgiving Day, (for non-Americans reading this, Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday every year, and big sales happen the Friday after stores have been closed for a day.) and several other major retail chains will have opening hours actually on Thanksgiving Day, not the traditional early morning hours of the following Friday, for the “Black Friday” sales.
Of course, even though I agree with this graphic, one must also remember that many/most? work on holidays FOR family. They need the money. Living wages are low, and holiday pay is simply higher.
I think we also have to remember that Americans have a country in which the family structure is being ripped asunder, family “values” are fluid, and we have way too many families that just haven’t bonded, or are broken…and they simply don’t wish to be together. So sad…
But why are these things this way? I have my theories, and many of them are articulated in an article found on Shmoop on line. It says, in part, that during the Eisenhower presidency, things began to shift from a production society, to a consumption society:
“The difference between a production society, which focused on meeting basic needs, and a consumption society, which emphasized customers’ wants, was like the difference between a 1908 Ford Model T and a 1959 Ford Galaxie. The Model T, available only in black, was a utilitarian piece of machinery intended for basic transportation. The Galaxie, decked out in shiny chrome, was a way to show off and to enjoy a sense of luxury, not just to move from place to place. Within a year or two, it would be obsolete as fashion changed. Blessed with abundant resources, America could afford to turn part of its productive capacity to creating glitz and fashionable waste. An older generation was careful to save and reuse; Americans in the Fifties began to use and throw away. They became ‘consumers.’” For full article click here.
Coming from the deprivations of a World War, the temptation towards consumerism was overwhelming. Add to this that the “powers that be” figured out that planned obsolescence would fuel faster turnover, and the marketing world figured out how to make consumers desire things they don’t even need.
We became a consumer society.
We became addicted to “things”, and let “things” define who we are
…and then we became indentured servants to the banks
…and when we became indentured servants
…we did the “right” thing and women started leaving the home, to pay the bills, have more things and in the name of “women’s equality”
…and left children at home, and with strangers
…and we made the choice to let advertisers tell our children that “things” were more important than being with parents
…and parents started giving “things” instead of time to show their children love.
We have created a modern version, here in the United States, of debtors prison. And we have people who no longer know how to interact with one another if we feel the only thing we have to offer is ourselves. And we exported this vision of ourselves, and set about converting the rest of the world.
Please don’t get me wrong on a couple of points here. There is nothing wrong with having those “things” as long as they are not defining your life, and are merely enhancing it. (Even that statement must be caveated with the knowing that manufacturing, as we know it today, is taking a huge toll on natural and human resources, which is an entirely different discussion.) I know full well that having enough money to cover, at the very least, basic human needs, takes a huge strain off of relationships, and facilitates life. I also know that the role of women in this world has to shift, and that “women’s rights” is not a dirty little phrase. In fact, I believe it is the key to changing the direction of this country, and the world.
Women did, indeed, in the 1950’s and especially the 1960’s, step into the current power paradigm, which, obviously to most of us, is not working. But we are in the next phase of recognizing the hole that we have dug for ourselves. I also believe that it goes against our nature to stay in that energy. This is a discussion that I have actually had elsewhere on in this newspaper as well.
I believe that women first had to experience the form of power that had been denied them throughout history, the power of force, in order to feel they had self determination at last. Power is actually not a bad thing, in and of itself, and is needed at times in order to be the guiding parent, the household organizer, and, yes, the business woman, and more. But we are now remembering that it has to be tempered with something else…that intangible that is the feminine. Power had to be experienced in order to recognize it wasn’t what was truly being sought. It is now time to stop playing the game by the old rules. Time to stop putting a skirt on the men’s rules and calling them feminine. Women now must recognize there is power in being able to mix their femininity with their male strength. Time to stop living the “We are all One…and all men are created equal…unless you are a woman.”
Still, even in the old paradigm, women began to teach, if incompletely, that there really IS a different way to view one another. Unfortunately, in most cases, the change was external…men doing dishes, washing clothes, housework…but then it became more subtle. It became okay for men to share the child-rearing responsibilities… and who is the mentor in this situation? The woman. Now we have men recognizing their own gentle strength, and men and women teaching this to their sons and daughters.
Right now we still have too many women so wrapped up in the power paradigm that they don’t even, necessarily recognize that they perpetuate the paradigm that says they are less than. But this next phase is happening.
Women, when they are balanced and spiritual and assured of who they are, will be the ones to raise the boys who know the same…and then men will also know their own true power and be allowed to put down the burdens of the current use of that power.
Balanced women. Balanced men. New paradigm. Children who feel connected to family for a lifetime. No need to outsource happiness and still feel empty. No need to shop on Thanksgiving? Time to begin living and feeling a new “Oneness” concept? Time to truly be Grateful?
