This is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, where I am writing this, and where Thanksgiving Day is one of the biggest family holidays of the year. But I have an idea about this holiday that is different from most...
Thank you Neale for that prayer it was just what I 'needed' at this point in my life. My dreams of attending school and following a career in the gaming industry have just been severrly challenged if not shattered when I was just recently diagnosed with IBS, a stress and dietery molecular disorder that effects the GI track. It has resulted excructing cramping throughout my whole gut, vomitting and diarrea almost daily, and made my intense school workload very difficult to complete. My 4.0 average is gone this quarter I don't even know if I can make the 3.0 to maintain the schoolarships needed to continue as I and my family are too poor to afford school. I am already tens of thousands of dollars in debt, and face an even less uncertain future. This has effected my personal relationship with my spiritual partner of seven years and theatens to come between us as living arrangements grow ever harder. I have tried and worked as hard as I could and the Docter's have said that is one of the problems. I am now battleing suicidal depression as the neverending physical pain and emotional, finacial conflict just won't end no matter what I do ( I also have intense neck and back pains as a result of a car wreck seven years ago). If there is a way out to all this I hope beyond desperation it is possible.
Mr.sm
November 22, 2007 3:09 AM
your books are mega awesome neale! soon i'm done reading the 3rd one and they have helped my alot. When will you come to norway to lecture?
Mr.sm norway!
Carmen rasmussen
November 22, 2007 5:38 AM
i want to say thankgiving to all AMERECAN PEOPLE,
this yaer, now i put to my calendar de date of thank giving,
so i dont foget,
Happy Thanksgiving !... Father Yahewh
How are You today ?
May I offer all that I am to You, let me say
As I go along this uncertain merry Way
And may this day be a testament of Truth
For all that we are, and ever be, in You
May all our Love, cry out in song
As we hold each other's hand as we go along
To build on earth this Kingdom of God
Though sometimes our building seems very odd
We raise it all up in praise, to tear it down another day
How in this Hell, does it really pay?
But all that we are, and all that we Be
Is the product of You setting us "Free"
To do what we will, and what we may say
Let it be from us All to You,
a Happy...Thanksgiving Day !
Amen!
johanna
November 22, 2007 9:33 AM
I'm not an American so I do not know what Thanksgiving means practicaly for my soul.I think I know the story behind this day but I'm not sure.More than thanking it is about helping others in need.So instead killing so many birds(because I do not know how turkey is spelled) maybe you can go in a place that needs your love and attention, and the money you use for the bird can be given to a homeless and buy him a proper meal once in the year.Of course you can do that everytime you want but this it may be a way of thanking God ! Our pieces of mind and our words are powerfull but if we just stand and talk...it is so nice I like that too, but sometimes an act it is needed!
PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR SOUL NOT JUST ONCE IN THE YEAR OR JUST IN HOLIDAYS , BUT IN ANY OTHER DAY THAT GOD GAVE US !!!
Bruce
November 22, 2007 12:04 PM
Good thoughts Neale, kinda like the recent movie "PAY IT FORWARD".
Thanks for all the Godding you will do this year Neale.
(:-)
Sue
November 22, 2007 1:52 PM
Dear Joshua, I feel I must respond to your post. I understand you are writing from a point of deep pain in many areas of your life. May I please offer a few suggestions?
It is often difficult to feel thankful when we are seeing the shadow side of life – please remember that this is just a shadow and we can bring in the light whenever we choose to do so. How do we do that? We begin by grabbing a pen and pad, writing Gratitude List on the top, and looking for something to be grateful for. If it is difficult to begin take your pad and go for a walk alone – walk on the soil, feel it beneath your feet even through your shoes – something to be grateful for will pop into your mind, write it down. Your list is started. Keep this notebook with you and add to it a couple of times a day – it quickly becomes addictive because it feels good. You will begin to see things to be grateful for even in the circumstances you mention above because they are tempering you, teaching you so much so quickly.
In this message Neale is encouraging us to look forward even while we walk in the present time and to be grateful for the gifts that are still to come. You will get to the point where you can do this with one small part of the puzzle of your life. Go somewhere where you will be totally alone, talk out loud to God (helps us stay on track) and tell Him how you feel using the same words you would use to tell a friend, tell him how much you hurt, how deep the pain is – let the pain pour out of you and you will be filled with peace and love to take it's place. You will be able to see things in the light instead of in the shadows, and your life will change. I promise, your life will change. And then you will be able to be grateful for just one thing that is still to arrive in your life, just one tiny thing – and it will be provided. Then another and another as you learn that God is dependable and truly loves and cares about you so very much. And you will find joy and happiness – your plans for the future may change for you will find what truly brings you joy.
Today I am thankful for you and all I know you will bring to this world – I will hold that for you until you are able to feel and know it for yourself. You are very special and deeply loved.
michelle
November 22, 2007 6:58 PM
Dear Joshusa,
Thank you for your honest post. Honesty is a wonderful thing, no, make that a MAGNIFICENT trait, which not everyone embraces as a leading characteristic they desire to claim and call their own as you so openly and evidently do. So, thank you for your openness and your honesty--two invaluable qualities that you obviously possess in addition to the great insight excuding from your comments on this blog. I just wanted to say these things because they are true and maybe, now, is a good time to let you hear them.
I also wanted to share an anecdote with you. Once, when I was feeling kind of down, and it just so happens that it was around this time of year, with a cold wind whipping in the air, portending winter, and I went to a chinese restaurant (yes, I love chinese food anytime anywhere!) and as I was getting ready to leave, I opened the fortune cookie and read these words which had the strange effect of immediately making me feel so much better: "Know that what you are experiencing is temporary."
