Anne's Note speaks of celebrating the life force flowing through us. The main article invites us to do Hardaholic Checkup. Healthy Living talks about Timing and Focus can make our lives easier. The Anne Talk is her Intuition Teleseminar. The Featured Product this month is all of Anne's products.

The EZ Mantra: "Everything can be EZ or at least EZier." – Anne Sermons Gillis

  A Note From Anne

Dear ,

I’m headed to South Carolina tomorrow to see the twins. They are one year old this week. It seems like only a minute ago I received a call telling me I was a grandmother. The little ones spent two months in the hospital. Then, in the blink of an eye, they are crawling. When life explodes, it does so with such zest, whether it be in a flower, a supernova, a child, or in us.

Remember that regardless of what body part hurts, or what age our bodies might be, life is exploding through us and as us. Be aware of that life force. Celebrate it, feel it, and be alive, awake, and aware.

Anne

  Hardaholic Checkup

Many of you have attended my lectures or workshops and are familiar with the philosophy of ease. It’s called EZosophy. The opposite of an EZosophist is a Hardaholic. A Hardaholic makes life hard, suffers about it, and thinks life can never change. Even though we aspire to be EZosophists, hard-a-holism often creeps back into our lives.

It’s time for our annual Hardaholic checkup. Going for a physical is a preventive step. If anything in our bodies is diseased or degenerating, we can start the healing process before the illness becomes serious. Often a check up and early detection of a major physical problem can save our lives.

So it is with a Hardaholic check up. There are many benefits from early detection of problems in the mind.

Early detection of drama thoughts:

• Can prevent a major blowup in your relationship with yourself.
• Can save your relationship with another person.
• Can keep you from getting into a destructive relationship.
• Will assist you in giving up struggle and having an EZier life.

In your checkup we will look to see if you have any of the three following behaviors and offer suggestions on how to make your life EZier.

Behavior #1: A Hardaholic is hard on him/herself.

A Hardaholic beats herself up internally and is critical of self at every turn.

An enlightened Hardaholic is hard on herself when she is hard on herself. When she finds herself in the act of self-debasement, she responds something like this: "You are supposed to love yourself unconditionally. You are a failure. Remember the affirmation you have in your car, on the refrigerator, and on the bathroom mirror? When are you going to get it right? How can you do that to yourself? When are you going to stop criticizing yourself?"

Shaming yourself into loving yourself is not a workable solution. When you become aware of self-criticism and of criticizing yourself for criticizing yourself, immediately go into forgiveness. "I forgive you. Yes, you forgot that you are okay. I'm on your side. You are okay; you're learning; you’re growing."

Another option is to notice the criticism and let it go. Don’t get caught up in it. Observe, “Isn’t it interesting what my mind is doing with this?” Don’t make up a dramatic story about your shortcomings. Chill.

Behavior #2: An "enlightened" Hardaholic criticizes others when they are criticizing others.

"How can they do that? I've heard them talk about what they believe. That is so hypocritical. Of all people, you think they would have learned by now. Why, girl, they been on the path for twenty years. It's embarrassing to have people on the path behave like that. It gives spirituality a bad reputation. Why he is always talking about someone else?"

Notice that you are doing what they are doing, criticizing others. At this point you may want to make an emergency request to Essence: “Show me a better way of looking at this. I've noticed how upset I can get about my friend’s behavior. Keep me from attacking through gossip and help me to keep my mouth shut so that I will not feel guilty about this later. I am currently maxed out on guilt."

Essence responds to these kinds of authentic requests. You might feel immediately calmer, see a new way to look at the situation, or find yourself feeling more compassionate and accepting. Notice when you behave in the same manner as you accuse other people of doing, and apply compassion at every turn.

Behavior #3: A Hardaholic acts strong all the time and never confides in friends or family for help.

A Hardaholic rarely seeks help in a crisis, and, if he does, he spends the hour convincing the counselor how well he is doing. "Oh, you don't know how much better I am than I used to be. I have grown so much.” Yet he has just been left by the third woman in three years and is devastated.

To heal, you can't be strong all the time; you can’t take care of everyone except yourself. An EZosophist can create support through friends and family and ask for help during times of stress. Asking for help, on occasion, is different from always being in drama and talking about your problems so much that people want to avoid you. There is a balance, but if you are always hiding your problems, healing requires letting go of control, opening up, and allowing others to assist you.

Diagnosis: You have some of these three behaviors on occasion and have intermittent Hard Attacks.

Prescription: Please follow the above advice on alternative actions and reactions and you will find your life and your relationships getting EZier and EZier.

Anne

  Anne Art

Patchwork Art
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Spiral Anne Made in Woods near the Grand Canyon
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  Featured Product This Month

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  What is EZosophy?

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  Healthy Living

Timing and Focus

I’ve come up with many plans to trick myself into doing work I’ve put off, such as picking up clutter in my home. The kitchen island is the household catchall. No sooner do I clean it up, than something gets plopped down on it.

I tell myself I don’t have time to clean this thing or that. Writing, e-mails, or other tasks seem more important and time-demanding, but I’ve found that I always have ten minutes. I decide on a task, set the timer, very important, for ten minutes, and start cleaning the messy space as swiftly and efficiently as possible. I don’t do it with urgency, but with relaxed focus.

It’s magic. Either I quit after the ten minutes and have made a great deal of progress, and or I’m so into the task that I complete it after the timer goes off. Either way, I win, and I feel more in control and have a cleaner living space.

I give my closet a 5 minute spruce up. It’s not perfect, it’s not a deep clean and throw out session, but after my session I feel relaxed when I go into my closet, rather than overwhelmed.

I am pleased at how much I can get done in 5 or 10 minute intervals. Sometimes I set a timer for 30 minutes to work on my book. I can get a lot done in 30 minutes. There’s an old saying that 80% of the work gets done in 20% of the time. This may not be accurate, but it does point to the fact that when we actually do most tasks, they don’t take as much time as we anticipated, and when we focus on the task at hand, we can get it done in much less time.

However, that doesn’t hold true for every task. Computers go goofy, the vacuum won’t work, but it does hold true much of the time. Getting started and devoting just a few minutes a day to different tasks can revolutionize your life. This behavior can take you from overwhelm and deliver you into a sense of order and well-being.

Anne

  Anne Talks

This week's Anne Talk is Intuition Teleseminar with Anne Sermons Gillis. In it Anne gives tips on how to develop our inherent intuitive abilities and gives examples of ways we get intuitive guidance. Time: 43:07

  Quotes

Time

Sometimes time seems so big it just stretches out, giving me a forever feeling – it takes a noble stand behind me. What a spacious gift, a queen’s delight.

Sometimes time stands before me shrinking while issuing frantic demands; it runs away and gives itself to others, leaving me with toppling tasks and breathless beginnings. I get a pauper's gift, but never enough time for anything.

If I could seize the clock and make it give and never take, then I suppose I’d be awake. I’d live in now and not beyond. Time would not march; it would just sing along with me in perfect time.

© 2009 Anne Sermons Gillis

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