“As long as the ties that bind us together are stronger than those which will tear us apart, all will be well.” Narcotics Anonymous literature
Conversations with God, along with countless other spiritual and religious institutions, mention that we are all one. Many of us, myself included, would nod their heads in approval not truly knowing what this means, or if we really even believe it to be true. I mean, how can the guy who nearly ran me off the interstate today truly be one in the same with me and my God? You see, my God is loving and caring and compassionate, and always considerate! My eyes tell me we are not one in the same.
Ah, now there is the rub. We are one, just not the same, by design. We are one on our journey of self-improvement, evolution, and struggle to overcome what our eyes tell us we are separate from. We are cut from the same cloth of God and we come here to experience the grandness of life. Many times we become entrenched with the conflict between what our heart feels and what our senses pick up from external sources. Resistance and opposition are viewed as negatives while offering us the grandest of all gifts – contrast.
When I first began my sober life, I was fortunate to meet people who welcomed me in and identified with me. In fact, I was told that I was the most important person in the room that day. This was because the people who were already there needed to see that their old ways were not working. I was the gift for them that day; I was the contrast.
Together we are in this physical plane of life where we require a contextual field to provide us with a definition of ourselves. Without all of you, I have no way of knowing anything about me. God has given us this life, indeed. He has joined with us in this physical vessel we call our bodies so that she, too, may know the grand nature of his-herself.
The first thing that brought comfort to me when I entered the rooms of Narcotics Anonymous was the togetherness, the oneness, the comfort in knowing that I was not alone in my dis-ease. The 12 steps are the same regardless of which program you enter. The wording only changes slightly, but the meaning stays the same. So the reason there are so many different programs available is simple. We are all seeking like-minded people. We feel comfort around those who know what we have been through by their own experience.
Recovery in the purest sense is not possible without incorporating others into our healing process. Healing cannot take place without the help, support, and encouragement of others. This is not to say people can’t stop using on their own. They can and do. Recovery is a completely different than simply being abstinent; recovery is a state of being.
When in recovery, we are a light unto the darkness that others suffering with similar dis-ease can be drawn to. Our energy is shifted from that of reaction, to a place of creation. Each day brings about an opportunity to consciously observe and create our self in a more grand way. We look at areas of shortcomings and recognize the need for change. In moments of enlightenment, we can admit to others that we behaved in ways that we were not proud of and express our intention to make every attempt to correct our behavior.
Doing these things brings about a sense of pride in ourselves that we have not experienced in a very long time. We share with others our struggles and our victories. We ask each other for help in our times of weakness and we lend our shoulder to others when they experience theirs.
The sober/recovering person is a gift to the community and inspiration to those still suffering. In this state of beingness, one invites others into the dark corners of their life and does not hide behind excuses any longer.
Isolation is the partner of dis-ease. Experience tells us that where two or more are gathered, God is made flesh. Many years have gone by since I was greeted that fateful day. I owe a debt of gratitude to that room of people who opened their arms and welcomed me in. I have long since moved away from that room of people, but I have taken the gift they gave with me. It is now my place in recovery to welcome newcomers into the room, and tell them they are not alone anymore.
Join us Path to Peace recovery retreat in Orlando, Florida, October 24 – 27th. JR Westen and myself are taking the messages found within the ”Conversations with God” Cosmology, along with our combined 53 years of personal recovery from alcohol, drug, and food addictions, and offering these retreats as a means of returning people to their authentic selves. We understand the difficulty people face with overcoming these challenges in life and offer a simple, compassionate, and effective means of living a happy, joyous, and free life. These retreats are not simply a weekend long reprieve from our troubles. Each attendee will be introduced to past and future participants through our community Facebook page. In addition, any past participant can attend any future P2P retreat for any donation they wish to make. You read that right – any donation, from $1 to infinity. We have seen the lives of people change and remain changed from these retreats. If this is for you, click here to register.
We understand that there may be financial hardships keeping you from attending this retreat. If you feel you would benefit from this retreat but cannot afford it, please contact Will@cwg.org and ask about our scholarships. It is our deepest desire to help those who truly seek change and we want nothing to stand in the way of that.
(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 with JR Westen. You can visit his website here for more information. To connect with Kevin, please email him at Kevin@TheGlobalConversation.com)
I am so angry. I have been in a marriage for 32 years. I have been faithful. I have given him children. AND I have had a full time job. Now I find he wants a divorce, and wants to be free to be with other women. Now I am all alone, he wants to leave me with the kids, the stress is making my job performance suffer and I am at risk for losing my job, and he is off having his fun. I need him! Is this God being fair??
Rhea
Dear Rhea,
I am so sorry you are going through this right now. I get that it doesn’t seem fair.