I am sending you this fortune cookie tonight because it is as true for you now as it was for me then. Any discomfort, any pain, any non-peaceful, non-joyous event or circumstance in our life is only temporary though it may seem insurmountable. Nothing is insurmountable. You are still you no matter what conditions or circumstances you find you experiencing right now and what is truly amazing is that you have the power, like Sue shows you in her very insightful post tonight, to change your reality. As you points out, we create our own reality through our thoughts and if you don't like your present "reality" (which is only an illusion anyway, by the way) all we have to do is choose to think a different thought about it.
I am recommending two great books by Jerry and Esther Hicks, "Ask and It is Given" and "The Astonishing Power of Emotions." Both are excellent in showing people how to make great strides in teaching people how to journey up the ladder of emotions that we all feel from time to time, whether we start on a lower rung of suicidal depression or the highest one of Joy/Peace/contentment. They teach us how to, whatever rung we begin from, reach for the next highest emotion. Even Anger or Resentment, though not states we wish to remain in for any extended length of time, are preferrable to one experiencing depression. For example, in your case, it is understandable that one on a promising pathway with a 4.0, would be angry or resentful that the plan for a gaming career is being jeapardized by events beyond your control such as the car accident which left you with pain and an illness that has appeared to cause more roadblocks. It is ok to feel anger or overwhelm at the sudden appearance of roadblocks if it makes you feel better.
Once you feel better, then you'll want to reach for the next highest feeling, and then the next, each time reaching higher and higher until eventually you have reached the highest and you are standing at the pinnacle where your life's choices are in alignment with the heart's desires, your soul's desires. When you experience the alignment of who you are choosing to be here/now with the real You, the God in you, the soul of you, which is ever expanding, then you will experience utter Joy/Bliss/Peace/Harmony: your life will be a true expression of the joy and peace of you, the real you, the God in you as it was meant to be.
I hope that I said something that was able to make you feel better, Joshua. I just want to add a couple of more things on a more practical note. If you are able to maintain a 3.0 average, under extenuating circumstances such as health problems and shaky living arrangements, first, that means you are exceptionally bright, and second, then there may be other grants or fellowships available to you. It might help to talk to a financial aid officer at the school to see if there are any options available. Maybe they can assure you that you will not lose your scholarship.
I would learn all I could about the disease and do what practical things I could do such as dietary changes that may have a positive effect on the illness.
Thank you for you, Joshua. I hope you feel better. Please check out those books. They are extremely helpful.
Love and Peace,
michelle
Linda
November 22, 2007 8:23 PM
Happy Thanksgiving to all! Neale, we are in deep agreement. My family looks to me for the blessing at holiday meals,and I did exactly what you were talking about. I not only gave thanks for what we have received, but for all the abundance we will receive in the coming year. My family even commented on what a great idea that was. Thanks you so much for blessing us with your spiritual work. I feel immense gratitude for my conscious awareness of WHO I AM as a result of reading and applying it in my life. Love and blessings- Linda
Eva May Lane Williams
November 22, 2007 11:04 PM
Wow, It is Thanksgiving day and for the first time I watched the movie Conversations With God. I felt the power of all moving even deeper within my being. all of my 37 years of being here on earth I have grown to have so much understanding Love and empathy for people.I wish that i can save the world from pain and hunger but i know that i cannot But i know trhat we together can save each other.as love grows one day we all will find peace.Iam going to read the book next. i cant waite to get it. I love u Everyone. Eva
laning
November 22, 2007 11:42 PM
Thank you so much for your blog. Read it today when my hart is kind of heavy and worrying . Sometimes I go back to my old self without realizing it. It is reminder for me , kind of God gently reminding me. Thank you again Neale. This is the first time I am reading your blog though I have been reading many of your books and have my life and my relationship to God transformed. Happy Thanksgiving !
Greg Allen
November 23, 2007 1:52 PM
"there is no person and there is no time one more special than another..."
that would be a quote from Conversations with God.
Neale, you always strike me as funny at moments like this...
from Online Etymology: holiday O.E. haligdæg, from halig "holy" + dæg "day;" in 14c. meaning both "religious festival" and "day of recreation," but pronunciation and sense diverged 16c
Other etymological sources concur.
online dictionary dot com even has "holy day" listed as a definition of holiday.
wow Neale - you did it!
Joshua Kitchen
November 25, 2007 5:54 PM
Thank you so very much Sue and and Michelle, I can't say how deeply your kind words and consolation has touched me. One of the things that has made me so depressed is the sense that no one cares, but your kindness challenges that notion. Its funny Sue because I got a similar message just a day ago in meditation that true gratitude is most powerful during, difficulty, etc. when it is hardest to feel it. That is when it changes us most, and its true. For the first time I was able to feel grateful in the midst of drowning despair, for no external reason. It hasn't lasted but it was a pinpoint of light that I at least know is possible, and my pain has eased a bit since then. I guess I just don't know if gratitude really makes a differance or if our thoughts really effect our reality. Sometimes it seems life just sucks, and all these spiritual philosphies are ways too lie to ourselves about how crappy life really is.
I don't mean to be negative I'm just being as honest as I can be. It just seems that life is more conditional then creative, when things go our way we are happy, when they don't we are not and we have little cause in the matter. In my case things go my way for a while then SURPRISE they fall apart, its as if God is some cruel prankster who gives me my dreams then right before they reach fulfillment he yanks them back with a big "Just Kidding, did you actually think things are going your way.... HAHAHA nows thats funny." I would rather have a life of complete crap rather then this back and forth that I have no control over.
As far as anger is concerned I have dealt with that too. But the message I have always received from family and partner is that its not ok to be angry, so I am depressed most of the time. Joy is a foreign concept to me, I really have a hard time understanding it, of feeling it. Love is easier, and truth is my strongest. Of the three Truth has always been most important, then love, and joy well... is something I've rarely experienced.
