The Anne Report, Lightening Up, reminds us that when it comes to the spiritual life, there's more to give up, unlearn, and undo than there is to accomplish. The Main article, What I've Learned, shares some of the important principles Anne has learned in her life. The Healthy Living article, Make Time for Your Magnificent Other, emphasizes the importance of making time for private time with our partner. The Anne Talk, More Ease Please, shows us how we can eliminate some of the suffering in our lives. The Featured Product This Month highlights Anne's fifth book, The Living Book. Click to read What is EZosophy? Click to join Anne's Abundance Affirmations. Click for Shareables From Anne.

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

Living EZosophy, January 29, 2019
Published Weekly on Tuesday Mornings

Phone: 713.922.0242
Email: anne@annegillis.com

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  The Anne Report

Lightening Up

Dear ,

Sunday, I spoke about wisdom. I have wanted to be wise since I was very young. If I were wise, it would give me better judgment, and keep me out of trouble. Maybe people would come to me for advice, and I would feel special, loved. That was 40 years ago, and I have learned a lot of about wisdom. When people act from wisdom, it is unbeknownst to them. MLK probably never thought of himself as courageous, but his legacy is one of courage and wisdom.

I gave up trying to be wise when I discovered that being a wise person could never be a goal. Being wise is the by-product of living life as an adventure, having friends, experience, and paying attention. Life is the greatest teacher, and the curriculum is unique for each person. Thank goodness I didn't have to learn something else, such as how to be wise, because I already have a black belt in the spiritual arts. I have done more things than I could name to advance my spiritual life, and just as I gave up my need to be wise, I gave up my need for spiritual accomplishment.

When it comes to the spiritual life, there's more to give up, unlearn, and undo than there is to accomplish. When I look at the faces of spiritual masters, especially ones I've seen in person, there are two things that stand out. One is a face full of equanimity, and the other is levity. These deeply connected humans take life lightly, and it shines in their countenance. Even though I would love to be wise, I think I would rather shine. EZosophy is a philosophy that calls for lightening up, because when we do, everything can be EZ or at least EZier. And that's it for the Anne Report.

  Main Article

What I've Learned

We boss ourselves around a lot. Sometimes I have some great thoughts, but frequently my thoughts are a cross between spam and fake news. I talk myself in and out of moods. Some thoughts strike my heart like a dagger and my momentary peace shatters.

I've spent my whole life picking up shattered peace – is. At some point I questioned the suffering. This marked the genesis of my spiritual pilgrimage. The journey led me around the worlds - the inner and outer worlds.

Here are a few things I've learned from this 50-year journey:

1. We can't do it alone. We have to let others in, at least part of the time. They help us heal parts that are too damaged to deal with on our own. They are like doctors for our souls. Who would want to perform open heart surgery on themselves?
2. For most of the healing journey, we're on our own. Even if we are sick and go to the doctor, we don't live at the doctor's office. We go home and do the work it takes to get well.
3. Everything we need in our hearts is instantly available. It helps to remember that the lies promised by the world of spiritual and material consumerism are really lies. They cannot deliver what they promise. We will not be able to buy better lives by making ourselves better people, whether it be by making ourselves perform spiritual austerities, improving our shapes, or by becoming billionaires.
4. There are two levels of life. One is the infinite, transcendent part and the other is the imminent, right here, in the body, level of living. Our entire lives will be about balancing these two parts. We can flip from one level to the other in moments. When we are at the higher level, our human lives look almost comedic. When we operate in our humanity, the cosmic level seems out of reach and even lofty. Our mission is to allow the levels to work together simultaneously.
5. Some people believe there is a cosmic destiny. They think that each person has a special and unique talent to give the world, and until you find this purpose and act on it, your life is empty. If you are doing what you feel is your life's purpose and you are fulfilled, then great. If you do not know what your destiny is, then make one up. Obviously, it is ridiculous to go around pining about not being able to find out what you are about and languishing about not being able to contribute that gift. I think I've done what I was supposed to do in my life, but I made it up as I went along. Looking back, it does seem like destiny, but I entered each new choice with a shaky foot and the hope that it would all work out, and it did. Bad news: you can be on purpose and still not be happy. Don't you think Michael Jackson was destined to be a singer? How happy was he? Who we are contains the seed of happiness and tranquility, but what we do is another matter.
6. We must learn to keep our minds quiet. If we live in a monkey mind world, we will miss most of the good stuff. I started by learning mediation, then breath work (pranayama - Conscious breathing patterns), and finally awareness practices. Ultimately my mind began to let go, into a more expansive pattern, sort of on its own. You can do what you want with this, but if you search the mystics, the masters, the gurus, and the peaceful, you will find mediation, breath work, contemplative prayer, and/or awareness practices.

