The Anne Report, The Year My Street Missed Christmas, comments on her unusual Christmas season this year. The Main article, The Hidden Blessings of Christmas, reminds us that sorrow can reveal a hidden blessing. The Healthy Living article, Prescription for a Healthier Body: See it, Feel it, Heal it, provides a mental trick to make it easier for you to exercise. The Anne Talk is Joy to The World.The Featured Product This Month is Anne's book, Words Make a Difference. Click to read What is EZosophy?

The EZ Mantra: "Everything can be EZ or at least EZier." -- Anne Sermons Gillis

Living EZosophy, December 19, 2017
Published Weekly on Tuesday Mornings

Phone: 281-419-1775
Email: anne@annegillis.com

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  The Anne Report

The Year My Street Missed Christmas

Dear ,

I've almost missed the season. We are having some work done on our house this week, so I didn't want to put up Christmas decorations and then take them down and put them back up, only to leave town and return home to the task of taking them down again. I have watched my obligatory Hallmark Christmas tear-jerker and plan to be with our twin grandsons in South Carolina on Christmas morning. That should get my Christmas dander up!

It is fun to get out and see the decorations. My husband and I walked the other night in town and saw the holiday lights. There was a chill in the air, but we were bundled up, and it was fun to see the elaborate decorations. Since most of our neighbors' homes flooded during Harvey, their homes are not decorated either, so we stand as just another undecorated house on our street.

As most people remember, Hurricane Harvey flooded the Houston area in September. The city is still in recovery and the construction will go on for a while. We have had construction related trucks lining our streets since September. It's sad to see the year my street missed Christmas, but it's nice that the year I didn't decorate, is the year than my neighbors are not decorating either. What I've learned this year is that I can let other people do the work and then I can show up and enjoy the show. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. There are so many holidays celebrated in December around the world that I can't count them. That's why I say both Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas. And that's it for the Anne Report.

Anne at Christmas, 2017
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  Main Article

The Hidden Blessings of Christmas

During the holidays people often experience an underlying sense of sorrow. Is this sorrow a false prophet? Is it useless? Sorrow creates longing and a wish that past choices be undone. Sorrow and longing are uncomfortable, and we try to buy them out or eat over them.

But what is its real gift? Can sorrow serve us and teach us? Whatever calls our lives into question has merit. Whatever makes us realize that much of what we do is inconsequential to relevant living is valuable. Relevant living requires living in an ongoing flow of harmony, loving, and peace. Relevant living not only erases fear, it creates an anticipatory style of being that turns each choice into a wonder.

Sorrow offers great possibility because it brings up hidden or suppressed feelings. Sorrow helps us confront that far-off rumbling or nagging discomfort. When we see suffering at its root, we can start the healing process. When we face our pain, we can move past it, and the good news is that it shouldn't take forever. We can move into a more powerful place, moments after we acknowledge our pain. A Course in Miracles calls it "the holy instant." Once the pain is acknowledged, we have the ability to move on.

Try some of the following activities to jumpstart a more meaningful holiday.

1. Create your own holiday traditions. Cooking holiday foods is a tradition for me. When I make homemade cheese straws, I know it's Christmas. One can attend a Christmas eve candlelight service, or hear Christmas music concerts. Do not make your tradition about buying things for yourself. Holiday seasons should not be an excuse for additive shopping or binge eating.
2. Help someone you wouldn't normally help. It's a season to serve others. This is a heart gift. One couple had a Christmas potluck concert featuring an award-winning singer-songwriter. They provided the main dishes and invited their friends and the members of their spiritual center to attend.
3. Take the holiday pledge. Until we activate the Christmas within, it doesn't exist in our world.

The Holiday Pledge

I, _________________, will use this time of year to renew my experience of life. I commit to life. I inspire myself each day through nourishing and loving activities. I will not feel sorry for myself, indulge in longing, nor feel guilty about anything. I will tune into peace, joy, magic, and generosity and discard cynicism, impatience, and jealousy. (The mind generates jealousy though an inner dialogue. "They have it so much better than I because they are healthier, younger, wealthier, slimmer, have a better car, have a better house, are smarter, more successful, have a functional family, etc."). I allow my childlike qualities to flourish and my ego dominance to recede.

