A Note From Anne

Dear ,

I've just been through one of the physically demanding times of my life. Did I climb Mount Everest? Did I do a triathlon? Did I swim the English Channel? No, I spent 10 days helping my daughter with her new twin boys. Nothing prepared me for the wonderment of holding and feeding them or the warmth I felt when they made cute little faces or the amount of energy it takes to keep two little kids alive!

The week before I was in Charleston with mom, dad, and the boys, I attended a convention on science and consciousness. I heard scientists who work in the areas of ESP, near death experiences, and quantum physics talk about love, awareness, and creativity. These scientists question the scientific materialism that turns matter into objects and separates them from their source.

How refreshing to hear scientists who consider the whole picture, not just the things that are currently quantifiable. One scientist did, however, mention that there is more conclusive research on ESP than there is on a lot of medicine that goes on the market. To think that ESP is not real would be a big mistake and to not meditate would be stupid. That's the latest scoop from some amazing scientists.

Hope you are making your life EZier and EZier.

Anne

  The Story Behind Our Stories

There’s a line in an old Christian hymn that says, “I love to tell the story.” Those lyrics, along with the melody, often run through my mind, especially when I’m observing the way my mind spins a situation. We all have favorite stories. Some stories are inspirational and some are desperational. We tell stories about suffering, we relay our painful moments, and we display our righteous indignation through our stories. We lift up ourselves and others with our stories and at times we create the appearance of a hazardous world. The unexamined life operates from erroneous beliefs that color all our stories.

The EZosophy philosophy is a way of practical living that challenges us to give up the stories based on the idea that life is always hard. Life has its ups and downs, but our culture has a collective belief that life and everything in it is always hard. We use our stories to sanction and continue the belief that life is hard. Our minds criminalize life and tell tales of woe. This behavior is so popular we rarely notice it.

EZosophy is not a philosophy of denial; it is a philosophy of liberation. The following stories talk about the same shirt. Notice how each story affects you and see if there’s one story that you prefer.

Story One – My husband has an awful bright orange tee shirt. It has large white letters on the front that spell “Bearkat Tennis.” He bought it for two dollars from Goodwill more than four years ago. I cringe when I see the shirt. He has it on today and I find myself thinking about the life of the shirt. He wore it on our trip to Colorado three years ago. That’s why our Christmas picture that year features my orange shirt clad husband and me smiling, standing before a snowy embankment.

People would walk up to him and ask him where he played tennis, and he would reply that he had never played tennis, “I purchased the shirt at Goodwill for two bucks.” I felt embarrassed when he responded. He seems to think it's a badge of courage to dress outside the norm. Can’t he just be like the well-dressed southern boys I grew up with in Greenville, N.C.?

Story Two – My husband has this well-worn bright orange tee shirt. I thought he loved it, but I’ve found he just wears the shirt on the top of his clean shirt pile. When I tire of a particular shirt, all I have to do is arrange the order of his clean shirts. That’s why his two dollar Goodwill purchased Cancun shirt and Carnival Cruise shirt rest comfortably on the bottom of the pile. The other day I ran across the “Bearkat Tennis” orange shirt. It was on the bottom of the pile. Out of curiosity, I put it on top, and when I returned from my Charleston trip, I was greeted at the airport with my husband in his bright orange tee shirt. Yep, my shirt placement theory is definitely correct. Frankly I don’t care for the shirt, but I am happy that my husband feels comfortable with himself regardless of what he’s wearing and that he doesn’t fret over his wardrobe. When we are going out, he frequently asks my advice on different clothing matters, but one would never hear him say, “I have nothing to wear.”

We are leaving this week for Colorado. As much as I value my husband’s clothing independence, the Bearkat tee shirt will either be conveniently dirty or at the bottom of his clothing pile. He will never notice and everyone will be happy. I really don’t want another set of pictures with him in that bright orange short.

It should be easy to spot the Hardaholic story. Both stories come from such a different space. In the first story I seem like the victim of his wardrobe. This story is a drama. The EZosophy tale, however, conveys that I may not like his orange shirt, but the situation won’t affect my mood or my life. While we affect others with our stories, it is ourselves who bear their impact. Our stories are alive in us and we thrive on the reruns.

What kind of stories do you tell? What reruns do you listen to? Stories should defer to the intimate and unanalyzed perception of reality, but our minds thrive on stories. Given that mental propensity, you are invited to be a true EZosophist. Forget the stories that cast you as the trod upon recipient of life’s miseries. Even if you go through a tough time, recounting it frequently re-traumatizes you. It’s good to share our pain with others on a limited basis, but when we rerun the stories of misery, we bring the law of attraction into effect. And who wants to attract pain? Isn’t it great that we have awakened to the ego’s tricks and that we can live EZier lives? Yep, we are waking up, and that makes our lives EZier and EZier.

Anne

  Quotes

"Everything will be alright in the end, so if it is not alright, it is not the end."
– Deborah Moggach, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

"If we hold court with irritation about the small things in life, the universe is sure to hand us bigger and more challenging experiences."
– Anne Sermons Gillis

"We don’t attach to people or to things; we attach to uninvestigated concepts that we believe to be true in the moment."
– Byron Katie Quotes from Loving What Is

  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.

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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.

Wed. & Fri. Sept. 17 & 19, 2014
10:00 AM-Noon, “Synchronicity”
Lone Star College ALL Program
Montgomery Campus
3200 College Park Drive
Conroe, TX 77384-4500
936-273-7000

Wed. & Fri. Sept. 24 & 26, 2014
1:00-3:00 PM, “Alive, Awake, Aware”
Lone Star College ALL Program
Kingwood Campus
20000 Kingwood Drive
Kingwood, TX 77339-3801
281-312-1600

Wed. & Fri. Oct. 29 & 31, 2014
1:00-3:00 PM, “EZosophy”
Lone Star College ALL Program
Kingwood Campus
20000 Kingwood Drive
Kingwood, TX 77339-3801
281-312-1600

  Healthy Living

Drink Warm Water

It wasn't that long ago that I wrote about drinking room temperature water. Recently someone asked me if it was good to drink warm water. I was stumped; I didn't have a clue.

[Note: You can find that room temperature water article in the first article of the March 19, 2013 issue of Anne's newsletter archives.]

It didn't take much research to find that drinking warm water is a great idea, especially if you feel yourself catching a cold or getting a sore throat. Drinking warm water with honey and lemon helps with decongestion, and even drinking warm water alone helps us when we are getting sick. Drinking warm water keeps us hydrated, soothes the throat, and helps break up congestion.

Drinking warm water can help prevent premature aging because it flushes out toxins and it even improves circulation. Think it's too hot to drink hot water? Think again. Drinking hot water will cool you down faster than drinking cold water!

Some say warm water is the greatest medicine. I'm sold. More warm water for me.

Do you remember the deodorant recipe I gave a few weeks ago? I made it and I've been using it. One application holds me for three days. It's nifty stuff and very inexpensive to make.

[Note: You can find that deodorant recipe article in the Healthy Living section of the July 1, 2014 issue of Anne's newsletter archives.]

  Anne Talks

Fifty Feet. Short one minute video. Move pointer to the right to display the video player and press the Play button.

  Anne Art

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

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