Since I don’t have the luxury of an ongoing dialog, like I do over at The CWG Helping Outreach, I am going to be quite direct.
You talk about your relationship in terms of him getting what he wants, and you not being treated fairly…you do not speak of losing your soulmate, or the love of your life or any other endearing term. Which leads me to ask what you expected of marriage…why were you in the marriage? I often ask, and I will ask you: What is your definition of Love?
I think that what “Conversations With God” has to say about this subject is particularly pertinent right now. In chapter 8 of book 1, it talks about how we define Love. In this chapter God says:
“For most people, love is a response to need fulfillment.
Everyone has needs. You need this, another needs that. You both see in each other a chance for need fulfillment. So you agree—tacitly—to a trade. I’ll trade you what I’ve got if you’ll give me what you’ve got.
It’s a transaction. But you don’t tell the truth about it. You don’t say, “I trade you very much.” You say, “I love you very much,” and then the disappointment begins.”
A relationship that is healthy, even if it does not last forever, begins with knowing that we are complete with or without that other person in our lives, and having a desire to share that completeness with another, hoping to enhance their lives and yours in the process of sharing. We all need help along the way, and none of us live in this perfect little love zone all of the time, but it is what healthy relationships are based on, and what they return to when the dramas in life end. In fact, getting back to that space is what causes the drama to end.
Further, Rhea, we most often think of “relationships” as having to do with romance. In reality, we are having a relationship with everything in our world all the time. We know who we are relative to all that is around us, and how we act on those relationships depends on our thoughts about those things, including our thoughts about who we are. Our thoughts create our experience. Hard to believe, I know, when we are in the middle of traumatic changes in our lives, like the ones you are going through right now. Our thoughts do create our experiences, (not to be confused with events) and you can change your experience right now by changing your thoughts about why this is happening. One very good tool, among many good tools out there, to help you change your thoughts, is the book, “When Everything Changes, Change Everything” that Neale wrote. (Information about the website is below, and the book can be read for free on the website!)
I am a person who always looks for the “silver lining” in things. Even when things that appear awful are happening, my mind goes back to the times when things looked hopeless, yet they ultimately proved to be things that opened up doors for me. (For instance, the hopeless co-worker relationship actually had to happen to me, so that I wouldn’t be attached to that job, and I was open to the next.) When I do simply accept that there is more, my mind relaxes and gives me a break. I calm down and am able to let my mind filter what my soul is saying. Can you see even a tiny bit of silver? Can you look back at anything in your life and see the silver lining now, that you couldn’t see then?
Rhea, “justice”, by the way, presumes that something is “wrong”. There is nothing wrong. Each person simply has their own soul path.
I am going to write a little story around what you say about your ex…I might look at him and think that he is a very insecure person. Why? Because he is looking for love and acceptance outside of himself. He seems to need validating by temporary things. Who he is, doesn’t seem to be enough for him. Which leads to many questions as to why…
What I have done, by doing this, Rhea, is write a story that moves me from pure judging, to looking for understanding of his actions. Not necessarily because I think that those actions are working for him in any way, but because I wish to understand that HE thinks that they are working…otherwise he wouldn’t be doing them.
We don’t have to stay with those people, Rhea, we don’t even have to fall out of love with those people, but when we move to understanding, we stop doing one very important thing:
We stop hurting ourselves.
And when we do that, we stop hurting those around us, even if we were hurting them unconsciously. (Maybe that’s what people are reacting to at work?)
And when we stop the hurting, things seem to fall into place…because we believe that they will.
Ask yourself, Rhea, what might be needing to be looked at within yourself that is causing you to feel that you need someone in your life who has said he doesn’t want to remain in yours. Is it because you are being treated unfairly in your “trade” agreement, or is it because you are not defining love in a way that includes yourself.
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.
If you are already familiar with the “Conversations with God” material, more than likely you have one or two insights or messages contained within the Cosmology that are especially meaningful to you, something that, when you first heard it, resonated with such clarity and fullness that it caused a noticeable and significant shift in your life.
For me, one of the most profound concepts to flow out of the “Conversations with God” messages is the following:
Your life is not about you. Rather, your life is about those whose lives you touch.
I remember the exact moment these words came into my life. I recall the precise instant when everything I thought to be true until that point was turned upside down. I was attending a “When Everything Changes, Change Everything” retreat in 2007, sitting in a dimly lit room along with 75 other people from around the world, when I first heard these exact words: Your life is not about you.
Well, if my life was not about me, then what IS it about?
If my life was, rather, about those whose lives I touch, then what does that mean for me? There has got to be something in it for me in the whole and sometimes messy scheme of things, right? After all, aren’t I the one doing the heavy lifting in my life here? Again, still having a hard time completely accepting the “not about me” aspect in all of this.
