A Note From Anne

Dear ,

I spent Friday in noise nightmare. We are having our house painted, and our dog, Lucy, sourced an almost continuous nine hour bark. There were three workers, three ladders, and, regardless of which room I was in, it seems as if one of them was outside my window. Maybe we do come from monkeys.

I figured out three things. 1) I wasn’t going to get much work done; 2) I couldn’t control Lucy’s barking unless I rubbed her all day, which I was not willing to do; and 3) that, in general, I live with much more privacy and quietness than I had realized. Number three was actually an aha. It pointed to an unrecognized privilege I enjoy.

Life just doesn’t have a driver’s seat. It moves without letting me control it. I ate some watermelon, my second most favorite food, and drew a picture. That’s how I go with the flow, because fighting the flow is like trying to milk a parakeet; it just doesn’t make sense.

Anne

  Handling Life's Detours

I spent weekend before last in San Antonio. I attended the regional Theosophical conference. And while I enjoyed the speaker and met new friends, I didn’t enjoy the driving. It wasn’t the kind of driving where I was complaining about driving; it was the kind of driving where I felt like a nervous wreck.

Saturday night, driving alone, and Sunday morning were the worst. It was difficult for me to see on the freeway and I missed an exit. Sunday morning, I left early but arrived late because of a marathon and road construction, and my GPS did not know how to reroute me. Everywhere I went it kept trying to reroute me to a closed road. I stopped and asked directions twice and finally arrived at my destination. It took me 3 times longer than normal to get where I was going. I tried breathing, looking at things a different way, played the “What is the worst thing that could happen?” game. Nothing helped.

I still had more driving to do and then a trip to get home. It takes an hour to drive through metropolitan Houston to get to my home in The Woodlands. I needed a plan and I had one – radical acceptance of things the way they were. I started singing, “I am completely relaxed with being uptight. I’m probably wrong, but that is alright. I won’t be repressed about feeling so stressed while driving.” I sang self-acceptance affirmations on the rest of my trip. The singing helped me breathe more fully and the complete nonjudgmental acceptance of the way things were was helpful. It felt like I had a compassionate friend with me. The affirmations helped me feel okay about feeling out of control. It’s bad enough to feel unsafe, but to add self-criticism about not doing a better job exacerbates the situation. We’re not perfect and can’t always control how we feel, but we can always be kind spirited towards ourselves.

I think the eight word miracle mantra is perfect for every occasion. “Everything can be easy or at least easier.” I couldn’t make the driving easy, but I was able to make it easier.

  Quotes

"Life is in session."
  – Spoken by Jennifer Aniston in the 2010 movie The Switch

"We have earthquakes in our lives because we dwell on our faults."
  – Unknown

Notes from the past:
6/20/97: I started in Memphis, where I live, this morning, drove all day, and now I'm about 35 miles outside of Charleston, West Virginia. I'm contemplating the Now and a cargo truck passes with a big sign on back saying, "Delivering the future." I laugh, thinking, "As if they could do that." There's another big sign on the truck and it says Memphis, Tennessee. Just a small case of synchronicity.
  – Anne Sermons Gillis

  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.

  What is EZosophy?

Click the graphic above to find out.

  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.

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

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  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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  Anne's Schedule

All times here are Central Time.

Other Events for Your Consideration

Here are two upcoming spiritual events that may be of interest to you.

May 17-18, 2014
Awaken Houston Retreat Flyer

June 5-8, 2014
Co-Creators Convergence Conference, Year 2

  Healthy Living

Bike Riding

I’ve started attending a singing bowl meditation on Wednesdays. It’s relaxing and not too far from my house. We only have one car, so if Jim needs the car, I ride my bike to meditation. I like to wear a hat because the 90% humidity fries my white hair. The hat flies off when I cross the bridge, even when tied under my neck, because it’s really windy. My hair looks like a cotton ball or maybe a Q-tip when I arrive.

It takes less than 15 minutes by bike, and it’s a great way to travel. When I arrive at my destination, I always get a comment on how nice it is that I’ve ridden my bike.  To them it seems admirable, but for me, it’s my current mode of transportation. When my husband retired, we gave up one car. We tried it out and agreed if it didn’t work out we could get another car, but it worked out well. When one of us goes out of town, the other has to bike it, rent a car – which we’ve never had to do, or catch a ride with a friend. It’s not that we can’t afford two cars; it’s because we think it’s unnecessary. I don’t really want to afford two cars. I don’t put out co2 when I ride my bike, I pay no insurance or fuel costs, and it’s physically and emotionally healthy for me. That’s what I call healthy living – for me and for the planet.

  1st Time Grandmother

Born Free

I am a first time grandmother. The twin boys, Reynolds and Thomas, are here. They weighed in at 3.5 and 3 pounds, respectively. They are in the MICU, but  Mom, Elizabeth, is doing great. I am off to see them in Charleston, S.C. today.

  Anne Talks

Click to watch Anne being interviewed by Noel Marshall and Bob Warner. (85:09).

Click for larger image

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