WHY GOD CREATED THIS WORLD

Many may ask, “If God exists why would God create such a difficult world with so much evil and human suffering in it?” Before seeking an answer to this question, it might do well to examine it.

Such a question suggests that God should favor humans and make everything easy and comfortable for them. Now why would God, in all his great wisdom, want to do that? Wouldn’t it just place God in the role of an overly protective and pampering parent?

This may be what we’d like God to be, but let’s expect God to do better than that. God, in great wisdom, has created a universe of endless possibilities, giving each creature opportunities to survive, thrive and evolve as best it can. Some may instinctively fight with, destroy, or feed off others. Others may see more value in cooperating with and serving each other. And some may find even greater value in developing and using their creative abilities to bring new and good things into the world. Still further, some may find that the greatest value lies in living with reverence, being more loving, and communing with God.

All these ways of being are open to us. God, more like a wise equal-opportunity employer than a dysfunctional parent, has provided a complete world of possibilities for us. God allows many forms of life to come into being and provides endless opportunities for them to test themselves and develop their best possibilities. Thus, God is quite generous, wise and allowing, and has created a perfect world for us. We need only learn how best to be in it.

So we needn’t ask why God created such a difficult world at all. Instead, we should be thankful for the opportunity given to us ... and ask why we aren’t using our short time here on earth to make better use of all that is given us.

Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.

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THREE GREAT LEAPS

There are three great consciousness leaps we can take that can dramatically change life. The first happens when we fully realize that the actions of our consciousness -- what we think, feel, believe, desire and intend -- actually create the life results we get.

Until we make this leap in self-understanding and open ourselves to the creative power of our own consciousness, we may often feel that we’re at the mercy of others and/or life’s unpredictable whims.  But once we take this leap, we clear the way to have much greater power. 

The second great consciousness leap happens when we realize that we can change and improve consciousness ... and thereby deliberately use our mind’s creative power to shape better outcomes. 

Until this realization, we may be shaping our life outcomes unconsciously and inadvertently ... not the best way to get the good results we want.  However, with this realization, we become free to deliberately experiment with the elements of consciousness and more consciously choose what we think, feel and believe.  And this allows us to get much better results.

The third great leap happens when realizing that by using our consciousness power not just for ourselves, but for others too, we reach our greatest happiness and fulfillment.

It takes only three great consciousness leaps to have a magnificent life -- one to discover our power, a second to actualize it, and a third to use it best. So GET READY ... GET SET ... and ... TAKE A GREAT LEAP!

Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.

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CREATING LASTING LOVE

When we feel a special ‘chemistry’ with someone we may be tempted to believe that we’ve met our soul-mate and fall helplessly in love. But this kind of uncontrollable romantic reaction is unpredictable, and if it happens is unlikely to last.

This is why dating can provoke high anxiety and why many romantic relationships soon struggle or fail, even if they start off with great chemistry -- at any moment a new desire, judgment or turn of events can cool or upset things. As wonderful as it may seem or be, romantic love is usually based on undependable subjective reactions which make it very chancy.

To keep love alive, romantic love needs to grow into a higher and more stable form of love -- a more mature true love.

Mature true love doesn’t arise from subjective chemistry as romantic love does. It’s something at a clear, calm moment of conscious self-possession we choose: to commit, care and give unconditionally to another person. At this level one fully accepts another -- failings and all -- and places their well-being on a par with their own.

So if you’re seeking true and lasting love, don’t look to accidental chemistry ... look to a higher-will capacity. That’s where the power to produce lasting love lies. At a mature consciously willing level, two people not only select and deliberately choose to love each other they make that choice daily, again and again and again, continually growing their feelings of love.  Thus, while romantic love may only be a capricious accident of human nature, true lasting love is a deliberate ongoing creative act of mature human will.

Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.

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INCREASING WILLPOWER

Do you wish you had more willpower ... to stay the course ... to overcome temptations or bad habits ... to accomplish goals ... or to get through an unpleasant task?  Well, you can have it ...by training yourself.

How? Every day take on at least one task for the purpose of challenging and expanding your willpower. Choose something you’re reluctant to do or finding difficult staying focused on. If you have difficulty meditating or doing physical exercise or resist certain tasks at home or at work, these are the very things that can best help you increase willpower.

Willpower gets depleted as we push it to its limit. So to increase willpower, we need not just exercise it regularly; we need to make a special effort. It’s the extra effort we exert that expands our willing capacity. So, just at the very point we feel ready to give in, we need to go a little further. And that’s all we need to do -- just go a little further. As we do this, willpower expands.

nsufficient sleep, stress or weariness from physical overexertion weakens willpower. So be mindful of these will-weakening conditions and avoid them.

Willpower also appears dependent on maintaining certain levels of blood sugar. Brain cells use sugar as their main energy source, so when blood sugar levels drop too low, mental focus and willpower weaken.  Therefore, when in the midst of a challenging task and our willpower is weakening, a mini-snack of protein or complex carbohydrates can raise our blood sugar level and help our willpower persevere.

By following these simple guidelines you can increase willpower and become more in charge of yourself and your life.  Remember: If you don’t use it, you lose it ... and the more you use it, the more powerful you can become.    

Goodness and joy to all,  Joseph.

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CREATING REALITY

When science looks deep into the nature of physical matter, it finds only energy and empty space, with empty space comprising about 99.9999% of all matter.  Everything we experience and know has no actual material base, yet we experience it as tangible matter!  How can that be?

The answer lies in the fact that human consciousness has the special capacity to create a material world experience: every moment our sensory system conveys millions of signals to our brain, where it constructs mental experiences of a physical world. Without consciousness, energy and space are undifferentiated and no reality of any kind can be experienced.

For creatures with other forms of consciousness (such as a bee, parrot or dog) the same energy and space may be experienced differently.  Each creature’s consciousness has its own relationship to the energy and space of life, and thereby lives in its own kind of reality. The energy structures of life may be the same for all, but each consciousness shapes its own experience of them.

In each case consciousness creates reality! And each kind creates its own reality.

This is especially significant for humans ... for unlike other creatures, we can choose to be conscious creators and purposefully recreate ourselves, our world and our experience of life. Ability to do this with great satisfaction depends on connecting with a higher level of Self ... and following its wise guidance. 

Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.

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