There are times in your life that you can honestly say that you've made a good choice. My choice was to go to that study group. I felt like I belonged there. That I was meant to be there. What was kind of strange was the fact that there was someone there who I just met almost exactly a MONTH ago. I was meant to meet her then and meant to meet with her again, tonight. I can relate to her as we are both in the same program, the one I started recently. It was one of those signs: I AM IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME!
We covered chapter 3 tonight and I have to get that book so that I can catch up with the rest of the group, but also because there's things I have missed. At the end of the night, we get to pick a card. Each card is different. They all have a statement from the book itself. Mine was: The spirit will help you reinterpret what you perceive to be fearful and teach you that only what is loving is true.
We, as people, are conditioned by FEAR, fear is only a CONDITION. A condition is a STIPULATION, or merely a state of mind. Because it is conditional it is a significant influence of determining the outcome of whatever the experience may be. When we are fearful, we are INFLUENCED SIGNIFICANTLY by this state of mind. Not only are we influenced, ourselves, we are influencing the outcome. Sort of that self-fulfilling prophecy going on there.
We, as people, are programmed to be a certain way. We are taught that judging is healthy and should be done. One can say that everything that is bad, is in a way healthy, because without all these bad things, we wouldn't have any point of comparison. We are are programmed in how we perceive things. I thought of a lot of this stuff before going to this group tonight. Which means that I was supposed to go. For the last few weeks, I've been directing myself consciously or subconsciously to start thinking about my own perceptions and interpretations. Our interpretations are the basis of or perceptions.
I feel I am guided by a 'force' to certain outlets from which I can gain insight. I have new ideas that are starting to work for me. Like, how I interpret 'GOD'. In my way of thinking of things... I see 'GOD' as an acronym. G = Guidance, O = On toward, D = Divinity. Therefore, we have 'GOD' within us due to our ability to teach ourselves and our ability to accept guidance. When we are teaching ourselves, we are guiding ourselves. So now, I can use this idea to help me accept 'GOD' in my life. As a guiding 'force'.
The idea of heaven is easier for me to accept as well, especially since I'm putting "religion" into a NEW CONTEXT. I was taught religious aspects of life, but not spiritual aspects of life. There were a lot of things that nobody ever taught me before, but I can say that I am READY to LEARN them NOW. Every time I ALLOW myself to LIVE in the NOW, I learn something NEW. It is the kind of NEW that you can't buy in a STORE. Yet, you can STORE IT in your BELIEF SYSTEM.
Here's something to think about: You can only perceive what you believe, and only believe what you perceive. <----- I've been coming up with a lot of this stuff lately.
Deep down inside, we already KNOW the TRUTH, whether we are WILLING and/or ABLE to FACE the TRUTH is what only we can determine for ourselves. You know why we already know the truth? Because we were born knowing it. It's in our DNA. It's how we grow that is the issue. It's what we are taught that either allows us to grow or prevents us from growing. It's what we are GIVEN to help us GROW (or not given to prevent our growth. Also, what we give to others and to ourselves that help us grow (if we are not giving to others or to ourselves, we are closing ourselves off to the opportunity to grow). It's CHANCES that lead to ADVANCES! Give yourself a CHANCE to ADVANCE! Give other people a CHANCE TO ADVANCE.
The hardest thing to do in life is to LET GO. I have to admit that I have an issue with this, too. Especially when I feel like what happened to me wasn't right. If I JUDGE the situation to be RIGHT or WRONG, I'm influencing my THOUGHTS, then my THOUGHTS influence my FEELINGS, and I ACT based on my FEELINGS. If I can CONTROL my EMOTIONS, then I am able to CONTROL my ACTIONS. We only reach a RESULT (good or bad...) through the ACTIONS THAT WE TAKE! We are in control of our ACTIONS through making CHOICES. I actually have a book called "CHOICES" that I was given by a friend of mine who I've known since I was about 7 years old. She wants to see me succeed because she cares about me. She knows what kind of a life I've had.... I don't know if any of you know about this program, I know some of you do... It's called: The Big Sisters/Big Brothers. I had a Big Sister and she and I still talk, 20 years later, she's still in my life. She's been a BIG part of my life actually. She's taught me a lot of things in life. I needed someone just like her and I was so very fortunate to have her in my life! Still am! I know that I can call her ANYTIME, talk to her about ANYTHING.
My life as a kid wasn't the best. I can look back and say that it could have been much worse. She was the only one who understood what I was going through. At first, she didn't understand, because she didn't know. It was hard for me to tell her what was going on because I didn't even know HOW to tell her. She figured out that the reason I was so angry when it was time to go back home was because I didn't WANT to go back home. I was always being yelled at and hit for a long time, and that was only the tip of the iceberg. When people are abused, they begin to abuse themselves. They also (not always) abuse others. Because they interpret it as being normal. They become ACCUSTOMED to the CONDITIONS and begin to NORMALIZE the CONDITIONS in their mind as a perception of something that is normal, even when it is not. A lot of people who have been abused will even say that they thought this was how everyone was treated. That it was normal for everyone, not just themselves. This thought is their perception.
But, back on the LETTING GO thing... I have a hard time letting go when I'm angry. It'll eat away at me for weeks and sometimes MONTHS. Because I don't see it as SUBJECTIVE. I see the even as being OBJECTIVE and myself as being the OBJECT being AFFECTED. The things that make me really mad are the things that I find UNFAIR or UNJUST. But the only way to actually LET GO is to ACCEPT that this has happened, ACCEPT that it is over, and ACCEPT that you have something to learn from it. When you learn what it is you're supposed to learn, then the issue just fades into the past (where it hopefully stays).
