The Anne Report, Flow Business, provides some real life examples of how we can go with the flow to make our lives EZier. The Main article, Does Chatter Matter?, shows us how the word chatter that fills our life may be indicative of life but isn't life as we actually experience it. The Healthy Living article, Move It, suggests ways that we can move our thoughts and our bodies to overcome depressing thinking. The Anne Talk, Do You Define Your Life By Your Difficulties?, reminds us that we can choose a life that's safe and EZier. The Featured Product This Month highlights Offbeat Prayers for the Modern Mystic. Click to read What is EZosophy? Click for Abundance Affirmations. Click for Shareables From Anne.

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

Living EZosophy, September 25, 2018
Published Weekly on Tuesday Mornings

Phone: 713.922.0242
Email: anne@annegillis.com

Anne's Websites:

  The Anne Report

Flow Business

Dear ,

I've been on a whirlwind trip. I'm in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina (a Charleston burb). My daughter and I drove up to NC and attended a family wedding Sat. in the Raleigh, NC area. We travelled to Kernersville on Sunday for Elizabeth, my daughter, to give a Beauty Counter presentation. We returned to SC on Sunday. We had to take a detour because the water levels are still high and parts of I-95 are closed.

My nephew's wedding is one of those it-takes-a-year-to-plan kind of affairs, yet through miracles and persistence, the entire wedding, reception, rehearsal dinner, and various parties and events were moved to the Raleigh area. They had one week to pull this off. The theme of the wedding became "Go with the Flow," given hurricane Florence and the drink of the night: hurricanes. Amazing. Even the programs for the wedding were printed with the correct venue name. Several hundred people showed up, so, in addition to the change of location, hotel rooms had to be rebooked and flights had to be changed.

This wedding is a story of flexibility and ingenuity. Life is malleable, but until we allow it to be a movable feast, it remains as unbending as our preconceived notions on how things can and should be. Let's adopt the wedding theme, "go with the flow" and, as I say, "There's no business like flow business" because we all want our lives to be EZier and EZier. That's it for the Anne Report.

Anne

  Main Article

Does Chatter Matter?

Is the word "chair" actually a chair? No. It is a word we collectively choose to use, so when we speak, we understand what we are referring to. Words are reference points, but they are not reality. I can say, "I am happy," but the words themselves are not my emotions. I can say, "I am happy" and actually be depressed. What I've said is irrelevant to what is happening internally. When someone asks me how I'm doing and I respond, "Fine," that's chatter. "Fine" is not a valid reference point for what's going on with me. It's a formality. People who ask how we are doing are usually just chattering socially accepted niceties and we respond in kind.

Thoughts are words, but they are not reality; they are removed from reality. This comes as no surprise. We know the concept, yet we operate under the influence of thoughts. We are highly prejudiced and regulated by our thoughts, especially the bizarre ones. We think about complex situations that will never occur. We ask our friends' take on these illusory scenarios. We drag the past into our thoughts to give them life. Our minds are on a treasure hunt for something that will never make sense or for something that will finally make things better. But words can't deliver; they can't give us what we want. While chatter doesn't matter, it can have a profound effect on us. Our chatter beats us down. Chatter drains our energy.

Chatter is like plastic food; thoughts are like plastic food. If you try to eat plastic food, you will go hungry. The plastic food is a representation of food, not food itself.

We long for reality. We can think about reality, but reality can only be experienced; thinking adds nothing to reality. Thinking is the process that turns reality into good or bad, advantageous or disadvantageous.

Does our chatter matter? Most chatter doesn't matter. When we are driving and a squirrel darts out in front of the car, we don't think, "The squirrel, a member of the rodent family, is moving at a fast speed across the road and in 0.5 seconds the car will run over him. He will die; his blood pressure will elevate, then will slow down, and if I hit him head on, he will die. I have .03 seconds to turn the car to the right so as to avoid running over the squirrel. I am now lifting my hand to the top of the steering wheel and using both hands to turn the wheel." No, we quickly, without conscious thought, turn the wheel to the right to avoid the squirrel. We didn't need a complex set of words to avoid the squirrel. And we don't need a complex set of ideas to supervise each moment.

The mystics say that most of humanity is asleep. Why? Because we think that thoughts are reality. Thoughts are things. They have mass and energy, but they are not reality. They have a magnetizing ability to attract form, but they are not the form they attract. The chatter is like a drug that keeps us lulled into a virtual reality. Our mind is like a video game. We have rules and play a predictable game – in our minds.

As we mature, we often realize we are living synthetic lives. We question and search, as did Jim Carrey in The Truman Show movie. At some point we may realize that we have directly experienced reality, but we were so preoccupied with words, thoughts, and emotions, that we failed to notice. We've looked toward the action of life, not the being of life. This is when we flock to Western psychology to find answers, and, while we may get some relief from our synthetic interpretation of life, it is Eastern philosophy that provides the clearest roadmap. Eastern philosophy knows and teaches the importance of the still mind, how to witness our thoughts, and detachment.

Chatter isn't wrong. It just doesn't matter. It's irrelevant to reality. When we can watch our minds without believing the chatter, we've taken our first step toward the peace-that-passes understanding. The more we disengage from the mind chatter, the more present we are to experience what matters. The innate importance of each moment reveals itself from a vast space that transcends what we call "the mind." Each moment flings itself into reality, full throttle, resplendent with meaning. The moment doesn't equivocate. There is no bad or good moment. The moment doesn't need improvement. The moment is steeped in Source and perfect as it is. The moment carries a wordless pure quality.