Ironically I think it is my dedication to Truth that has taken my Joy especially when it comes to the world, because the world is in a sad state, and our history is a path of sorrows. All the war and persecution, disease and famine, injustice and sorrow. It takes a great deal of courage to acknowledge and face these dark realities especially in a country where it is all too easy to escape into the world of entertainment and drama.
Then when our Karma finally catches up with us BOOM 911, and instead of doing the first thing we should have done which is take a long hard look at ourselves and ask way this happened, what did we do to cause this? We strike back plunging the world into another cycle of pain and violence.
I could go on and on, but its easy for us too feel good when things are ok in our lives, its easy to have these great spiritual insights and share them with others. But how many of us have lost a child member a bomb, like 50,000 Iraqi families have or been raped with a bayonitte like thousands of women have been in the congo? How can a loving universe allow these things to happen? How can a real God do nothing?
Perhaps the Universe isn't as loving as we imagine it to be, and God is but an invention to give false hope to the hopeless.
Wisdum
November 26, 2007 7:20 AM
Re -: Joshua Kitchen | November 25, 2007 5:54 PM
if our thoughts really effect our reality.
** Sure they do, Life is ALL perception (and perception is everything!) God said “Let there be Light! . . . and there was Light” (now there’s a thought !)
ways too lie to ourselves about how crappy life really is.
** That again, would be your particular perception.
I don't mean to be negative I'm just being as honest as I can be.
** You honesty appears to be all negative (is that what you mean?)
HAHAHA nows thats funny."
** Now that’s where I am in my Life. I’m beyond all of the theological crap, and into God’s sense of humor (which nobody thinks is one dam bit funny, but God . . .and me!)
I would rather have a life of complete crap rather then this back and forth that I have no control over.
** “Be careful what you ask, wish or pray for, you just might get it!”
its not ok to be angry, so I am depressed most of the time.
** Don’t align yourself with any of that crap either !
Love is easier, and truth is my strongest.
** Well it looks like your on the right path.
it is my dedication to Truth that has taken my Joy
** “The Truth shall set you Free” . . . bear in mind that freedom not only will bring you joy, but it may also bring you abuse, torture and crucifixion, just like that other Josuah/Yeshuah
our history is a path of sorrows.
** Nah ! That’s just your perspective.
all too easy to escape into the world of entertainment and drama.
** “The world is a stage, and we are ALL but actors playing a part. There are no small parts, just small actors!” (W. Shakespeare) (There is no death, only souls/spirits/The One/The Whole playing ALL the parts . . . you are “One” of the parts)
BOOM 911
** All that is, is Capitalism at its finest “Lust for money is the root of ALL evil”
another cycle of pain and violence.
** Kinda like an Italian/Roman/Greek opera . . . hmmmmmm!
How can a loving universe allow these things to happen? How can a real God do nothing?
** That the hard part of “Freewill” to be in control (or is that protrol ?) of yourself (like God) not to interfere. Would there be “freewill” if God interfered? . . . “I don’t know if there is a God. But if it were me, I wouldn’t have done it this Way” (A. Einstein )
God is but an invention to give false hope to the hopeless.
** There is only hope, faith, Love and perspective . . . of course you can choose to Hope less if you like, have no Faith and no Love, or choose the ALL
LUV 2 U / LUV 2 ALL
Wisdum
Sammie
November 26, 2007 1:43 PM
I wonder if perhaps someone besides me, has laid in the yard on a clear night and simply relaxed and looked up at the night sky. The stars are incredible and if you just let go, there is the momentary feeling of floating off into it all. Something about the enormity of the universe slips into my mind and it becomes more than I can begin to deal with.
If it let it go, honestly, I get a little panicky (chuckling at myself here). I finally decided that the only way I can really enjoy the beauty in that enormous sky, is to take it in smaller doses. To reach out that far trying to understand "forever" or "always has been" or even better, "God is and always has been" , all of that is more than I can do. Maybe someone out there can. For me, just taking ONE step at a time, one day, sometimes one hour, is all I can do when there is just too much to assimilate in one "bite". Perspective? Yes, I agree. This is the only way I can, with the assistance of wise teachers like Neal, make it through my sometimes tangled life without falling on my face...one step at a time.
michelle
November 26, 2007 9:46 PM
We really and truly have within us the power to create whatever reality, whatever state of being we wish to experience and for most of us that would be Peace/Joy/Contentment/Happiness/Love.
You wonder how can I go from being sad/depressed, the lowest rung on the emotional scale, to Peaceful/Joyful, the highest when everything around me in the world and in my personal life seems to be counter to that state of happiness and contentment?
Here is how and it truly works. Quite simply and quite miraculously, YOU ARE WHAT YOU SAY YOU ARE. I'll say that again because knowing this is instrumental to changing your perspective. YOU ARE WHAT YOU SAY YOU ARE. It is the great "I AM. . ." statement--the single most powerful two words in the universe. If I say I am sad and depressed, then I am sad and depressed. Immediately, my body slumps. My voice is low and monotone. My energy is gone. I move slowly. The sky even looks greyer. Why? Because, I said I AM depressed. My body does what my brain tells it to do. Then when I move through the day in this sluggish state, I am busy creating more of the same in all of my day to day interactions and the universe is very amenable and aligns with me whatever thoughts I hold about the Self. The universe will begin throwing more depressing stuff at me simply because I declared I am that. Ever heard the expression, "Misery loves company?" Well, it is also true that misery breeds more misery.
