The Anne Report, Managing Overwhelm, reminds us how EZosophy can help us manage the chaos so often present or imagined in our lives. The Main article, Impending Good, shows us how we can change our thinking from impending doom to impending good. The Healthy Living article, The Zen of Maintenance, suggests how we make life EZier by turning everyday "maintenance" into a spiritual act. The Anne Talk is Kindness is our best commodity. The Featured Product This Month highlights Anne's third book, Standing in the Dark. Click to see Anne's Books. Click for What is EZosophy? Click for Abundance Affirmations.

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

Living EZosophy, March 27, 2017
Published Weekly on Tuesday Mornings

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

Anne's Websites:

  The Anne Report

Managing Overwhelm

Dear ,

(L to R) Reynolds, Anne, Jim, Thomas
Grandtwins and Grandparents

Trains, planes, and firetrucks are my life this week. My grandtwins, who will soon be four, love these moving objects. Today we went to an old-fashioned toy and train store nestled in downtown Summerville, SC. We told the manager how much we enjoyed the store. He replied, “Everyone does. People might walk in as adults, but they exit as children.”

Our lives in Texas disappear when we come to SC. Our dog, Lucy, finds her normal spot in my daughter’s house, I start cooking, Jim goes into GrandPoppy mode, and the past slips away. I like it. I feel like I lead three or more lives. RVing is one life. Grandmama-ing is another. Writing and speaking is another, and snuggling into home life creates another identity.

There was a TV show in the 1950's entitled I Led 3 Lives about Herbert Philbrick. The show was based on a true story. Philbrick led the life of a spy, a counterspy, and a life as a Communist. He couldn’t relax because he was afraid each mission might be his last. If he was caught, his life would end. In real life, he was never caught, but he assumed different aliases after he testified against the Communist Party.

While few lead three separate lives, lives as tension-filled and diverse as Herbert Philbrick’s, we know what it’s like to look over our shoulders, expecting a calamity to befall us. Philbrick had reason to look over his shoulder, but it’s the voice in our heads that keeps us hypervigilant. This voice drones on about the dangers of the world. It hypes suffering. This voice creates hardships by spewing an endless monologue about the impossibilities in life. In addition to this pesky inner voice, modern life drowns us in complication.

Mental health professionals no longer ask if we are overwhelmed; they assume everyone is overwhelmed. Since not everyone has mental support in the form of a therapist, we must become our own therapist. EZosophy is a philosophy that confronts the egoic mind. EZosophy calls us away from the complexity of modern living and encourages us to penetrate the stillness of being. We need a different path, a new path. We need a path that calms the mind and leans into the present. EZosophy offers that path. Now’s the time to walk the EZ path, and remember the eight-word miracle mantra, “Everything can be EZ or at Least EZier.”

Anne

  Main Article

Impending Good

There’s a plot. We hear about it from many sources. It goes something like this: “There’s a deep, secret government. This place might be raided. The Illuminati is listening. They are going to take away my whatever (fill in the blank).” There are many unsubstantiated rumors. And people love rumors. Rumors give us an adrenaline rush. Impending doom is popular, but what about impending good? Is it possible? Could we expect good, instead of disaster? There is a move toward acknowledging impending good; we call it positive thinking. People often misuse positive thinking as a cover up when things are bad, but when is it not a coverup? Positive thinking is not a cover up when we actively acknowledge the bad condition, deal with any fire, upset, or charge we have about the situation, and then move past it.

After we’ve dealt with the harsh reality of life, we have a choice. It’s often a difficult choice, because we look at possible change through the fear lens. Our first change, which was birth, was radical. We went from a safe feeling, warm environment to a cold, seemingly hostile environment. Because of this first experience, we tend to avoid change, even if it is a change that benefits us. While many think it’s silly to blame our past for our current problems, it’s not a matter of blame; it’s a matter of causation. A hurricane is the cause of disaster, but no one blames the hurricane. We watch the weather channel or access the weather app, so we can prepare for a hurricane. But what about the inner hurricanes? Can we prepare for them? It’s possible.

Here are some suggestions:

• Value Yourself. Self-esteem builds a strong foundation of well-being, and, in the process, the lens of fear starts to dissipate. Here’s a self-esteem building idea. Create a video of yourself saying something like this: “I love and approve of you. You are much better than you give yourself credit for, and I want you to know how much I appreciate you. I expect more and more good for you. Accept it.” View this video of yourself talking to yourself every day for a month. Modern technology provides a fast track for raising our self-esteem. The subconscious mind takes notice when we speak to ourselves using audio and video. In addition to creating your personal video, try this sleep-and-boost-your-self-esteem hypnosis video.
• When experiencing impending doom, ask these questions: Who would I be without this need to get upset? How would I spend my emotional time without upset? What do I value most: fear, anger, sadness, or peace? Asking pivotal questions, during an upset, is often enough to derail our undesirable thoughts.
• See if there’s a gift in the situation. This inquiry takes us away from the victim feeling. When we feel like a victim, it’s because we think someone treated us wrongly. And while it might be true that people did not treat us like we wanted to be treated, being reactive is a choice made from survival, not from a place of well-being. Who wants to be blown around by the way we are treated. (This is about dealing with sarcasm, snarky remarks, and criticism. This does not apply to crimes, such as rape, which may take extensive support and therapy.)