I will remember the good times, not the bad. I will not romanticize the past. Rather, I will live in the pristine present. I will do whatever it takes to be fully alive, awake, and aware.

So Be It.

Longing and yearning create opportunities for another level of awakening. When they tap our guts we can face them, then embrace them, and finally love them out of existence. The end of the year is a perfect time to put our desires to rest and to rededicate our lives to That which we are. We are not our bodies, our preferences, our status, our careers, or our roles. What we are can only be experienced. Holidays give us time away from the normal trails of thought and allow us to tap into life. Real life is the ongoing expression of who we are.

While the lyrics of the following song don't permeate the deep sacredness of life, they do point in that direction. Humor creates an insight that reaches deeper than words. Humor is the soul's sword that commands the surrender of the ego. While the ego takes life as serious, a problem to be solved, the soul celebrates the quiet, still reality of love. This holiday season may we allow the spirit of who we are to guide us.

It Came Upon My Mind to Clear, by Anne Sermons Gillis
from her book, Offbeat Prayers for the Modern Mystic
Tune: It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

It Came Upon My Mind to Clear
Those pesky thoughts of doom;
to cancel all the shame and guilt
and give God's love more room.

A good thought here
and good thought there,
an affirmation or two;
and I can join with my Happy mind
and keep love shining through.

I thought my mind was doing fine.
I loved my inner child.
I loved my neighbor as myself
and had stopped acting wild.

But then the bottom fell out.
I acted like a jerk;
projected fear and blame on friends
and focused on their quirks.

The ego thoughts were rampant;
the loving thoughts were gone;
and I forgot my sacred self,
felt lost and all alone.

I wanted to find a way
to restore love and light,
to sing with angels' heavenly choir,
and sleep real good at night.

I prayed, affirmed, and asked for peace
in every way I could.
Then love came down and pulled me back
and transformed ego's shoulds.

A flash of light, the sound of joy
came flooding in my mind,
and love's pure innocence took my thoughts
and I was no longer blind.

The love of Source had pulled me out
and taught me how to sing.
It kept me safe and far from harm,
clutched tightly in angels' wings.

A sane thought here, a sane thought there,
the happy mind marched on.
Now I can rest and feel God's love
'cause I have found my home.

There's peace inside where stillness lies,
there's joy deep within,
and I am blessed in many ways
with abundance, health, and friends.

You can see Anne sing this on YouTube.

Anne

  Quotes

Anne Quotes

We are isolated in our culture. We hang out with those of similar resources. We ride around in cars by ourselves, when carpooling might give us a medium for developing or deepening friendships. We chose convenience and want to be sure we can leave when we want to and not have to wait on another. Our busy lives often dictate who we relate with and how we relate to others. But in that busy-ness, we lose a part of our hearts. We lose touch with humanity, as we separate ourselves from the greater whole.

Life is a winner take all situation, and we are all the winners. Life gives all, and until we awaken to this truth, it is a mystery, but life will send its messengers to help us unravel the mystery. No matter where we are in our journey, or what's happening on a day to day basis, the Universe is conspiring on our behalf.

The Universe is out to get us. It is present and can lift every burden, bring peace and satisfaction, and illuminate all of life. The Universe is on our side and by our side, with these words, "Tag. You're it." And when we realize we are "it," the abundant nature of life reveals itself. When we truly understand and trust the beneficence of life, we can always be sure that our lives will get EZier and EZier.

Words can be so helpful. They can take us far, but words aren't the master; we are. We can take a perfectly good word, deliver it with sarcasm, and the word seems tainted. We can change the tone of our words and make even the most innocent word a bullet. But we can also use a word to uplift or support.