Thankfully, the flipside also works. Joy breeds more joy. Happiness loves company as well. You have the power to flip the state of being that you are experiencing with a simple switch of a thought and a new declarative after that "I AM. ." statement. Rather than say, "I AM SO Depressed; the world is so depressing. . ." try "I AM HAPPY" or "I AM CONTENT" or "I AM PEACE" just for a day. Try it. It is not necessary to believe it for this to work. Just declare it. I AM CONTENT.
What does content or Joy or Peace really, truthfully, look like to you. Noone else can answer that for you. Noone else knows what truthfully makes you tick or what floats your boat. Only you do. Now do those things. Do looking at the stars at night and the magnificent moon make you happy? How about walking along the shore, digging your toes in the sand, breathing in deeply the ionic breeze, letting it absorb through every pore of your skin? Or how about just running around outside in the rain and splashing in a mud puddle? How about listening to Mozart? How about going to a museum and really looking deeply into a strange or simple or beautiful work of art? MOve close, step back, try to glimpse the truth of what someone else sees. Life is fun. Do what makes you happy. Just remember, for this to work, you don't have to actually believe you're happy at least at first. Just Do it. Get your body moving. Smile. Play. Soon, you will believe yourSelf. You will see. Simply by DOING HAPPY you will create BEING HAPPY.
I may have disagreed with Wisdum on a couple of points, but I am in total agreement with one of his greatest phrases, "Perspective is EVERYTHING." It is so true. Perspective is everything. If you don't like the state of being created by the perspective you hold about something, simply change your perspective. God gave us this enormous power. We are in control of our emotions. We can create a new reality.
Perspective creates perception, perception creates belief, belief creates experience, experience creates perspective and on and on. The cycle is extraordinarily vicious if our perspective or thought we are holding about Self is negative because a negative perspective creates a negative experience and the cycle continues snowballing on and on. The only way to break the cycle is to change your perspective or your thought.
Smile. Eat chocolate. Have fun.
Love and peace,
Michelle
Wisdum
November 27, 2007 7:15 AM
Re - michelle | November 26, 2007 9:46 PM
YOU ARE WHAT YOU SAY YOU ARE.
** Hi Michelle . . . I are “The Toothless Old Fool On The Hill” (the one the Beatles wrote about, many years ago . . .soon to be “The Bald Toothless Old fool On The Hill” (AKA – Wisdum)
Why? Because, I said I AM depressed.
** Geee, I’m sorry you said that
My body does what my brain tells it to do.
** Wow! I’ve been trying to do that all my Life, especially in regards to sexual intimacy (if you catch my drift !) Of course women don’t have the problems with body control as men (and I thank God everyday, I was not born a woman!)
Ever heard the expression, "Misery loves company?" Well, it is also true that misery breeds more misery.
** I guess that’s why we are ALL here. It is also true that morality breeds immorality!
Joy breeds more joy.
** Yeah! I knew this girls named Joy . . and she breeded pretty good !
try "I AM HAPPY" or "I AM CONTENT" or "I AM PEACE" just for a day.
** I do that all the Time! But they look at me funny, and either want to lock me up for being on drugs, or crazy! . . go figure !
Noone else knows what truthfully makes you tick or what floats your boat.
** Wooops! There’s that boat floating again!
Do looking at the stars at night and the magnificent moon make you happy?
** Yeah! But they think I’m a Lunatic too! Hey ! Have you noticed that sometimes the Moon looks like a big smiley-face in the sky! That really cool
How about walking along the shore, digging your toes in the sand, breathing in deeply the ionic breeze, letting it absorb through every pore of your skin?
Yeah! Reminds me of that song “The Shadow Of You Smile” (you can check that out on youtube! They block me every time I post a youtube! I can’t blame them, I would block me every chance I get !)
Or how about just running around outside in the rain and splashing in a mud puddle?
** You left out the part “Running around naked in the Rain Forest, screaming and laughing at the top of your lungs!”
How about listening to Mozart?
** Nah! I like Barry White and Barry Manilow better (now those guys write the songs1)
How about going to a museum and really looking deeply into a strange or simple or beautiful work of art?
** I prefer the Museum of Natural History, that lies right outside my door!
Life is fun.
** Yeah, I’ve alWays said that. We use all kinds of words to define God, but we never use the “F” word . . . God is Fun! (of course you have to take into account God’s sense of humor, which nobody thinks is one dam bit funny, but God . . and me!)
I may have disagreed with Wisdum
** Hey ! don’t feel bad . . . Everybody disagrees with Wisdum, especially my wife (particularly my wife!)
Perspective is everything.
** Of course there is a downside to that (there is a downside to everything!) There is some perspective that is absolutely destructive and deadly!
The cycle is extraordinarily vicious if our perspective or thought we are holding about Self is negative because a negative perspective creates a negative experience and the cycle continues snowballing on and on.
** How about our perspective about anyOne else or anything else ?
Smile. Eat chocolate. Have fun.
** Yep ! Thatsa Me !
LUV 2 U / LUV 2 ALL
Wisdum
michelle
November 27, 2007 7:47 AM
** Nah! I like Barry White and Barry Manilow better (now those guys write the songs1)
Good Morning, Wisdum,
You left out one of my all-time favorites who I don't always admit to love in public: Neil Diamond. Now there is a singer and writer!
Love and Peace 2U, 2Us!
Michelle
Wisdum
November 30, 2007 8:55 PM
Re -michelle | November 27, 2007 7:47 AM
Good Morning, Wisdum,
You left out one of my all-time favorites who I don't always admit to love in public: Neil Diamond. Now there is a singer and writer!