This about sums up what I've come to see, over the years, as truths. They are not perfect and not meant as laws of the universe. They are what I've found to be true. I started out as a lost soul, became a seeker, and a finder, and finally found that everything I've hunted for was right under my nose, made a lot of sense, and was relatively simple. That's how I became an EZosophist, by tending to the simple in life. Maybe you can find a little humor in my findings, some truth, and perhaps a sprinkle of guidance.

Take it EZ.

  Quotes

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  Abundance Affirmations

Click to 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.

Special Announcement

Miracles in the Mountains Presents: Miracles, Scribes, and Mystics, a conference based on A Course in Miracles, Oct. 11-14, 2019. Join Miracles Productions at the beautiful Art of Living Retreat Center, Boone, North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, during the peak of the glorious "Autumn Leaf" season! Early bird special through March, 2019.

  Featured Product This Month

Suppose someone told you that you could change your life radically, for the better, if you spent just three minutes a day doing inner work? Would you believe it? Maybe not, but wouldn't it be worth an investment of three minutes a day to try it?

The Living Book offers just this. Devote three minutes a day to this process and your life will become a living testimony to the seed principle. A tiny seed can grow into a mighty tree, but it must be planted. Plant your daily seed for three short minutes and notice both subtle and miraculous changes in your life. In addition to the daily practice, one can use the process when they are stumped or afraid or angry. This process transforms anger into love. When we plant seeds of light into our thoughts and emotional bodies, we move into higher frequencies of well-being.

The Living Book, by Anne Sermons Gillis. Paperback $4.95 plus $3.00 shipping. PDF Download $0.99. Kindle Book $2.99.

  What is EZosophy?

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

  Healthy Living

Make Time for Your Magnificent Other

My husband and I met in 1998. It was one of those "fluke" but, of course, cosmically designed meetings. He was attending a class at Carmel Temple, an "all faith center." It was a 45-mile drive for him, but he wanted to study the book, Conversations with God, so he made the drive. The class was in the morning, and there was a service that meets after the class, at 11:00 AM. That's where we met – at the 11 AM service. I had just moved from Memphis to the Houston area, and Carmel was not far from where I was living.

We met during the greeting time. I thought he was interesting, but the next Sunday, he wasn't there. Two weeks later, he showed up, and evidently he thought I was interesting, because he asked me out, by e-mail. He found my email address in one of my books that was in their bookstore. He wrote that we might have something to remember together. I thought it was the schmaltziest line ever, but I accepted. 

We dated, married, had good times and bad. Our lives were self-contained, and our busy-ness kept us from having a close relationship. Everything worked, so why rock the boat? Okay, there were close times, but they were intermittent. I preferred more close time, but he needed his space, and my life was full enough to accommodate that.

Last fall, my husband changed his tune. He was having a late-life crisis, or maybe an awakening. This epiphany left him with the desire for a closer relationship, so we embarked on a new journey. Like all relationships, we went through a honeymoon of connecting. We would get together two or three times a week for us time. Gradually we settled in with a once a week time for us time. We closed our bedroom door, turned off the outside world and played and talked. It was enough to sustain us.

Last Christmas we were traveling, and we didn't take our eye to eye time. After the holidays, we restarted our meetings, but one week I was very busy, and I told him I had to skip our weekly meeting. We didn't meet that week and things started getting weird. We were already drifting apart, so when we scheduled our next meeting and closed off the world, it was awkward. We talked about what was not working for us, grievances we were holding, and what we wanted to see happen. The ending time was not set and we didn't schedule anything else for the day. If we needed five hours, we'd have them. We emerged radiant, happy, and back on track, after three hours. Until that meeting, I did not realize how important it was that we spend quality time together. Sure, we watched movies together, and went to lectures, but those could never replace the eye to eye, tell-all connection.

We all want to feel close to others, and when we don't feel close to our significant other, we miss an amazing opportunity provided by the cosmic forces. We best learn about ourselves when we are in relationship with another, and while special love relationships are challenging, they are worth the effort. We can't be close to our mates unless we see them soul to soul and face to face. If this is not possible, because your mate isn't up for this, no worries; life can still be good, but if spending time together is possible, it will bring the relationship to a higher level, and when we operate at a higher, more connected level, then everything can be EZier and EZier.

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

  Anne Talk

More Ease Please

Anne's video, More Ease Please, shows us how we can eliminate some of the suffering in our lives. Time: 8:07

  Anne Art

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  Shareables From Anne

The World's Best Weight Loss Secret

Thought Freedom

40 Days to Abundance

Anne's Conscious Carols

  Anne's Schedule

All times here are Central Time
unless otherwise specified.

Saturday, February 16, 2019
10 AM-12 Noon
"Evolution of the Higher Consciousness: An In-Depth Study of H. P. Blavatsky's Teachings," chapter one review, by Anne.
Houston Lodge, Theosophical Society
1525 Heights Blvd. Houston, TX
Donation basis

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