It’s surprising how disturbing our thoughts can be. We live in an inner and outer world of cynicism, hopelessness, and disaster. While these are not the most enjoyable aspects of life, they are life’s training wheels. Each can drive us to a tipping point. When we reach the state of desperation, we become teachable and can begin the road to surrender. The above steps can help, but if we don’t do our inner work, the Universe will bang on our doors until we take note. I find doing the work the EZiest way, but I’ve had plenty of knocks on my door. The Universe works on our behalf. We can resist this, and even turn the other way, but our good is on the move, and soon it will catch up to even the worst situations. We gotta know that the Supreme Okayness is always looking out for us. It’s time give up this sense of impending doom and follow our impending good. May all our streams of thought be blessed by this good, and may all of our lives become EZier and EZier.

Anne

  Quotes

Anne Quotes

"Life is unpredictable. We try to control it, so it will go the way we want it to go, but the more we control, the more unwieldy life becomes. Control is like pushing a basketball underwater, thinking that pushing it deeper gives us an advantage, but the deeper we push the basketball under water, the closer we get to exhaustion. When we let go, there’s an explosion. Letting go stops our thinking about something. That’s how to give up control."

"We think we know the moment; therefore, we overlook it. We have no intimacy with the present, as we hold court with the past. Not only do we hold past events in mind, we clasp worn out beliefs of the past that hold the moment hostage. We step into life with a prove yourself stance. Can you imagine asking a 4-carat diamond to prove that diamonds are valuable? How could a diamond do that? Why would we demand it do so? Most people would already know that diamonds are valuable."

Affirmation

"I open my heart and mind to the experience of life. It is with wide-eyed expectation that I welcome the direct experience of everything. My thoughts bow to reality and my mind becomes the servant of stillness. I am at peace."

  Shareables from Anne

The World's Best Weight Loss Secret

Thought Freedom

40 Days to Abundance

  Featured Product This Month

  Anne's Books

Click to learn about Anne's books.

  What is EZosophy?

Click to learn about EZosophy.

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  Healthy Living

The Zen of Maintenance

We tend to be a little grumpy when it comes to maintaining our lives, but it could be different. We could make taking care of ourselves and our belongings a spiritual practice. That’s what monks and sages do. Can we transform the mundane into the miraculous?

I recently listened to Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering. (This links to the complete audio.) She mentions the art of folding and how her clients come to love to fold things. I laughed when I heard this, but I listened to her description on how to fold clothes. While I didn’t follow her directions closely, her description left me wanting to fold. So, I started folding. I got rid of any PJ’s I no longer wanted and folded the rest. I folded them with precision. I folded them with respect. Now I am excited when I open my PJ drawer. I beam when I see the neat stacks. She chastised anyone who stuffed one sock into another. That reprimand sent me straight to my sock drawer. My sock drawer is now lined with rows of neatly folded socks, and I don’t have to rummage around to find a sock.

Folding clothes as a spiritual practice

I’ve always treated my clothes well. I folded them but did not give them my full attention. Now I am present when I fold my clothes and feel a deep appreciation for and something akin to intimacy with them. It’s like magic. The activity that seemed like work, folding, is suddenly fun. I can’t guarantee that it will be fun for you, but I recommend you try folding as an art.

We all must maintain our lives. Why not try maintenance with a flair? I highly recommend listening to the book mentioned and linked above. I can’t think of a better way to make our lives EZier than to enjoy our work and to get rid of the things in our lives that do not bring us joy.

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

  Anne Talks

Kindness is our best commodity

In Kindness is our best commodity, Anne reminds us that the best commodity we can share is our kindness. Time: 3:26

  Anne Art

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Photo by Anne
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  Anne's Schedule

All times here are Central Time
unless otherwise specified.

Sunday, April 8, 2018
10:30 AM: "Synchronicity"
After snacks, at 12:30ish:
"Synchronicity Workshop"
Unity Circle of Light
25817a Gosling Road
The Woodlands, TX 77389
281-681-8883

Sunday, April 15, 2018
12:15 PM: "Honoring our losses and our loved ones through grief, ceremony, and storytelling"
Unity Circle of Light
Creekside Elementary School
5949 Creekside Forest Dr.
The Woodlands, TX 77379

Sunday, April 22, 2018
11:00AM-12:00PM: "Emerge and See"
Unity of Brazosport
507 S. Brooks St. (Hwy. 36)
Brazoria, TX 77422

Sunday, May 13, 2018
11:00AM-12:00PM: To Be Announced
Unity of Brazosport
507 S. Brooks St. (Hwy. 36)
Brazoria, TX 77422

  Abundance Affirmations

Join Anne's New Facebook Group

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.