** You're absolutely right! One of my all-time favorites also. It's an interesting thing, we did a contemporary version of our passion play "Were You There,When ..."(as if it was happening now) and the cool thing at the end, with the risen Messiah, who I perceived as Elvis (the King) turned out to be Neil Diamond (Diamonds are forever!) It was an amazing experience, and all the Biblical metaphors became abundantly clear! (got a cast picture over at Beliefnet Community under Wisdum, and a couple of songs from the show too!)
LUV 2 U / LUV 2 ALL
Wisdum
Love and Peace 2U, 2Us!
Michelle
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Thank you Neale for that prayer it was just what I 'needed' at this point in my life. My dreams of attending school and following a career in the gaming industry have just been severrly challenged if not shattered when I was just recently diagnosed with IBS, a stress and dietery molecular disorder that effects the GI track. It has resulted excructing cramping throughout my whole gut, vomitting and diarrea almost daily, and made my intense school workload very difficult to complete. My 4.0 average is gone this quarter I don't even know if I can make the 3.0 to maintain the schoolarships needed to continue as I and my family are too poor to afford school. I am already tens of thousands of dollars in debt, and face an even less uncertain future. This has effected my personal relationship with my spiritual partner of seven years and theatens to come between us as living arrangements grow ever harder. I have tried and worked as hard as I could and the Docter's have said that is one of the problems. I am now battleing suicidal depression as the neverending physical pain and emotional, finacial conflict just won't end no matter what I do ( I also have intense neck and back pains as a result of a car wreck seven years ago). If there is a way out to all this I hope beyond desperation it is possible.
your books are mega awesome neale! soon i'm done reading the 3rd one and they have helped my alot. When will you come to norway to lecture?
Mr.sm norway!
i want to say thankgiving to all AMERECAN PEOPLE,
this yaer, now i put to my calendar de date of thank giving,
so i dont foget,
I was also very impressed with the New Humanity's Team Thanksgiving Message Video, which can be viewed at:
http://www.youtube.com/humanitysteam
Happy Thanksgiving !... Father Yahewh
How are You today ?
May I offer all that I am to You, let me say
As I go along this uncertain merry Way
And may this day be a testament of Truth
For all that we are, and ever be, in You
May all our Love, cry out in song
As we hold each other's hand as we go along
To build on earth this Kingdom of God
Though sometimes our building seems very odd
We raise it all up in praise, to tear it down another day
How in this Hell, does it really pay?
But all that we are, and all that we Be
Is the product of You setting us "Free"
To do what we will, and what we may say
Let it be from us All to You,
a Happy...Thanksgiving Day !
Amen!
I'm not an American so I do not know what Thanksgiving means practicaly for my soul.I think I know the story behind this day but I'm not sure.More than thanking it is about helping others in need.So instead killing so many birds(because I do not know how turkey is spelled) maybe you can go in a place that needs your love and attention, and the money you use for the bird can be given to a homeless and buy him a proper meal once in the year.Of course you can do that everytime you want but this it may be a way of thanking God ! Our pieces of mind and our words are powerfull but if we just stand and talk...it is so nice I like that too, but sometimes an act it is needed!
PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR SOUL NOT JUST ONCE IN THE YEAR OR JUST IN HOLIDAYS , BUT IN ANY OTHER DAY THAT GOD GAVE US !!!
Good thoughts Neale, kinda like the recent movie "PAY IT FORWARD".
Thanks for all the Godding you will do this year Neale.
(:-)
Dear Joshua, I feel I must respond to your post. I understand you are writing from a point of deep pain in many areas of your life. May I please offer a few suggestions?
It is often difficult to feel thankful when we are seeing the shadow side of life – please remember that this is just a shadow and we can bring in the light whenever we choose to do so. How do we do that? We begin by grabbing a pen and pad, writing Gratitude List on the top, and looking for something to be grateful for. If it is difficult to begin take your pad and go for a walk alone – walk on the soil, feel it beneath your feet even through your shoes – something to be grateful for will pop into your mind, write it down. Your list is started. Keep this notebook with you and add to it a couple of times a day – it quickly becomes addictive because it feels good. You will begin to see things to be grateful for even in the circumstances you mention above because they are tempering you, teaching you so much so quickly.
In this message Neale is encouraging us to look forward even while we walk in the present time and to be grateful for the gifts that are still to come. You will get to the point where you can do this with one small part of the puzzle of your life. Go somewhere where you will be totally alone, talk out loud to God (helps us stay on track) and tell Him how you feel using the same words you would use to tell a friend, tell him how much you hurt, how deep the pain is – let the pain pour out of you and you will be filled with peace and love to take it's place. You will be able to see things in the light instead of in the shadows, and your life will change. I promise, your life will change. And then you will be able to be grateful for just one thing that is still to arrive in your life, just one tiny thing – and it will be provided. Then another and another as you learn that God is dependable and truly loves and cares about you so very much. And you will find joy and happiness – your plans for the future may change for you will find what truly brings you joy.
Today I am thankful for you and all I know you will bring to this world – I will hold that for you until you are able to feel and know it for yourself. You are very special and deeply loved.
Dear Joshusa,
Thank you for your honest post. Honesty is a wonderful thing, no, make that a MAGNIFICENT trait, which not everyone embraces as a leading characteristic they desire to claim and call their own as you so openly and evidently do. So, thank you for your openness and your honesty--two invaluable qualities that you obviously possess in addition to the great insight excuding from your comments on this blog. I just wanted to say these things because they are true and maybe, now, is a good time to let you hear them.
I also wanted to share an anecdote with you. Once, when I was feeling kind of down, and it just so happens that it was around this time of year, with a cold wind whipping in the air, portending winter, and I went to a chinese restaurant (yes, I love chinese food anytime anywhere!) and as I was getting ready to leave, I opened the fortune cookie and read these words which had the strange effect of immediately making me feel so much better: "Know that what you are experiencing is temporary."