But while my mind was twisting itself into pretzels, trying to make sense of this completely new ideology that was just introduced to me, the next words flowed into my life:
You see, there is only one of us in the room. So what you do for another, you do for yourself. What you do for yourself, you do for another. And that is because we are all One.
And there it was, placed gently before me, the message which redefined the purpose of my life, the spiritual wisdom which altered the way I interact and enter into relationships with others. I had always proclaimed to embrace the concept of “we are all one,” at least on an intellectual or cognitive level. But my skewed vantage point thus far hadn’t allowed me to know this experientially nearly as often or completely as I would have liked.
Life feels harder and more external to us when we are simply each out to get our own, when we place expectations upon what we think we deserve. On the other hand, haven’t we all experienced the perfection of a truly selfless gesture towards another? The pure joy and quiet bliss of being of service to someone in need, without expectation of anything in return? Aren’t these instances of “not about me-ness” the ones that propel us into our own greatness, demonstrating to us all that there is no faster way to have something in your life than just simply going out and choosing to be it?
Oh, boy, do I still have days where I think life is all about me. I have plenty of them. I have moments when I question everything I believe to be true. There are times when I cross paths with people who I am convinced are not only separate from me but I am quite certain they are working in direct contradiction to me, motivated by an entirely different energy source than the one I am fueled by, even though at the highest level of awareness I know that is simply not true.
But these are the gifts that life is consistently presenting to me, the golden nuggets of opportunity that surround me, even though I may not be able to readily see them and might even find myself resisting them. These are the moments when I get to decide who I really am. These are the times when I get to ask and answer some important questions: Why am I here, right here, right now, at this exact moment in time? Who is it I am here with and for? Who might life be calling upon me to be?
These are the instances when I remember…my life is not about me.
(Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation. She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team at www.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.)
“Enlightenment is not imagining figures of light
but making the darkness conscious.”
~ Carl Jung
I want to begin by saying that I am not a regular moviegoer, given that most deal with similar themes without a huge amount of substance or thought-provoking material. It is then ironic that the latest incarnation of one of the biggest movie franchises deals with an issue that lies at the heart of spiritual growth, that is the struggle to accept our dark as well as our light. So whatever our opinion of this movie, the imagery and symbolism cannot be ignored, nor can the theme of self-acceptance through an awareness of our origins.
In the movie, Superman must confront his past in order to understand his present. He must look at the heritage that molded him and the circumstances that influenced his choices so that he can be laid bare to himself and begin the process of self-acceptance. This includes the acceptance of both his light and his shadow, two parts of ourselves that co-exist and command equal respect. The place where all our dark thoughts are stored, according to Jung “everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.”
Interestingly, in previous movies we saw Superman fearlessly confront the repressed shadow of others that manifested in the form of violence and crime.Regardless of his opponents’ cunning and determination, Superman was ensured victory, as the light of our hero overcame the shadow of his adversaries. In this new installment, however, our hero must confront and accept his own shadow, at which point he will realise his true power because his shadow will no longer have power over him.
On closer inspection, we see another reason behind Superman’s reluctance to accept his superpowers, and that is because of how different they make him feel to everyone else.The result is Clark Kent,a man whose timid demeanor could not be further removed from his true identity. The tension is virtually palpable between Superman and his alter ego, who could be seen as the manifestation of his fear of rejection. How dreadful for anyone to live like this, to feel they have to keep themselves hidden just to fit into society. But how many of us are equally guilty of dimming our light so that the light of another can shine brighter? How many times have we allowed our power to be taken so that it could be used by those whose love or acknowledgment we desire more? It would not be an understatement to say that to live a power-filled life is a great achievement in a world that has only ever enabled powerlessness. One only has to look at the fate of those individuals who, throughout history, have encouraged us to stand confidently in our power, many of whom were relegated to the peripheries of society, if not removed from it altogether.
There is a final connection that can be made between Superman’s power and our own, and that is the fact that he only experiences his full potential when in service to others. I recall listening to a talk by Neale Donald Walsch on this topic, that if we want to experience a particular quality, we must give it to another. So if we want to experience compassion, then show compassion and the same with love and peace. In which case, our superhero only becomes truly authentic when he is in service. The rest of the time he is just a regular guy. Maybe there is a lesson here for all of us, that only in service can we experience the full magnitude of our own superpowers.
(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.”)
If I could show you a way to transform your life in one year or less, would you be interested? How about if you could help others do the same thing at the same time?
Intrigued?
Read on…
May I share a possibility with you, one that caused my life to alter so dramatically that it changed the course of my life forever. In fact, I wouldn’t be writing this to you today without it. You might be thinking by now that it was reading books like Conversations with God. Well you would be partly correct, but it wasn’t just reading CwG that made the difference for me.
