Happy Earth Day Week

Senator Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day on April 22, 1970 to salute our earth and bring to the forefront the sustainability problems we face on our planet. Interest in Earth Day ebbs and flows, but through the years it is evident that our earth suffers as a result of human action.

Partners for Planetary Recovery

In 1992 I attended the Global Forum, which was a parallel event to the United Nations Conference on the Environment (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro. As a result of this event and other preparatory events, I became friends with Dr. Gary Herbertson, the president of Earth Day International. Gary was aware of my involvement in the 12 step program and challenged me to address the recovery of the planet. I gathered the help of a small group that included Beth Ingber Green and Dr. Terry Davis, Gary, and me. After several months of conference calls and refining, we came up with the following program.

Twelve Steps for Planetary Recovery

In the 1930's, a handful of people confronted the life-threatening condition of alcoholism and launched a program of recovery called the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. This program is so effective it has inspired many other twelve-step programs that have touched the lives of millions of people around the world.

Now we are facing an even more life-threatening condition: the destruction of the environmental life-support systems of our planet. Like alcoholism, this destructiveness is based on addictive attitudes, lifestyles, and behaviors, and, as millions of recovering addicts have shown, these self-defeating patterns can be changed.
 
Twelve Steps for Planetary Recovery is designed to address our personal, local, and global condition. Practicing these steps will free us individually and collectively to discover solutions to our environmental crisis and the interrelated emotional, economic, spiritual, and social problems that confront us. One day and one step at a time, they can become a guide for our individual and collective lives.

1. We, humanity, admitted that we were destroying the planet and that our need to dominate, consume and control had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that we, the earth, and the universe are one, and that our tendency to dominate could be balanced by our desire for unity.
3. Made a decision to call on a power greater than ourselves to bring us into balance.
4. Made a fearless and thorough moral inventory of our beliefs, attitudes, and practices, and evaluated their impact on us and the rest of the planet.
5. Admitted to ourselves, a higher power as we understood it, and each other the exact nature of our wrongs; released shame, so that we could move forward with compassion for ourselves and others.
6. Became willing to make social, attitudinal, and economic changes in order to be in balance with our planet and in harmony with ourselves.
7. Humbly asked our Higher Power to help us change our technologies, social relations, and personal and collective lives so that we could promote life enhancement and sustainability for ourselves and other species.
8. Made a list of all the ecological and social damage we had caused and became willing to reverse it.
9. Cleaned up our rivers, oceans, landfills, and air, as we cleaned up our thoughts, emotions, actions, and social relations.
10. Continued to monitor how our attitudes and economic and social behavior impact the web of life, and when we were wrong, promptly called ourselves to awareness.
11. Sought through observation, experimentation, cooperation, and meditation to expand our conscious contact with ourselves, the earth, and the universe, so that we could continually support our collective well-being, evolution, and sacred rhythms.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening, as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others and to bring balance into every relationship -- with ourselves, each other, our planet, and the universe of which we are a part.

These steps may seem overwhelming. In fact, we don't expect to practice them perfectly. Instead, we plan to use them for study and discussion, as reference points to evaluate where we are.

We need to be honest about our situation and our capacities. We need to face ourselves and each other, squarely and lovingly. And we need to do so now.

Nothing less has worked or is working. Nothing more is required. Let us trust in the consciousness of humanity, the earth, and the universe, and let us have faith that our collective vision of a thriving planet can become manifest on this earth. Yes!

Partners For Planetary Recovery

Partners for Planetary Recovery (PPR) is an affiliation of individuals and groups who align with the Twelve Steps for Planetary Recovery. If you are committed to practicing this program to the best of your ability, you may consider yourself a partner.

PPR has no leaders, only service committees whose purpose is to help disseminate this program. While individual partners may have opinions on how to implement these steps, PPR takes no positions and engages in no controversy. Our sole purpose is to support ourselves and each other in changing attitudes, so that we may unleash the great potential of our entire planet.

We feel our partnership across the apparent divisions of sex, race, class, national boundary, religion, and species, and we welcome our emerging unity. Yes!

The Twelve Steps of Planetary was developed with permission from AA. Click here to read the original AA Twelve Steps.