I am sending you this fortune cookie tonight because it is as true for you now as it was for me then. Any discomfort, any pain, any non-peaceful, non-joyous event or circumstance in our life is only temporary though it may seem insurmountable. Nothing is insurmountable. You are still you no matter what conditions or circumstances you find you experiencing right now and what is truly amazing is that you have the power, like Sue shows you in her very insightful post tonight, to change your reality. As you points out, we create our own reality through our thoughts and if you don't like your present "reality" (which is only an illusion anyway, by the way) all we have to do is choose to think a different thought about it.
I am recommending two great books by Jerry and Esther Hicks, "Ask and It is Given" and "The Astonishing Power of Emotions." Both are excellent in showing people how to make great strides in teaching people how to journey up the ladder of emotions that we all feel from time to time, whether we start on a lower rung of suicidal depression or the highest one of Joy/Peace/contentment. They teach us how to, whatever rung we begin from, reach for the next highest emotion. Even Anger or Resentment, though not states we wish to remain in for any extended length of time, are preferrable to one experiencing depression. For example, in your case, it is understandable that one on a promising pathway with a 4.0, would be angry or resentful that the plan for a gaming career is being jeapardized by events beyond your control such as the car accident which left you with pain and an illness that has appeared to cause more roadblocks. It is ok to feel anger or overwhelm at the sudden appearance of roadblocks if it makes you feel better.
Once you feel better, then you'll want to reach for the next highest feeling, and then the next, each time reaching higher and higher until eventually you have reached the highest and you are standing at the pinnacle where your life's choices are in alignment with the heart's desires, your soul's desires. When you experience the alignment of who you are choosing to be here/now with the real You, the God in you, the soul of you, which is ever expanding, then you will experience utter Joy/Bliss/Peace/Harmony: your life will be a true expression of the joy and peace of you, the real you, the God in you as it was meant to be.
I hope that I said something that was able to make you feel better, Joshua. I just want to add a couple of more things on a more practical note. If you are able to maintain a 3.0 average, under extenuating circumstances such as health problems and shaky living arrangements, first, that means you are exceptionally bright, and second, then there may be other grants or fellowships available to you. It might help to talk to a financial aid officer at the school to see if there are any options available. Maybe they can assure you that you will not lose your scholarship.
I would learn all I could about the disease and do what practical things I could do such as dietary changes that may have a positive effect on the illness.
Thank you for you, Joshua. I hope you feel better. Please check out those books. They are extremely helpful.
Love and Peace,
michelle
Happy Thanksgiving to all! Neale, we are in deep agreement. My family looks to me for the blessing at holiday meals,and I did exactly what you were talking about. I not only gave thanks for what we have received, but for all the abundance we will receive in the coming year. My family even commented on what a great idea that was. Thanks you so much for blessing us with your spiritual work. I feel immense gratitude for my conscious awareness of WHO I AM as a result of reading and applying it in my life. Love and blessings- Linda
Wow, It is Thanksgiving day and for the first time I watched the movie Conversations With God. I felt the power of all moving even deeper within my being. all of my 37 years of being here on earth I have grown to have so much understanding Love and empathy for people.I wish that i can save the world from pain and hunger but i know that i cannot But i know trhat we together can save each other.as love grows one day we all will find peace.Iam going to read the book next. i cant waite to get it. I love u Everyone. Eva
Thank you so much for your blog. Read it today when my hart is kind of heavy and worrying . Sometimes I go back to my old self without realizing it. It is reminder for me , kind of God gently reminding me. Thank you again Neale. This is the first time I am reading your blog though I have been reading many of your books and have my life and my relationship to God transformed. Happy Thanksgiving !
"there is no person and there is no time one more special than another..."
that would be a quote from Conversations with God.
Neale, you always strike me as funny at moments like this...
It's a good thing there is no problem, eh?
I am thankful for every day.
Greg Allen
http://www.gregallenmusic.net
from Online Etymology: holiday
O.E. haligdæg, from halig "holy" + dæg "day;" in 14c. meaning both "religious festival" and "day of recreation," but pronunciation and sense diverged 16c
Other etymological sources concur.
online dictionary dot com even has "holy day" listed as a definition of holiday.
wow Neale - you did it!
Thank you so very much Sue and and Michelle, I can't say how deeply your kind words and consolation has touched me. One of the things that has made me so depressed is the sense that no one cares, but your kindness challenges that notion. Its funny Sue because I got a similar message just a day ago in meditation that true gratitude is most powerful during, difficulty, etc. when it is hardest to feel it. That is when it changes us most, and its true. For the first time I was able to feel grateful in the midst of drowning despair, for no external reason. It hasn't lasted but it was a pinpoint of light that I at least know is possible, and my pain has eased a bit since then. I guess I just don't know if gratitude really makes a differance or if our thoughts really effect our reality. Sometimes it seems life just sucks, and all these spiritual philosphies are ways too lie to ourselves about how crappy life really is.
I don't mean to be negative I'm just being as honest as I can be. It just seems that life is more conditional then creative, when things go our way we are happy, when they don't we are not and we have little cause in the matter. In my case things go my way for a while then SURPRISE they fall apart, its as if God is some cruel prankster who gives me my dreams then right before they reach fulfillment he yanks them back with a big "Just Kidding, did you actually think things are going your way.... HAHAHA nows thats funny." I would rather have a life of complete crap rather then this back and forth that I have no control over.
As far as anger is concerned I have dealt with that too. But the message I have always received from family and partner is that its not ok to be angry, so I am depressed most of the time. Joy is a foreign concept to me, I really have a hard time understanding it, of feeling it. Love is easier, and truth is my strongest. Of the three Truth has always been most important, then love, and joy well... is something I've rarely experienced.