About 14 years ago, I embarked on a spiritual quest, to find my truth about God and life. I was 12 years sober at the time, but I was missing something, as my life experience was anything but happy, joyous and free. One day in a meeting, while thinking of my challenge, I looked up at the AA 12 steps and had a realization: I had no clue what my truth about God was. It said, “God, as you understand God,” but in that moment I realized I didn’t have a clue what that meant for me. Sure, I had my ideas about it, my childhood upbringing, but clearly those weren’t working, or I would have been happy.
Later that year, after much contemplation and searching, I began a course of study which took me down the comparative religion path. All of it was really very interesting and helpful stuff as a whole new world began to open up for me. But nothing really knocked my socks off; that was, until this happened.
I was right in the middle of studying Christian history and theology at the time. I wish I remembered the date, but I will never forget the day. CwG, Book 1, showed up, not once, not twice, but three times from three different sources. I had dismissed the first one simply because my thought was that I had a stack of books at home to read, like I really needed another book on that pile? I don’t think so. Later that day, I was sitting in a Chiropractor’s office and something caught my eye. I looked up at their lending library and, low and behold, there was CwG, Book 1, on tape. I pulled it out to look at it, but once again dismissed it thinking I was just too busy. That evening, I was watching a game show, and as if God needed to hit me with a two-by-four, there was a question in the category “New York Times Best Sellers”: “Name the author of Conversations with God”… Okay, whatever!
After I picked myself up off of the floor, I jumped into my car and drove down to the bookstore. I may be slower than some, but after the third time, I got it. I began reading the book that evening – big mistake. Who needs sleep anyway? Well, probably like you, I began to make the journey with Neale, as he asked the questions and God answered.
Yes, reading the book moved me and I had to learn more. I read all the books available, which at the time was only the first three. I had an excitement. Like a treasure hunter finding clues, I knew I was on the right path. I found out that Neale was going to be speaking in my area, so I bought a ticket. A week later, I went to Sedona, Arizona, for my very first retreat. I followed the breadcrumbs to an invitation that I knew was changing my life.
I felt there was something for me within having this whole “Conversation with God” experience. I was led to these books and retreat by a communication from God; I just wasn’t talking back. But I was paying attention to the signs that led me all the way to Sedona. I watched and listened as this regular guy named Neale, who had a boat-load of living problems, shared his story of transformation and the invitation that God gave to him. His was to be a messenger, and his invitation was for me to consider being one, too.
In that moment, I heard the call and I knew this would benefit me greatly. If I could really get a grasp on the concepts within the CwG message, maybe I could live them. If I could incorporate them into my life, I knew I would reap the rewards of living my life in that new way. Perhaps I could be happy, joyous and free. The breadcrumb trail had led me to a guy who had a conversation with God and who suggested that I help others as a way of helping myself. Oh, I got it, the 12th step of AA. “Having had a spiritual awakening, help others have one too.” I can do this!
I now pass along that same invitation to you. One very simple way of helping yourself and others transform is by starting a CwG Study Group. I did so for seven years in the San Diego area and not only was a new man born out of it, so was a new career. I continued to follow the breadcrumbs, which led me all the way here, now as the Executive Director of the Conversations with God Foundation. How do you plan for something like that? Yet there was a path and there is one who knows your heart and soul. What is God saying to you? Was this invitation written directly for you?
Here is the best part: I will help you create a Study Group if you hear that call. You must answer. I will also help you transform your life, not because there is something wrong with your life, but because like me, you wish to become a grander version of yourself. That was the call I answered — to become the next grandest version of the greatest vision ever I held of who I am. I knew within my heart that if I could be around the messages of CwG enough, that I could begin to live them. And what better way than sitting in front of the room. I heard things come out of my mouth in those meetings that were sometimes astonishing to me. I was being a vessel for wisdom to flow through and gaining that wisdom in the process.
I promise that your life will change forever.
Interested?
Reach out to me: JR@CWG.ORG
I will be offering a conference call on Wednesday, June 19th, at noon pacific time for those interested in learning more. I will show you how easy it is to do. Does it take a year to transform? No. But it will take about a year just to get through Book 1 in a study group and discussion. And you will be a different person in that year.
I was forever transformed. Let me know if you are interested and I will send you the conference call info.
