Let Your Life Shine

Imagine a piece of silver that is dreadfully tarnished. It is black and looks like something one might throw away. If you know much about silver, you know the truth; below the darkness lies a gleaming treasure. Knowing that you have a valuable piece, you don’t discard it; you clean it. Cleaning silver is messy; your fingers turn black, and there’s a weird smell. It takes a while to get through the oxidation so that the silver can return to its original beauty, but eventually the luster returns, and you forget about the task.

Are you going through a cleaning? Are you in a strange space where your silver is nowhere to be seen? Maybe you don’t know what to do or even what to think about things. Perhaps what you’ve counted on to provide direction and protection no longer speaks to you. Relax; things are not always as they appear. You are moving to the next stage of life. It’s the time of living in the not knowing. This is not a prescription for moving up the spiritual ladder; rather, it is a description of what happens when you need to move on. It’s time to live in a world where you use your mind rather than having your mind use you. It is a step in letting go of control; it’s a new way of life.

The mind is captivated by being led somewhere, solving problems, and figuring things out, but there’s nowhere for the mind to go, and things are always the way they are supposed to be. Life doesn’t require your constant mental evaluation. It saps your energy to ride every thought to a meaningful conclusion. It may be your time to let go and stop catering to the mind’s need to know.

We often face worn out modalities when a loss we’re faced with makes no sense. We try to use our minds or emotions to process in the old way. It’s like continually going back to a vegetable cookbook for crème brulee; the recipe is not there, and regardless of how many different ways you open the book, you will never find the dessert recipe in the vegetable book. When the process of having to know no longer works, we enter reality as a direct experience and move away from assessing every aspect of life.

I have two agave plants; one is growing and the other one is pot-bound. The restricted plant has stopped getting larger and will only grow when I move it to another pot. If I move it to a pot that is too large, the roots grow, but the greenery stays the same size. If I use a pot that is the perfect size, one slightly larger, the plant will flourish.

Our belief systems are like plants; when the pot is too small, something has to give. There comes a time when making choices, changing our minds, and perseverance no longer work. Things may seem bleak. It may seem like outgrowing your life, cleaning tarnished items, or searching in a book that doesn’t provide a recipe, but it is okay. All this is normal. You are breaking through to something better, and your life is going to be easier.

This is a time to clean your home, clear your desk, file those papers, or put those photos in an album. When you are going through a major shift, it’s best to clean up your environment, to surround yourself with beautiful music, and delightful fragrances, to create an environment that supports you, and to stay put. You need this kind of support for your transition, and when you come though this, you’ll be fresh and organized so that you can fully appreciate life in a new, expanded way.

  Health Tip: In the Mood for Food

To keep from overeating, use a small fork and spoon. An iced tea spoon is a great utensil for eating soup – it is an adventure in alternative dining! It tricks the mind.

Two test groups were given two different sized ice cream scoops. The group using the smaller scoops ate significantly less than those using the larger scoops. The moral of this tale -- use small serving spoons as well. Using a small plate and bowl has a similar effect. You will eat less from a smaller container.

You eat what you see, so keep a bag of cut up carrots, celery, sprouts, etc., in the front and center of your refrigerator. I keep nuts, seeds, and dried fruits in the center of my kitchen island, and that’s where we go when we are hungry between meals. And when I’m in a hurry, it’s a quick meal. Our side counter is host to fresh fruits and vegetables.

Never, never leave a candy bowl in sight. You can resist it a few times, but after 200 trips by the candy bowl, you will give in. Of course, the best way to avoid candy is to not buy any. If for some reason you end up with candy, take it with you to meetings and pass it around. Get rid of it. I have left over candy at Halloween, and I take it to the first meeting I go to after the holiday is over.

We decorate our homes with pictures and pillows; why not use fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds as our kitchen accessories? In the mood for food? Then remember to decorate your kitchen with healthy food and set yourself up to eat smaller portions.

  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

"Nothing dies harder than a bad idea."
– Julia Cameron

"Complication cannot fight true simplicity. Simplicity is too deep. It swallows up everything. Complication arises as a byproduct of mental activity. Simplicity is the emancipation of truth. … Simplicity is not stupidity; it is deepest wisdom."
– Gangaji

"Freedom exists, but we don’t participate."
– 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: "Reality Check"
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.

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Editor: Charles David Heineke of TheDoorway and TheDoorwayBlog

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  Anne's Schedule

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

  Ask Annie G

Dear Annie G,

Do we get energy from the sun?

Sunny from Tennessee

Dear Sunny,

The ancient cultures certainly believed we did. They worshiped the sun. Esoteric and mystery schools believe we receive energy from the sun and that energy feeds our etheric bodies. Some mystery schools teach that solar prana emanates from the sun, is stored in the earth, and then goes through different life forms before it reaches humans. They contend that direct prana from the sun would be too intense for us to handle. I know a woman who had a blind mother and uncle. They stared at the sun as long as they could when they were kids and eventually went blind. Our skin burns when we stay out too long. When we get the required 20 minutes of daily sun, our bones are strengthened and we ward off diseases, but when we overdo, we create illness or injure our bodies. Drawing on these examples of what we directly experience from the sun, the mystics might have a point about energy; we receive solar prana indirectly from the sun.

The Sun puts out 386 billion megawatts of energy. Even though most of the energy goes into space, enough of it reaches us to warm up the planet. All energy on the planet comes from sun – the energy to grow plants, trees, and life forms. It grows the plants that decay and eventually become fossil fuels. Sunlight is one of the essential building blocks of life.

Want some sun energy? Place your glass bottle, filled with filtered water, in the sun for at least 24 hours. I like to leave mine for 2 days or more. I use indigo, green, and clear bottles. Water that is processed has no life force, but when you put it in the sun, it soaks it up. Try it; taste it. It tastes fantastic.

We are usually happier when the sun shines. People get depressed due to the lack of sun. This points to the conclusion that something very physical happens to us to cause those emotional responses.

There are so many kinds of energy, and I won’t cover them all, but I know when I wake up and the sun is shining, I have more energy, feel more alive, and happier.

Thanks for asking.

Make it Easy.

Annie G.

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

  Video Tip

If holidays are more fun, why not make every day a holiday? Watch this short video from Anne about how you can make every day a "Happy Fully Alive Day."

Click the image to view the video.

  Anne Art

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Click the image to see it larger.