A Note From Anne

Dear ,

I hope you are having an easy week, or at least, if your life situation is less than perfect, you are able to experience life's steady center. We can create and control so many things in our lives, yet it not unusual for the unexpected to meet us at the corner. It's easy, when our lives go our way, to be model EZosophists, but when the shift hits the fan, we show our true character.

That's why attachment is an impediment. When we absolutely know what we want and are adamant that it has to be that way, we have a long way to fall when things go in the opposite direction.

This week's word is flexible. Be flexible. When the winds of life hit you, bend like the willow and you will find that life can be easier and easier.

Anne

  How to Make Change EZier

I speak with a number of groups about making life easier, giving up personal emotional drama, and living in a world of ease, while living in the midst of ego driven drama from the world, our family, and our friends. It is the ease that passes understanding – to piggyback on a well-known phrase. We can eliminate drama and make our lives easier, but the most difficult task we face is the integration of the personal down times, the exciting times, the times of pain, our failure and our successes.

We live on a continuum of change, from open, fully alive, self assured – an almost mystical state – to living in a contracted, self-doubting state of helplessness and doubt. When things go well, it comes as a surprise when things disintegrate around us. Yet this is life. We live in impermanence. Change is constant. It's best to be humble when things go well because there will always come a time of downturn. In the east there is a trinitarian concept represented by Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the sustainer, and Shiva is the destroyer. These are three aspects of life. Life is created; it lives; it dies. So it is with an idea: it comes, lives, and eventually loses its usefulness.

When I feel self-assured, I doubt that anything can shake me, yet something always comes along that knocks me off the idea of permanent stability. Our culture holds up an impossible standard of behaviors and expects us to be strong, perennially upbeat, and in charge of our lives. This standard of perfectionism is not only dangerous, it is impossible to uphold.

Two aspects of our higher selves help us live with this state of rapid expansion and contraction. They ground us so that we can be centered in lives that move in opposite directions.

1) Compassion is an aspect of perfect love. Compassion holds both joy and pain. It blesses and moves in us, so that we no longer judge ourselves and others. It allows us to imagine how it feels to be a person who acts out, and it keeps us from spreading the chain of pain. Compassion allows us to forgive and forget transgressions.

Once, at a party, I found myself listening to someone who seemed bitter. Rather than back away from her and criticize her in my thoughts, I decided to apply compassion. I listened deeply. I empathized, acknowledged what she said, and replied with statements such as, "I can see how that is hard for you, I hear you, or I understand what you are saying." Compassions holds a special energy. As I stayed with her and listened, she transformed and I found myself enjoying what she had to say. Within a few minutes she was off her diatribe and became a different person. She was fresh and amiable.

Parties are a great place to try out compassion. Find a disagreeable person, move in, and apply compassion. Lean in with your body rather than backing off (which triggers people abandonment anxiety). They will not be used to this kind of treatment and the energy of compassion can move them. Watch the change. This may not always happen, but compassion is a powerful force. Let this be your emotional experiment. Are you an alchemist? Can you turn lead into gold? Can you listen with interest and put yourself in his or her shoes? Try the transformer game.

2) Acceptance is not resignation. It means not fighting with what is. When we fight with what is, we suffer and struggle. When I ask myself, "How could this be happening now?," when I am in what seems like the worst timing possible, I remember that the question is not relevant. Everything is timed as it should be because it already is happening. We may resist what is happening, but that resistance will cause us pain and suffering.

When I was younger my fiancé broke our engagement. It was painful and I was not expected to live. That is a joke, but I did feel like I would die. It was not until I quit trying to figure out what I did wrong and how I could get him back, that I was able to move on, rebuild my life, and have some fun.  Acceptance is the point at which pain turns to possibility.

Acceptance does not mean to not change things in the future. If we can change things and make our lives better, then let's do it, but what has already happened cannot be changed. The behavior of others cannot be changed and what we did in the past is gone. Carrying regret around is the signature of resistance. Apologize if we can when we harmed others, but let it go.

I once had a friend whom I could not forgive. I was angry about things she did that caused problems. But my biggest problem was not with her; it was with me. I could not accept that I could not forgive her. I tried to put out the fire of my obsession, but finally I accepted that I could not forgive her. Immediately I felt peace and within a few weeks I felt as if a weight had lifted from my shoulders. One day I felt something lift and realized I had forgiven her. Strangely enough, when talking with another friend who could not forgive her either, she found herself able to forgive our friend on the same day. It was like something bigger than us had taken our inability to forgive her, along with our willingness to forgive her, and applied a miracle.