Looking forward to speaking with you soon! – JR
(J.R. Westen, D.D., C.Ad, is a Holistic Health & Spiritual Counselor who has worked and presented side-by-side with Neale Donald Walsch for over a decade. He is passionate about helping individuals move beyond their emotional and spiritual challenges, transforming breakdowns into breakthroughs. His counseling and coaching provides practical wisdom and guidance that can be immediately incorporated to shift one’s experience of life. As is true for most impactful teachers, J.R.’s own struggles and triumphs inspired him to find powerful ways of helping others. Sober since June 1, 1986, J.R.’s passion for helping individuals move through intense life challenges drove him to also specialize in Addiction and Grief Recovery. J.R. currently shares his gift of counseling & coaching with individuals from around the world through the Wellness Center, Simply Vibrant, located on Long Island N.Y. In addition, he operates “Change House” a place where people come to transform. He also works with Escondido Sobering Services and now serves as the Director for the Conversations with God Foundation. He can be contacted at JR@CWG.ORG. )
As I listen to the podcasts of Neale Donald Walsch’s “Living from Your Soul,” I experience two feelings, that of gratitude for the course itself and anticipation for the next one, not least because it is the word experience that distinguishes this course from others I have attended, where regardless of how I had come to know my soul, its direct experience had so far eluded me.
There was no hiding my disappointment, especially from myself, of how the years studying Philosophy had led to nothing more than a vague understanding of how certain traditions view their own version of God. In retrospect, regardless of the enthusiasm with which I engaged with the knowledge presented to me, frustration invariably set in as I found myself stuck yet again in the academic cul-de-sac, a place where the obsession with intellectualizing upon the idea of God overshadowed any possibility of experiencing a direct relationship with Her.
So I looked toward those disciplines that acknowledge the role of experience, rather than an intellectual ‘knowing,’ at which point transpersonal psychology and shamanism became my new interest. Moving from the head and into my heart I started to believe that a direct experience of God was possible for everyone, not just the chosen few saints, martyrs and gurus whose lives of self-denial would turn even the most enthusiastic truth seeker off the prospect of a divine experience. That is not to say that such people did not achieve an experience, but to necessarily associate this type of lifestyle with a direct experience of God is narrow and limited in the extreme.
This is where it gets confusing, but it is also where the teachings of “Living from your Soul” comes into play by challenging the idea that suffering must precede an experience of the Divine, rather we are offered the alternative, that in order to engage with God all we need to do is to express those behaviours that are Godlike. In hindsight then, it appears that there is no need for suffering at all, no denial of the fundamentals of our humanity or the need to follow a particular belief system. For these reasons, a direct experience of the divine becomes an attractive option that is available to all of us.
(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.”)
Dear Therese,
I had dreams and plans that had to be put on hold because of family circumstances. I made promises that I sincerely wish to keep, but I, none the less, find my mind wandering to those dreams and plans more and more. I don’t want to back out on my promises to others, but I would really like the opportunity to follow my dreams. What can I do?
Darla in Fargo, ND
Polonius:
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Hamlet Act 1, scene 3, 78-82
Dear Darla,
In CWG terms, betrayal of yourself, so as not to betray another, is the greatest betrayal of all.
Why? Because there is no other. When you betray yourself, your giving is tinged with the energy of betrayal in all you do. You serve no one as well as you think you are serving them. In some way the people to whom you made the promises know that you are giving from your lack and not your fullness…and that means they know that at least some piece of you is far away from them.
It has been my experience that when I finally let go of the notion that I am the only one that can do something, or that I only have one way of fulfilling my promises, those promises have a way of still being kept! One way of importance is that I enable others to step in and take the burden off, enabling them to demonstrate their greatness.
When we think that we are the only ones who can do something, or that there is only one way of having dreams fulfilled, we get frustrated. We move into expectation instead of preference, which is so very limiting…and why do we keep limiting a limitless Universe?
Perhaps you could give a thought to fulfilling your dreams where you are? Have you looked at the possibility of combining old and new dreams? Maybe you can include the people to whom you made promises in your dreams? Maybe they are ready for an adventure? Consider, also, that you are where you are for a reason, if only for now. What are you being called to look at?
Of equal importance in this process is this: Once you have decided it is time to be true to yourself, you must also tell the truth to yourself. Admit all of the negative as well as the positive emotions surrounding this. You may find that there is something entirely different than you think driving your feelings. When you tell the truth to yourself, Darla, then, when you talk of changes to the others you wish not to betray, they will know they are hearing the truth. This does not mean that they will react in a positive way necessarily, but it does mean that they will know, if only on their soul level (only??), that you are being true to yourself, and by extension, them.
Finally, be Grateful for it all.
Gratitude for all that is, is the engine that drives what is to come. Yes, difficult sometimes, but can’t we all look back at our lives and see how something that seemed “not good” at the time, turned out to have one heck of a silver lining? Look for that silver lining right now. If you can not see it, know that it does exist!
I know that’s a lot to take in, Darla, so take things as slowly as you wish right now, and when/if the time is right to make a change trust yourself. It may be kind of scary, but know that it is also an adventure, and an opportunity to experience Life as fully as you can!
Therese
(Therese Wilson is a published poet, and is the administrator of the global website at www.ChangingChange.net . 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: ChangingChange.net 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.