  Featured Product This Month

"Books are waiting to be written. Thus, it was my privilege to bring this book to the world. It brought with it such grace and love. Words Make a Difference sparkles with aliveness and blessing and delivers the perfect information under perfect timing. We are called not only to heal ourselves and those around us, we are destined to hold a vision for the world. This book commands us to be architects of a brave new future and lights a path for us to follow." Anne Sermons Gillis

Order Words Make a Difference from the website or call me at 713-922-0242 to order directly from me. The price is $16.95 plus $3.99 shipping, for a total of $20.94.

Click for the Kindle version on Amazon for $5.99.

  What is EZosophy?

Click the graphic above to learn about EZosophy.

NOTE: If you are viewing this on a cell phone, be sure to scroll to the right to see the other column.

  Healthy Living

Prescription for a Healthier Body: See it, Feel it, Heal it

I like to exercise, but when I try to work in yoga, meditation, brain training, core strength training, walking, and who knows what, it takes all day. While I might enjoy taking care of my body and spirit all day long, it's impractical. There are studies about people who practiced sports or a physical activity in their minds and subsequent tests showed that their muscles responded as if they had done the physical activity. That's what I need; mental training. Look what it did for one woman.

Marilyn King was a U. S. Olympian. Her event was the pentathlon. She was training for her third Olympic performance, but was hit by a truck. She received an injury, thus had to suspend her training. It was only for a couple of weeks. While recovering, she watched videos of world record holders for two or three hours a day. Two weeks stretched into months, but she continued watching the videos and eventually started going to the track daily. At the track, she imagined herself going through the five events for two hours a day.

The time came for try outs, and though she had not been able to physically train, she decided to try out. She got a shot in her back, not sure what kind, tried out, and came in second in the qualifying trials. This was with no physical training for seven months!

I'm not an Olympic contender, but I started picturing myself doing sits-ups. After only one day of practicing in my mind, I found myself wanting to do sit-ups. Now I am doing mental sit-ups in my mind and a few real pushups. My core does feel stronger. I am an advocate of the Law of Attraction (LOA), which simply states, "What you think about, you bring about." Yesterday, in our yoga class, our instructor had us do 25 sit-ups during warm-up. In all the on and off years I've done yoga, I have never had an instructor have us do sit-ups. LOA strikes again.

If you have a physical condition that keeps you from exercising, or if you don't have the time or the desire to exercise, try mental exercise. Studies show that our muscles listen to our thoughts and images and react as if the event we picture is taking place. It's almost that time of the year when many start an exercise program. We are magicians of the mind. Get a head start now by practicing a little mind over matter. Happy New You.

If you have any healthy living tips for the newsletter, send them to me at anne@annegillis.com.

  Anne Talks

Joy to The World

Today's Anne Talk is Holiday Living on EZ Street. Time: 3:46.

  Anne Art

Click the image to see a larger view.

Click the image to see a larger view.

Join My New Facebook Group
Abundance Affirmations

This group is a place to post uplifting affirmations and thoughts about prosperity and abundant living. Let's create a right relationship with money so that we feel comfortable about money. Let's use money as it's meant to be used, and not as a way to accumulate power or to fill a void. We don't need money to buy more stuff. We need it to create a world that works for everyone. We want to cast off old beliefs of lack and reclaim our natural state of abundance.

NOTICE: Here are three shareables from Anne. Feel free to share them.

The World's Best
Weight Loss Secret

Thought Freedom

40 Days to Abundance

EZosophy Holiday Song

Silent Minds
Tune: Silent Night

Silent Minds, Holy Minds, Thoughts of Light, Give us peace.
Heavenly states of consciousness.
Innocent states of love and bliss.
Christ is born in our hearts. Christ is born in our hearts.

Abundant states of consciousness.
God, our source, Gives us all,
Life and health and peace of mind,
Joy and fun and plenty of time.
We are blessed by our source. We are blessed by our source.

We are love. We are peace.
We are light. We are joy.
We are gifts of love itself.
Bearing light and sharing wealth.
Christ is present within.
Christ is present within.

The Woodlands, Texas Waterway

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