Ironically I think it is my dedication to Truth that has taken my Joy especially when it comes to the world, because the world is in a sad state, and our history is a path of sorrows. All the war and persecution, disease and famine, injustice and sorrow. It takes a great deal of courage to acknowledge and face these dark realities especially in a country where it is all too easy to escape into the world of entertainment and drama.
Then when our Karma finally catches up with us BOOM 911, and instead of doing the first thing we should have done which is take a long hard look at ourselves and ask way this happened, what did we do to cause this? We strike back plunging the world into another cycle of pain and violence.
I could go on and on, but its easy for us too feel good when things are ok in our lives, its easy to have these great spiritual insights and share them with others. But how many of us have lost a child member a bomb, like 50,000 Iraqi families have or been raped with a bayonitte like thousands of women have been in the congo? How can a loving universe allow these things to happen? How can a real God do nothing?
Perhaps the Universe isn't as loving as we imagine it to be, and God is but an invention to give false hope to the hopeless.
Re -: Joshua Kitchen | November 25, 2007 5:54 PM
if our thoughts really effect our reality.
** Sure they do, Life is ALL perception (and perception is everything!) God said “Let there be Light! . . . and there was Light” (now there’s a thought !)
ways too lie to ourselves about how crappy life really is.
** That again, would be your particular perception.
I don't mean to be negative I'm just being as honest as I can be.
** You honesty appears to be all negative (is that what you mean?)
HAHAHA nows thats funny."
** Now that’s where I am in my Life. I’m beyond all of the theological crap, and into God’s sense of humor (which nobody thinks is one dam bit funny, but God . . .and me!)
I would rather have a life of complete crap rather then this back and forth that I have no control over.
** “Be careful what you ask, wish or pray for, you just might get it!”
its not ok to be angry, so I am depressed most of the time.
** Don’t align yourself with any of that crap either !
Love is easier, and truth is my strongest.
** Well it looks like your on the right path.
it is my dedication to Truth that has taken my Joy
** “The Truth shall set you Free” . . . bear in mind that freedom not only will bring you joy, but it may also bring you abuse, torture and crucifixion, just like that other Josuah/Yeshuah
our history is a path of sorrows.
** Nah ! That’s just your perspective.
all too easy to escape into the world of entertainment and drama.
** “The world is a stage, and we are ALL but actors playing a part. There are no small parts, just small actors!” (W. Shakespeare) (There is no death, only souls/spirits/The One/The Whole playing ALL the parts . . . you are “One” of the parts)
BOOM 911
** All that is, is Capitalism at its finest “Lust for money is the root of ALL evil”
another cycle of pain and violence.
** Kinda like an Italian/Roman/Greek opera . . . hmmmmmm!
How can a loving universe allow these things to happen? How can a real God do nothing?
** That the hard part of “Freewill” to be in control (or is that protrol ?) of yourself (like God) not to interfere. Would there be “freewill” if God interfered? . . . “I don’t know if there is a God. But if it were me, I wouldn’t have done it this Way” (A. Einstein )
God is but an invention to give false hope to the hopeless.
** There is only hope, faith, Love and perspective . . . of course you can choose to Hope less if you like, have no Faith and no Love, or choose the ALL
LUV 2 U / LUV 2 ALL
Wisdum
I wonder if perhaps someone besides me, has laid in the yard on a clear night and simply relaxed and looked up at the night sky. The stars are incredible and if you just let go, there is the momentary feeling of floating off into it all. Something about the enormity of the universe slips into my mind and it becomes more than I can begin to deal with.
If it let it go, honestly, I get a little panicky (chuckling at myself here). I finally decided that the only way I can really enjoy the beauty in that enormous sky, is to take it in smaller doses. To reach out that far trying to understand "forever" or "always has been" or even better, "God is and always has been" , all of that is more than I can do. Maybe someone out there can. For me, just taking ONE step at a time, one day, sometimes one hour, is all I can do when there is just too much to assimilate in one "bite". Perspective? Yes, I agree. This is the only way I can, with the assistance of wise teachers like Neal, make it through my sometimes tangled life without falling on my face...one step at a time.
We really and truly have within us the power to create whatever reality, whatever state of being we wish to experience and for most of us that would be Peace/Joy/Contentment/Happiness/Love.
You wonder how can I go from being sad/depressed, the lowest rung on the emotional scale, to Peaceful/Joyful, the highest when everything around me in the world and in my personal life seems to be counter to that state of happiness and contentment?
Here is how and it truly works. Quite simply and quite miraculously, YOU ARE WHAT YOU SAY YOU ARE. I'll say that again because knowing this is instrumental to changing your perspective. YOU ARE WHAT YOU SAY YOU ARE. It is the great "I AM. . ." statement--the single most powerful two words in the universe. If I say I am sad and depressed, then I am sad and depressed. Immediately, my body slumps. My voice is low and monotone. My energy is gone. I move slowly. The sky even looks greyer. Why? Because, I said I AM depressed. My body does what my brain tells it to do. Then when I move through the day in this sluggish state, I am busy creating more of the same in all of my day to day interactions and the universe is very amenable and aligns with me whatever thoughts I hold about the Self. The universe will begin throwing more depressing stuff at me simply because I declared I am that. Ever heard the expression, "Misery loves company?" Well, it is also true that misery breeds more misery.
Thankfully, the flipside also works. Joy breeds more joy. Happiness loves company as well. You have the power to flip the state of being that you are experiencing with a simple switch of a thought and a new declarative after that "I AM. ." statement. Rather than say, "I AM SO Depressed; the world is so depressing. . ." try "I AM HAPPY" or "I AM CONTENT" or "I AM PEACE" just for a day. Try it. It is not necessary to believe it for this to work. Just declare it. I AM CONTENT.