The Greatest Wealth is Health – Virgil
Having a conversation with God just makes sense when facing any challenge, and health challenges are no different. Given that most of the human race die from preventable chronic illnesses, what if anything might we wish to look at and potentially change in our lives to circumvent us becoming another statistic?
God has much to say on health and healing, and the Conversations with God Foundation is hosting an event to address recovery through holistic health. This conversation will be powerful yet practical, providing a new way to look at yourself and your life that could change everything. It will also look at common sense solutions to everyday living problems, like all good Conversations with God do.
You need not wait until symptoms appear to benefit from recreating yourself and your health anew. For example, were you aware that heart disease manifests itself for 10 to 30 years before its first symptom appears? And unfortunately, the first symptom is a heart attack! The really bad news is that 50 percent do not survive the heart attack to make the changes that would have changed everything.
Waiting for symptoms to appear makes no sense as the example above demonstrates. So what to do about it?
First, here is the top ten list from the CDC of the leading causes of death in 2012:
You will notice that all but 2 are diseases and preventable ones at that!
Heart disease: 597,689
Cancer: 574,743
Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 138,080
Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 129,476
Accidents (unintentional injuries): 120,859
Alzheimer’s disease: 83,494
Diabetes: 69,071
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 50,476
Influenza and Pneumonia: 50,097
Intentional self-harm (suicide): 38,364
Hold on though, this list is not accurate. There is one missing! A new number 3!
Every year tobacco kills more Americans than World War II did — more than AIDS, cocaine, heroin, alcohol, vehicular accidents, homicide and suicide combined!
Approximately 440,000 people die from their own smoking each year, and about 50,000 die from second-hand smoke annually!
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 22,073 people died of alcohol, 12,113 died of AIDS, 43,664 died of car accidents, 38,396 died of drug use — legal and illegal — 18,573 died of murder and 33,300 died of suicide. That brings us to a total of 168,119 deaths, far less than the 440,000 that die from smoking annually.”
While untimely deaths of any kind are sad, those related to lifestyle choices – like smoking, poor eating, and drinking or other drug use – are especially tragic!
“Three decades ago, public outrage ended a popular American automobile model – The Ford Pinto – whose design defects allegedly caused 59 deaths, yet close to 500,000 people a year die from smoking alone. Where is the outrage? Or better yet, the common sense to change our minds about what we are doing to ourselves every day.
Is it just a lack of knowledge? Or could it be that the way we look at certain issues that cause them to remain in place? Could a shift in perspective hold the keys to seeing solutions to problems that have been left unresolved in our life?
A shift in perspective always creates a new point of view, a view that sheds light on things once unseen. And the seeing of this new view presents new solutions that could change everything. (and will change everything if you use them).
Is it time for you to take another look?
Here is a place where making an assumption is actually a good thing. Assuming that you have one or more of the top 10 chronic illnesses developing within you right now is prudent, as the only real defense is prevention. Will you?
On June 23rd, I, along with a host of other holistic healers, will shed light on how to create wellness in the face of any health challenge…or better yet, as a way of life to prevent them.
Sounds like a tall order, but in truth the understanding and solutions are not that complicated. It is often as simple as taking another point of view, another way of looking at the current problem, a new view that would change everything.
While we call it a Recovery Retreat, and many who have signed up are dealing with the chronic illness known as addiction, we will show you how the same or similar protocols for dealing with addictive and compulsive disorders can also create a new path to healing for the other top causes of death on the planet today.
We will take a holistic point of view as we walk down the path of recovery from dis-ease, that is, look from the perspective of the whole being and our connection to all of life. In fact, we will show you why so many remain stuck in illness and how to begin to shift out of that immediately.
When you apply the wisdom shared at this event, you will set in motion the power of your beingness to heal the imbalances causing the problems that create the symptoms of dis-ease, which as you have seen about are currently causing so many to die prematurely.
Will that be you? Or will you answer the call within to recreate yourself anew in the next grandest version of the greatest vision ever you held of who you are.
We have a seat for you. It is waiting and you already know if you are suppose to be here.
CwG on RECOVERY
A Path to Peace
June 23 – 26 Medford Oregon
REGISTER NOW AND SAVE $100
Regular price $395
EARLY BIRD PRICE: $295 if registered before May 26
SPECIAL OFFER
The “CwG Recovery Retreat” ends right before Neale Donald Walsch’s next “CwG Spiritual Renewal retreat” held June 26 – 30. Why not consider participating in both? Come spend a life transforming week with us!
Sign up by May 26th and you can do both retreats for only $492.