Anyways, the third chapter that they were discussing was called: The Innocent Perspective. We were talking about the differences between Innocence and Naivety. It was pretty interesting. Anyways, I think I'll break for a shower now and perhaps resume a bit more before bed.
We covered chapter 3 tonight and I have to get that book so that I can catch up with the rest of the group, but also because there's things I have missed. At the end of the night, we get to pick a card. Each card is different. They all have a statement from the book itself. Mine was: The spirit will help you reinterpret what you perceive to be fearful and teach you that only what is loving is true.
We, as people, are conditioned by FEAR, fear is only a CONDITION. A condition is a STIPULATION, or merely a state of mind. Because it is conditional it is a significant influence of determining the outcome of whatever the experience may be. When we are fearful, we are INFLUENCED SIGNIFICANTLY by this state of mind. Not only are we influenced, ourselves, we are influencing the outcome. Sort of that self-fulfilling prophecy going on there.
We, as people, are programmed to be a certain way. We are taught that judging is healthy and should be done. One can say that everything that is bad, is in a way healthy, because without all these bad things, we wouldn't have any point of comparison. We are are programmed in how we perceive things. I thought of a lot of this stuff before going to this group tonight. Which means that I was supposed to go. For the last few weeks, I've been directing myself consciously or subconsciously to start thinking about my own perceptions and interpretations. Our interpretations are the basis of or perceptions.
I feel I am guided by a 'force' to certain outlets from which I can gain insight. I have new ideas that are starting to work for me. Like, how I interpret 'GOD'. In my way of thinking of things... I see 'GOD' as an acronym. G = Guidance, O = On toward, D = Divinity. Therefore, we have 'GOD' within us due to our ability to teach ourselves and our ability to accept guidance. When we are teaching ourselves, we are guiding ourselves. So now, I can use this idea to help me accept 'GOD' in my life. As a guiding 'force'.
The idea of heaven is easier for me to accept as well, especially since I'm putting "religion" into a NEW CONTEXT. I was taught religious aspects of life, but not spiritual aspects of life. There were a lot of things that nobody ever taught me before, but I can say that I am READY to LEARN them NOW. Every time I ALLOW myself to LIVE in the NOW, I learn something NEW. It is the kind of NEW that you can't buy in a STORE. Yet, you can STORE IT in your BELIEF SYSTEM.
Here's something to think about: You can only perceive what you believe, and only believe what you perceive. <----- I've been coming up with a lot of this stuff lately.
Deep down inside, we already KNOW the TRUTH, whether we are WILLING and/or ABLE to FACE the TRUTH is what only we can determine for ourselves. You know why we already know the truth? Because we were born knowing it. It's in our DNA. It's how we grow that is the issue. It's what we are taught that either allows us to grow or prevents us from growing. It's what we are GIVEN to help us GROW (or not given to prevent our growth. Also, what we give to others and to ourselves that help us grow (if we are not giving to others or to ourselves, we are closing ourselves off to the opportunity to grow). It's CHANCES that lead to ADVANCES! Give yourself a CHANCE to ADVANCE! Give other people a CHANCE TO ADVANCE.
The hardest thing to do in life is to LET GO. I have to admit that I have an issue with this, too. Especially when I feel like what happened to me wasn't right. If I JUDGE the situation to be RIGHT or WRONG, I'm influencing my THOUGHTS, then my THOUGHTS influence my FEELINGS, and I ACT based on my FEELINGS. If I can CONTROL my EMOTIONS, then I am able to CONTROL my ACTIONS. We only reach a RESULT (good or bad...) through the ACTIONS THAT WE TAKE! We are in control of our ACTIONS through making CHOICES. I actually have a book called "CHOICES" that I was given by a friend of mine who I've known since I was about 7 years old. She wants to see me succeed because she cares about me. She knows what kind of a life I've had.... I don't know if any of you know about this program, I know some of you do... It's called: The Big Sisters/Big Brothers. I had a Big Sister and she and I still talk, 20 years later, she's still in my life. She's been a BIG part of my life actually. She's taught me a lot of things in life. I needed someone just like her and I was so very fortunate to have her in my life! Still am! I know that I can call her ANYTIME, talk to her about ANYTHING.
My life as a kid wasn't the best. I can look back and say that it could have been much worse. She was the only one who understood what I was going through. At first, she didn't understand, because she didn't know. It was hard for me to tell her what was going on because I didn't even know HOW to tell her. She figured out that the reason I was so angry when it was time to go back home was because I didn't WANT to go back home. I was always being yelled at and hit for a long time, and that was only the tip of the iceberg. When people are abused, they begin to abuse themselves. They also (not always) abuse others. Because they interpret it as being normal. They become ACCUSTOMED to the CONDITIONS and begin to NORMALIZE the CONDITIONS in their mind as a perception of something that is normal, even when it is not. A lot of people who have been abused will even say that they thought this was how everyone was treated. That it was normal for everyone, not just themselves. This thought is their perception.
But, back on the LETTING GO thing... I have a hard time letting go when I'm angry. It'll eat away at me for weeks and sometimes MONTHS. Because I don't see it as SUBJECTIVE. I see the even as being OBJECTIVE and myself as being the OBJECT being AFFECTED. The things that make me really mad are the things that I find UNFAIR or UNJUST. But the only way to actually LET GO is to ACCEPT that this has happened, ACCEPT that it is over, and ACCEPT that you have something to learn from it. When you learn what it is you're supposed to learn, then the issue just fades into the past (where it hopefully stays).
Anyways, the third chapter that they were discussing was called: The Innocent Perspective. We were talking about the differences between Innocence and Naivety. It was pretty interesting. Anyways, I think I'll break for a shower now and perhaps resume a bit more before bed.
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