What does content or Joy or Peace really, truthfully, look like to you. Noone else can answer that for you. Noone else knows what truthfully makes you tick or what floats your boat. Only you do. Now do those things. Do looking at the stars at night and the magnificent moon make you happy? How about walking along the shore, digging your toes in the sand, breathing in deeply the ionic breeze, letting it absorb through every pore of your skin? Or how about just running around outside in the rain and splashing in a mud puddle? How about listening to Mozart? How about going to a museum and really looking deeply into a strange or simple or beautiful work of art? MOve close, step back, try to glimpse the truth of what someone else sees. Life is fun. Do what makes you happy. Just remember, for this to work, you don't have to actually believe you're happy at least at first. Just Do it. Get your body moving. Smile. Play. Soon, you will believe yourSelf. You will see. Simply by DOING HAPPY you will create BEING HAPPY.
I may have disagreed with Wisdum on a couple of points, but I am in total agreement with one of his greatest phrases, "Perspective is EVERYTHING." It is so true. Perspective is everything. If you don't like the state of being created by the perspective you hold about something, simply change your perspective. God gave us this enormous power. We are in control of our emotions. We can create a new reality.
Perspective creates perception, perception creates belief, belief creates experience, experience creates perspective and on and on. The cycle is extraordinarily vicious if our perspective or thought we are holding about Self is negative because a negative perspective creates a negative experience and the cycle continues snowballing on and on. The only way to break the cycle is to change your perspective or your thought.
Smile. Eat chocolate. Have fun.
Love and peace,
Michelle
Re - michelle | November 26, 2007 9:46 PM
YOU ARE WHAT YOU SAY YOU ARE.
** Hi Michelle . . . I are “The Toothless Old Fool On The Hill” (the one the Beatles wrote about, many years ago . . .soon to be “The Bald Toothless Old fool On The Hill” (AKA – Wisdum)
Why? Because, I said I AM depressed.
** Geee, I’m sorry you said that
My body does what my brain tells it to do.
** Wow! I’ve been trying to do that all my Life, especially in regards to sexual intimacy (if you catch my drift !) Of course women don’t have the problems with body control as men (and I thank God everyday, I was not born a woman!)
Ever heard the expression, "Misery loves company?" Well, it is also true that misery breeds more misery.
** I guess that’s why we are ALL here. It is also true that morality breeds immorality!
Joy breeds more joy.
** Yeah! I knew this girls named Joy . . and she breeded pretty good !
try "I AM HAPPY" or "I AM CONTENT" or "I AM PEACE" just for a day.
** I do that all the Time! But they look at me funny, and either want to lock me up for being on drugs, or crazy! . . go figure !
Noone else knows what truthfully makes you tick or what floats your boat.
** Wooops! There’s that boat floating again!
Do looking at the stars at night and the magnificent moon make you happy?
** Yeah! But they think I’m a Lunatic too! Hey ! Have you noticed that sometimes the Moon looks like a big smiley-face in the sky! That really cool
How about walking along the shore, digging your toes in the sand, breathing in deeply the ionic breeze, letting it absorb through every pore of your skin?
Yeah! Reminds me of that song “The Shadow Of You Smile” (you can check that out on youtube! They block me every time I post a youtube! I can’t blame them, I would block me every chance I get !)
Or how about just running around outside in the rain and splashing in a mud puddle?
** You left out the part “Running around naked in the Rain Forest, screaming and laughing at the top of your lungs!”
How about listening to Mozart?
** Nah! I like Barry White and Barry Manilow better (now those guys write the songs1)
How about going to a museum and really looking deeply into a strange or simple or beautiful work of art?
** I prefer the Museum of Natural History, that lies right outside my door!
Life is fun.
** Yeah, I’ve alWays said that. We use all kinds of words to define God, but we never use the “F” word . . . God is Fun! (of course you have to take into account God’s sense of humor, which nobody thinks is one dam bit funny, but God . . and me!)
I may have disagreed with Wisdum
** Hey ! don’t feel bad . . . Everybody disagrees with Wisdum, especially my wife (particularly my wife!)
Perspective is everything.
** Of course there is a downside to that (there is a downside to everything!) There is some perspective that is absolutely destructive and deadly!
The cycle is extraordinarily vicious if our perspective or thought we are holding about Self is negative because a negative perspective creates a negative experience and the cycle continues snowballing on and on.
** How about our perspective about anyOne else or anything else ?
Smile. Eat chocolate. Have fun.
** Yep ! Thatsa Me !
LUV 2 U / LUV 2 ALL
Wisdum
** Nah! I like Barry White and Barry Manilow better (now those guys write the songs1)
Good Morning, Wisdum,
You left out one of my all-time favorites who I don't always admit to love in public: Neil Diamond. Now there is a singer and writer!
Love and Peace 2U, 2Us!
Michelle
Re -michelle | November 27, 2007 7:47 AM
Good Morning, Wisdum,
You left out one of my all-time favorites who I don't always admit to love in public: Neil Diamond. Now there is a singer and writer!
** You're absolutely right! One of my all-time favorites also. It's an interesting thing, we did a contemporary version of our passion play "Were You There,When ..."(as if it was happening now) and the cool thing at the end, with the risen Messiah, who I perceived as Elvis (the King) turned out to be Neil Diamond (Diamonds are forever!) It was an amazing experience, and all the Biblical metaphors became abundantly clear! (got a cast picture over at Beliefnet Community under Wisdum, and a couple of songs from the show too!)
LUV 2 U / LUV 2 ALL
Wisdum
Love and Peace 2U, 2Us!
Michelle
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