ACTUALIZING SPIRITUALITY

Actualizing spirituality is something we can do many times a day, not only when meditating, praying, or attending religious services. We can do it anytime simply by expressing our higher nature. Each time we choose to be more accepting, compassionate, positive, patient, humble, reverent, giving, forgiving or loving, we actualize our higher spiritual nature.

To increasingly actualize your higher nature, practice REMEMBERING YOURSELF.

Each time you REMEMBER YOURSELF, you can better notice how you’re acting at the moment ... and then ask yourself, "What would my highest self be doing right now?" Then take that action.

By continually asking this question, we can increasingly actualize our spiritual nature; each time we remember ourselves we have an opportunity to deliberately express the highest within us.

In this way we become spiritually very focused and powerful.

Of course, it will help to first learn to recognize the true 'voice' of your higher self. And that's where meditation and other forms of consciousness-training may come in -- they can help us become more attuned to our spiritual dimension. And as we do, we better recognize and heed the true voice of our Higher Self.

Attaining this level of self-awareness and action leads to life mastery. As we do this, we increase positive experience and fulfill our life’s best possibilities.

So take up this practice. You’ll rejoice in the experience each time that you do.

Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.

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CHANGE YOUR MIND, CHANGE YOUR LIFE

To have a good life we need to do more than feel good and think positively, we need to have good health, financial stability, loving relationships and meaningful purpose. The key tool for achieving all these goals is our mind. But like any other tool, if we don’t use it well, it can work against us.

Ordinarily, the mind automatically operates according to mental sets -- fixed biased beliefs and opinions we hold firmly, whether they be right or wrong. Thus, unless we can objectively monitor our thoughts and become free to change them, we become trapped in them, and better results aren’t likely.

So to improve life, the ability to change one’s mind is essential.

Right now you hold some very strong beliefs and opinions about yourself, others and the world. Many of these may be holding you back from achieving good health, financial stability, loving relationships and meaningful purpose. You may even have a sense of what some of these flawed opinions and beliefs are, and yet go on following them, letting them hold you back.

This is a very common problem we all face -- we become easily habituated and tend to follow the same paths of least resistance, no matter what. It takes special effort to observe our thoughts and challenge them. Yet this is the way to a better life. Anyone making a better life learns to do this.

So now consider a few thoughts or beliefs that you may need to change. If you change even one, it can make a big difference.

It’s a simple principle: to change your life, just change your mind.

Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.

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LIVE MORE HARMONIOUSLY

Often, we unwittingly create unhappiness.

Say we're caught in a traffic jam and instead of exercising patience, we cut in and out of lanes trying to get ahead of others. By doing this we may annoy or challenge others and cause unnecessary tension within ourselves. We may even get into an altercation or accident and further delays.

Or: say we live on a tight budget and see something we really want but can't afford. And instead of accepting the fact and moving on, we get caught up in an inner struggle. If we buy it we'll upset our budget and feel financial stress soon after. If we don't, we may walk away feeling sorely deprived. By not accepting our situation, either way we create unhappiness.

Or: say someone expresses an opinion that differs from ours. If we're impatient and intolerant and try to shoot it down instead of listening calmly and respectfully before expressing our own, we may launch into a stormy argument, causing bad feelings that may linger and even weaken the relationship.

There are hundreds of such common instances in which conflict and tension can unwittingly get produced each day -- unnecessarily. To live more harmoniously we may first have to recognize that often we are the very culprits creating discord in our lives.

Almost any situation can become tension-filled ... or not. It often just depends on realistically accepting situations for what they are and relaxing in them. In other words, we may have to learn to NOT SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF; PLAY IT COOL; and GO WITH THE FLOW.

You may have heard all these phrases before. If you now take them to heart, you'll find that you can live much more harmoniously!

Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.

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THE SECRET OF PRAYER

Do you think of prayer as wishful thinking or a way of soliciting God’s help? Either way, you may be misunderstanding what lies at the root of prayer.

While there’s scientific evidence that praying can have true worldly effects -- prayed-for people and plants grow healthier; people who pray live longer; bacteria can be influenced by prayer; etc., -- it’s not clear exactly what causes these effects. When praying brings results, is the cause praying, or is it something else?

If we think of prayer merely as speaking words to God and asking for help, we may have reason for skepticism and doubt. However, if we think of prayer as a way of generating and focusing creative energy -- the essence of all being and from which all existence arises -- then there’s a way of conceiving a rational explanation for the workings of prayer.

In other words, if we recognize that prayer is a way of focusing the creative power of consciousness, then its results are no greater a miracle than any other creative act; no different than eliciting a new insight, idea, inspiration, or creative vision -- all of which suddenly emerge from nonexistence and cause new life possibilities to form. Prayer may actually be a way of mobilizing the creative power that secretly resides at our depths.

In this light the main difference between prayers getting answered or not has not to do with our prayerful words, but rather the quality of consciousness that underlies those words. When praying in desperation and fear, we may be unwittingly working against what we want, failing ourselves. Successful prayer may have everything to do with how well we focus the creative power of consciousness and the level of positive energy we generate.

Here may lie the true secret of prayer.

Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.

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COULD YOU BECOME A LIFE MASTER?

Many of us may think that life mastery is an unrealistic goal, yet I think everyone should make it their key goal in life.

Here’s why: wouldn’t you rather to be a master of a game, sport or occupation than be poor at it? I think we all would. But many of us may think it’s too hard, or that we don’t have enough talent, or that mastery means becoming great or the best or perfect. And this is not possible for most of us. So it may not seem worth the effort to even try.

But it is worth the effort. For even if we only achieve a degree of mastery at something, we’re much better off. For we gain more control, success and satisfaction with each step we take, no matter how small.

To bring about mastery, we simply need to keep making a little progress, week after week. Then, given enough time, we’re sure to achieve a level of mastery.

Now you might ask, "But if I barely have what it takes to master just one thing, how can I expect to master all of life? Isn’t that expecting too much?"

Not at all. Because life mastery is achieved by mainly developing only one thing -- one’s consciousness. Once we realize this, achieving life mastery is much more conceivable.

It’s our state of consciousness that makes the difference in everything we do.

Once we know this and focus primarily on improving our state of consciousness, we’ll surely move toward life mastery and living with great satisfaction and ease. And what can be more important than that?

So don’t sell yourself short. Aim for nothing less than life mastery and give life your best shot!

Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.

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