Compassion and acceptance never wear out. They serve both the master and the student, and if we can live our lives with the humility that allows them into our lives and hearts, we will find that our lives are easier and easier. Go out in the lab and practice. Life is the practicum and compassion and acceptance are gateways to richer and easier living. They allow us to live in the life we are meant to live and close the door to rejection, judgment, and perfectionism.

Make it easy.

Anne

  Quotes

Affirmative thought: "From this moment forward I am open to universal blessing, health, well-being, peace, compassion, abundance, and love."
  – Anne Sermons Gillis

Become a member of the Now, Now family. Now, take your vow. Nowist vow: "From this moment on, I am open to this moment."
  – Anne Sermons Gillis

"Compassion is a peace of cake when you get your universal love license."
  – Anne Sermons Gillis

"If life is dark and lonely, it is because we close the windows. We feel imprisoned then construct walls around our beliefs and emotions. Outside life shines in its unconditional brightness. It is not affected by any situation. Life is freedom. Freedom is always here. If we don't experience it, it's not because it's not ever present. Freedom is liberation, and liberation is always now."
  – Anne Sermons Gillis

  Houston Theosophical Society

Anne Sermons Gillis currently serves as the president of the Houston Lodge of the Theosophical Society.

We encourage our members to live a life in service to humanity, in stillness through mediation, and in study of ancient wisdom.

"Recognition of the unique value of every living being expresses itself in reverence for life, compassion for all, sympathy with the need of all individuals to find truth for themselves, and respect for all religious traditions."
   --The Theosophical World View

Meetings are held on the first and third Saturdays at 10 AM Central Time in Houston, Texas.

For more information visit The Houston Lodge or visit our national organization at http://www.Theosophical.org.

  Anne's Books

Standing in The Dark

EZosophy

Offbeat Prayers

Click here to see all three of Anne's books

What people are saying about Standing in the Dark:

"Standing in the Dark, by Anne Sermons Gillis, isn't just another positive thinking book. It's a book about the difficult times in life and what we can do to make it through them. It does, however, give us positive ways to make life easier. It's a short book, but it's one that may just turn your thinking on its head, which will probably be the best thing that's happened to your thinking in a long time. It's about how to bring more ease into a life that isn't easy all of the time. Anne discusses six main areas of life: Ease, Mission, Health, Relationships, Money, and Loss."
  – Charles David Heineke

Now available on Kindle. Click for details.

What people are saying about EZosophy: The Art and Wisdom of Easy or at Least Easier Living:

"Although most conscious people understand that life doesn't have to a struggle, the "how to" has been missing... until now. Anne's book makes it "easy."
  – T. Harv Eker - Bestselling author and Founder of Peak Potentials Training

Now available on Kindle.
Click for details.
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What people are saying about Offbeat Prayers for the Modern Mystic:

"I love your book. It is filled with much wisdom, humor and heart. Really beautiful."
  – Alan Cohen author, Enough Already, mentions Anne and EZosophy on page 99

Now available on Kindle.
Click for details.

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

  Anne's Services

  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.

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  Healthy Living

Eat More Greens

We need those greens. How can you eat more greens?

Take sunflower sprouts, one apple, and apple juice and process them with an immersion blender, food processor, or blender. You'll get a wonderful tasting drink and it is a quick way to drink your greens.

Kale is also easy to cook because it only takes a few minutes to cook. Try some cooked quinoa penne pasta with two cups of cooked kale. Throw in a few nuts and tomato chunks, season with tamari sauce, and you have an easy meal in one.

Try kale chips. You can also make cabbage chips. Here's a how to video.

Try some spirulina. It's powered algae. You can get it at Whole Foods. Add it to anything you drink. I use apple and cranberry juice, half and half, and one heaping teaspoon of spirulina. It's loaded with B vitamins and rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, carotenoids, and antioxidants. Buy organic from a trusted source since it can absorb heavy metals and pesticides when growing.

And the obvious source for greens is a salad. I try to eat at least one salad a day. It provides fiber and all sorts of nutritional goodies.

Broccoli only takes a few minutes to cook, as does cabbage. Greens are so quick and easy to cook that they are perfect if you don't have much time.

You don't have to spend hours in the kitchen to get your greens. Just take a few minutes and you will find that greens are the healthiest food you can eat and they support healthier living. Life is always easier when you are healthy.

  What is EZosophy?

Click the graphic above to find out.

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Editor/Publisher: Charles David Heineke of TheDoorway.org.