LOCATION:
The retreat is held at the Rogue Regency Inn, 2300 Biddle Road, Medford, OR 97504. Hotel accommodations are not included in the price of the retreat registration. There are rooms available at the Rogue Regency at the discounted rate of $89/single or double. For reservations, please call 541-770-1234 or 800-535-5805 and request the “Conversations with God” group rate. Reservations must be made by May 25th, 2013.
The Rogue Regency features a full service restaurant offering vegetarian and non-vegetarian fare, beauty salon, barbershop, massage therapist, indoor heated pool, spa, terry bathrobes and feather pillows in all guest rooms, with optional two-room suites with hot tub and fireplace at a slightly higher price, plus free transportation to and from airport, five minutes away.
http://www.rogueregency.com/our_hotel.php
For more information contact: Will : 1-352-442-2244
or will@cwg.org
Join us in this most important conversation with God! I look forward to seeing you there. To your health! – JR
J.R. Westen, D.D., C.A.d. (J.R. is a Holistic Health & Spiritual Counselor who has worked and presented side-by-side with Neale Donald Walsch for over a decade. He is passionate about helping individuals move beyond their emotional and spiritual challenges, transforming breakdowns into breakthroughs. His counseling and coaching provides practical wisdom and guidance that can be immediately incorporated to shift one’s experience of life. As is true for most impactful teachers, J.R.’s own struggles and triumphs inspired him to find powerful ways of helping others. Sober since June 1, 1986, J.R.’s passion for helping individuals move through intense life challenges drove him to also specialize in Addiction and Grief Recovery. J.R. currently shares his gift of counseling & coaching with individuals from around the world through the Wellness Center, Simply Vibrant, located on Long Island N.Y. In addition, he operates “Change House” a place where people come to transform. He also works with Escondido Sobering Services and now serves as the Executive Director of the Conversations with God Foundation.)
What will happen if you decide to be happy…NOW? According to what God tells us through the author, Neale Donald Walsh, in his book Communion with God, it is the decision to be happy that creates the experience of being happy. What does that really mean? From my own life experience, I understand exactly what this means.
We create our life with awareness, or without. When we decide to be happy and really commit ourselves consciously to being happy, we will create the experience of being happy. This sounds too simple to be true but not so easy to execute when the circumstances surrounding you feel like hell. This is where consciousness comes in to play. Our thoughts create our feelings, and our feelings create our experience.
Many family members, close friends, and I are facing huge challenges such as serious illness, death of a loved one, unemployment, horrible work conditions, financial ruin, and divorce. So how is happiness possible under these circumstances? The answer is happiness develops when the decision to be happy is made in our consciousness. What we look for in life affects what we see. I understand, firsthand, how difficult this appears. Impossible you might think. But I also understand, from my own experience, just how making the decision to be happy really works.
Only you control your thoughts. During difficult times, greater effort must be put on feeding your mind positive thoughts. Focus on something that is good in your life, no matter how small, because what we focus on expands. Keep something in front of you to trigger a happy thought when you need one. Allow yourself to imagine something great that may happen, or how you will feel when this episode is past. Force yourself to think of things that make you feel good. Your feelings are in your control when you make conscious decisions. When you feel good, you are creating a better world.
I am not suggesting you ignore the issue at hand to be happy. If you are sick, you need to take measures to get well, but at the same time find a positive focus. Read or watch funny and uplifting stories. Be grateful for something good in your life and focus on the positive. If you are living or working in a bad situation, place a trigger in front of you: a photo of a happy memory, a positive statement, or anything that will trigger a happy thought. Send love to whatever or whoever is causing a problem. Think thoughts that make you feel good. Imagine how you will feel when this experience passes.
Our inner world creates our outer world. The inner world is the cause and the outer world is the effect. Find a way to be at peace with whatever is happening around you. Happiness is not always laughter and bliss, but happiness does survive with acceptance and peace. In difficult times, to live in the moment consciously is our best defense but is often traded for worry over what the future may hold. Worry is a misuse of your imagination. Peace, happiness, and joy only live in the present moment. This I know for sure.
NOW, I urge you to give some thought to your own happiness. In my opinion, happiness is underrated. When happiness is the priority — that is, FEELING GOOD — everything in your life gets better to some degree, no matter what the circumstance. When you feel good. you will attract more things that match that feeling. My wish is health, wealth, and abundance for all; and my hope is that everyone may discover the miracles that happen when you are grateful for what you have at this moment and decide to be happy…NOW.
(Terri Lynn is an expert at choosing happiness and using the Divine navigation system which she shares in her first book Journey to my Soul. Currently, Terri is Sales Manager at Otto’s BMW in West Chester, Pa. where she motivates and coaches the sales team. Her intention is to share with others the importance of putting happiness first. She shares her thoughts on her website – Terri Lynn’s Happy Talk. Terri resides in Newtown Square, Pa.)
(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.”)