  Health Tip: Open Sesame

I love sesame seeds, sesame oil, and tahini, but I didn’t realize that they were nutraceuticals - foods that heal you. They have a unique flavor that might not be for everyone, but if you like the flavor, consider using them more often in your diet. You can purchase both roasted and unroasted sesame seeds in a Middle Eastern grocery store for tons less than you pay in the regular grocery store.

Experts say that sesame seeds might (you know the "might" is for the AMA) lower blood pressure, improve the effectiveness of the antidiabetic drug glibenclamide, in Type 2 patients, increase your vitamin e levels, strengthen the immune system, and fight free radicals. They have over two dozen properties that improve cardiovascular health. Sesame oil can be used for gingivitis, to reduce bad breath, and to reduce tension and stress.

Wow, let’s grab that hummus or make some sesame dressing. The following dressing is good over raw broccoli slaw or a salad of greens topped with shredded carrots and raw cashews.

Sesame Dressing

1 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
¼ cup Coconut Aminos, Bragg's Aminos, Nama Shoyu, or wheat-free Tamari
2 tablespoons raw honey, coconut nectar, or agave nectar
2 cloves garlic
1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled
¼ cup of sesame oil

Put in small food processor and mix, then you can eat 'til your health's content.

  Anne's New Book: Standing in the Dark

Anne's Newest Book Click the image to learn more.

Anne’s new book, Standing in the Dark, is a salve for the out-of-control mind. In a high-speed society that forces time to do double-time and stuffs minds with inestimably complex information, we need mental medicine. Popular mind-bending methods encourage us to come up with the highest thoughts, to be positive and powerful, and to live our passion. Yet That Which is The Highest is beyond what words can touch.

You can buy Standing in the Dark in a pdf edition or in a Kindle edition. PDF Ed.   |   Kindle Ed.   |   Get Kindle Cloud Software If you don't have a Kindle application for your computer, phone, or tablet, you can download the free Kindle software from this link or connect to the Kindle Cloud Reader in your browser. Your reviews of the book on the Amazon website would definitely be appreciated. If you like the book, please share it on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else you socialize.

  Quotes

"To be in alignment with what is means to be in a relationship of inner nonresistance with what happens.... Does it mean to no longer bring about action to make changes in your life? On the contrary. When the basis of your actions is inner alignment with the present moment, your actions become empowered by the intelligence of Life itself."
– Eckhart Tolle

"We frighten ourselves with our own concepts."
– Byron Katie

"At some point I realized how much I was suffering (worrying, whining). Life is hard, but not all the time. When did suffering become desirable?"
– Anne Sermons Gillis

  Video Bits of Wisdom

A while back I recorded a series of 21 short inspirational videos on a wide range of topics. Most of them are under 2 minutes. I'll be spotlighting a different Video Bit each week in this space, with a link to it below this message. When you go to that page, click the Play button to start the video.

This Week: "Breathing"
Click Here for This Week's Video Bit

Click the graphic above to see all of the Video Bits.

  What is EZosophy?

What is EZosophy? Click the graphic above to find out.

Share Anne by sharing this issue.

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Editor: Charles David Heineke of TheDoorway and TheDoorwayBlog

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Click the Subscribe button above to get your own copy of Anne's newsletter sent to you every Tuesday morning. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you can UNsubscribe by clicking this link. Click the Archives button above to read past issues of this newsletter.            FOLLOW Anne. Help Spread the Word. SHARE Anne by sharing this issue.      Like the newsletter? You can support it through your donation via PayPal. It's certainly not necessary, but it is greatly appreciated. It's not tax deductible, but a small $8 donation helps defray our costs. Thank you in advance.   Anne's Services Need a Coach or a Rent-a-Friend? Interested in getting ongoing support? Try life coaching with Anne. Anne offers options for both short-term and long-term coaching. Contact her for details. Click here to contact Anne by email or Click here to view information on Anne's One Year Seminar.   Schedule Anne You may reach Anne by phone at 281-419-1775 or click the button below to contact Anne by email. Anne is also available to officiate at weddings and funerals.