It might seem odd that I have written a book entitled Words Make a Difference and yet write an article that talks about the invalid nature of words and thoughts. If you read my book, you will note that I say that at some point words don't matter, but as long as words matter to us, it's best to find a constructive way to use them. The book, Words Make a Difference, is written from a dualistic point of view, and this article is based on nondualism. The ideas only seem to conflict when we use thoughts and words to wade through them. We tell different stories and use different analogies at the transcendent level of consciousness. Nondualism occurs when the consciousness is in a transcendent state.

What do we do with the chatter in regular life? Nothing. We don't have to change the chatter, fix it, or eliminate it. We just need to watch it without interference, and, when we do, our lives become EZier and EZier. Is it simple? Yes. Is it easy? You decide!

Anne

  Quotes

Anne Quotes

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  Featured Product

Order Offbeat Prayers for the Modern Mystic from my website or call me at 713.922.0242 to order directly from me. The price is $15.95, including shipping. Click to order the Kindle version on Amazon for $4.99.

  Abundance Affirmations

Join Anne's 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.

  What is EZosophy?

Click to learn about EZosophy.

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  Healthy Living

Move It

We are strong and free, or at least we want to be, but at times we feel weak and trapped. Does it matter what we do or how we handle our outlook on life? You can bet your sweet bippy it does!

If we think life sucks, really sucks, our bodies figure out a way to get us out of the dilemma. Subconsciously, the mind says, "Get him or her out of here. Setup up the circumstances for an illness, an accident, or a situation to make him/her go crazy so s/he can get out of this mess." We often think that life occurs at random, but we have a tremendous influence on our health, experience of life, and well-being. The way we look at life can be dangerous to our health or helpful.

We have three subconscious coping mechanisms we use to get us out of the traps we believe ourselves to be in, and we have one desperate conscious choice. These mechanisms operate when we feel there are no valid choices.

Option One: We get ill. When we can't say no to situations, our body says, "Hey, she doesn't want to go there or do this. Let's get her out of this fix. We will get sick."

Option Two: We have an accident. This is another quick way to get ourselves out of something we don't want to do, without taking conscious responsibility.

Option Three: We go crazy. When we just can't handle it anymore, we go crazy, so we won't have to deal with the responsibilities of life.

Option Four: We commit suicide. This is conscious choice, made only when any other choice seems impossible. "Suicide rates, which averaged 12.1 per 100,000 people in the decade prior to the Depression, jumped to an alarming 18.9 in the year of Wall Street's crash. The suicide rate remained higher than normal throughout the remainder of the Great Depression, then fell sharply during World War II." These people felt there were no other options, but there are always other options.

It's important have a game plan for this situation, because if we do not, we will do something reckless to end our imprisonment. What can we do to move out of these patterns?

1. Get counseling. A good therapist can help with options. Even if you don't find immediate solutions, sharing with a good listener reduces stress, and when our stress levels go down, it's easier to make good decisions.
2. Start a walking program or other exercise program. Walk or exercise daily for a prescribed period of time; twenty minutes minimum. Listen to inspiring or upbeat music. This gets our energy moving. When our bodies are stagnant, we get stagnant. It's best to shake it up, baby.
3. Check out your diet. If you are eating poorly, upgrade your choices. When the body eats junk processed food, it doesn't know what to do with it. The body doesn't recognize chemicals, pesticides, and preservatives. All these contribute to the toxicity of the body, which includes a foggy mind. A foggy mind obscures our choices. When we eat junk food on a regular basis, our bodies go into crisis mode and our cellular intelligence and energy are used to cope with the biological disaster. Don't commit biological warfare with your mouth!
4. Write this affirmative thought and read it when necessary. "I will not create a major illness, accident, go crazy, or commit suicide." Keep a copy and give a copy to a trusted friend or family member, and promise them you will keep your word on this, and make the promise to yourself as well.

Use these ideas to start a personal survival guide for your life. The coping skills above are incomplete, but if you are feeling hopeless, helpless, or trapped, you need to develop an arsenal of skills so your subconscious mind doesn't take over. Get a notebook. List what steps you are going to take when you feel hopelessly depressed or uncontrollable angry. Have different chapters in your book and include sections on forgiveness and gratitude.

Our lives are valuable, but when we forget life's beauty, it's time to get out our personal survival guide and move energy. Yes, I said, move energy. When the subtle energy in our body is stuck, we get stuck, but it's not so subtle! How many times have we said, "I don't have the energy to do…." Or "my energy is low." This is our vital life force. When this energy is stagnant, we get stuck in negative feelings. That's why movement itself is life. No movement, no life. When we are stuck, it's time to move our bodies, our thoughts, and our diets, because when we do, life is EZier and EZier.

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

  Anne Talk

Do You Define Your Life By Your Difficulties?

In Do You Define Your Life By Your Difficulties?, Anne reminds us that we choose have a life that's safe and EZier. Time: 3:19

  Anne Art

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  Anne's Schedule

All times here are Central Time
unless otherwise specified.

Saturday, October 6, 2018
10 AM-12 Noon, Lecture:
"The Life of Henry S. Olcott"
The Theosophical Society
1525 Heights Blvd., Houston, TX

Contact Anne to book your event:
713.922.0242 or anne@annegillis.com.

  Shareables From Anne

The World's Best Weight Loss Secret

Thought Freedom

40 Days to Abundance