  Anne's Schedule

April 27, 2013
"Buddha at the Gaspump"
Interview by Rick Archer
http://batgap.com/

We will post a link when it's online.

May 26, 2013
"Celebrating Life"
11:00 AM
Unity of Webster, Texas

  Ask Annie G

Dear Annie G,

Here I am, having spent my entire life since age 9 devoted to my (brand of) spirituality. Have ALWAYS felt guided and answered. Now, with what's happened with the loss of a family member, I have not lost my faith in G-d, the angels, the Masters. Rather, I have lost my faith in my ability to connect with them. I thought through my granddaughter’s 19 month illness that I was getting certain specific answers (as always in the past), but that has been proven untrue.

We already discussed the ALLOWING, the quiet while the vessel fills again - and I have been doing that, understanding and accepting that. BUT - I guess the question is, where do I take my guidance in the meanwhile? ACIM, my runes, Kabbalah cards and my pendulum, plus my altar and its contents, the incense and candles that have burned all day every day for YEARS, are all lost to me at the moment. I am not panicked, not frantic, just sort of empty and waiting. So I guess the question is: what do I/can I do right now? How to proceed? I've always known the next step - at least A step - before. Now I am a total void. How to proceed???

RPD, Santiago, Chile

Dear RPD,

Do not proceed. Let things be the way they are. Think of life as having a meal with a good friend. You don’t have to figure out how to do it; you just show up and eat. The old ways are gone for now and may never come back. If they don’t resurface, they no longer serve you. Learn to live in this new paradigm of not knowing and see what shows up. Just try out not knowing how to proceed. Keep the ideas of peace, love, and harmony in your mind and rest in the moment. Examine the thought, I don’t know how to proceed or I don’t know what to do next. What needs to show up in your mind for those thoughts to have no relevance?

The preceding answer comes more from the "being" realm, but if you are inquiring from a business level, you may not need divine revelation. Maybe you should get in touch with your common sense and do what makes sense. We have that ability, to use our common sense, and we have the ability to override some of our more obsessive wild ideas. Wild ideas for the future feel good and are fun to play with, but common sense should never be underrated or overlooked. Just remember, if you make a bad decision about anything, it’s important to learn from your mistake and know that even though all things are not good, when we are good-hearted, good can come from all things.

Ways to Get Help

Back to a practical approach. Talking to people we love and admire is also a way to unlock our inner knowing. We don’t have to solve a problem; we just have to share with someone who stands with us. Then, mysteriously, when the charge is off the situation, the situation begins to feel like no big deal.

Make a list of the 20 things you like to do and then write down the last time you did each activity. Pick a few things on your list and do them. Maybe you will have so much fun, that you will forget that you don’t know how to proceed!

See Things Differently

The way I relate to the infinite now is completely different than it was 15 years ago. Every time I break through, I leave more and more of the techniques or trappings of spirituality behind. The things that once freed me became my limits. Living in the void is scary, but I couldn’t turn back to the familiar places of refuge and feel safe anymore. There was no meaning there.

If you wanted to make a cake, you would probably start with a clean counter. It wouldn’t seem scary that nothing was there. You wouldn’t need to call you friend and say, I’m really scared. I’m planning on baking a cake, but when I go into the kitchen, the counter is empty. There’s nothing, I mean absolutely nothing, there. It’s lonely to be with this empty counter.

Your life is the empty counter right now, and I am sure that, in time, the cake will appear. For now, enjoy the clean counter. You know how many times you’ve wished it was clean – okay, now it is.

I know your experience with the loss of your granddaughter must have been difficult to go through, and I’m sure you are still going through it. My sympathy to you and your family.

Make it Easy.

Anne

NOTE: Send your questions on life, health, food, spirituality, and relationships to Annie G.

  Video Tip

Sometimes I end a client's breathing session with some words of relaxation. This time I decided to grab a recorder. You can breathe along with these words or just meditate. The topic is surrendering into what is and living in the now. It’s a fifteen minute audio of relaxing, breathing, and letting go, accompanied by beautiful,  relaxing images.

Click the image to view the video.

  Anne Art

Click the image to see it larger.

Click the image to see it larger.