Here's Anne Sermons Gillis' 05/19/2015 newsletter, The EZ Secret: Tips on Living in EZ
Published: Tue, 05/19/15
Anne's Note reminds us that EZosophy deals with both negative and positive thinking. The main article, Kiss My Grits, shows how that life can still turn out well no matter how it got there. Healthy Living shows how we can Create a Good Day, regardless. The Anne Talk is her The Hardaholic Mantra. 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 |
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The
EZ Secret NewsletterLiving EZosophy, May 19, 2015
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In This Issue | |
In the Left Column: | In the Right Column: |
A Note From Anne | Healthy Living |
Kiss My Grits | Anne Talks |
Anne Art | Quotes |
Featured Product This Month | Anne's Schedule |
What is EZosophy | Schedule Anne |
Anne's Services |
Contact Information:
Phone: 281-419-1775
Email: anne@annegillis.com
Anne's Websites:
A Note From Anne
Dear ,
When we are cynical, jaded, and see the world as a hopeless cesspool of dishonesty and pain, positive thinking is an invaluable discovery. When the grin on our face is as permanent as a tattoo, it’s time to come out from under a rock and see things realistically. Positive thinking and negative thinking can, at times, be destructive to the heart. Each can be used as a cover-up for authentic living. When one is dehydrated, s/he needs to drink water, but s/he doesn’t need to drink two gallons of water. So it is with positive and negative thinking. A little salt and pepper go a long way, but either, when overused, can ruin our grits.
EZosophy is a philosophy that is big enough to house both the pleasure and pain of life without denying that either exists. While positive thinking is a spiritual stepping stone, it is not the place we are destined to land. We are called to a higher place which involves a panoply of actions and beliefs. The dirt holds the stone steady so we can move forward in our journey, but stopping to worship the stone will keep us stuck and yearning for more. Thank you for joining this journey called EZosophy. It is based on neither positive or negative thinking; it is based on recognizing and releasing the egoic thoughts and feelings and returning to the flow. And we all know by now, “There’s no business like flow business.”
Anne
Kiss My Grits
When I was young, I thought success and fame would lead to
fulfillment. I was so good at the getting game that I lived my
dreams and achieved my life goals by the time I was 25. Many
people hit bottom and are forced to find a better way, but I hit
top and found the world of power, a grand home, country club
membership, and travel were not the solutions they promised to be.
It was a time of great crisis. I was empty and miserable. Finally,
I surrendered. I couldn’t figure out how to make my life
meaningful and I couldn’t do anything to make things right. I just
gave up, and some part of my ego flat-lined long enough for me to
have an awakening. I lived in some kind of heaven on earth for
months.
In my naiveté, I thought my life would never be the same and that
heretofore every life experience would be underpinned by that
peace that passes understanding. Little did I realize that
experience was to give me insight into a mystical state of
consciousness that would see me through some of the toughest times
of my life.
I eventually got divorced; maybe that was the problem--an unhappy
marriage. I was shocked by the depth of my despair after my
divorce; my husband had been such a big part of my life. I
remarried on the rebound with tears that were still wet on my
face. My small nest egg was swiftly depleted by a less than
honorable second husband. I found that not having enough money to
meet life’s demands was even more frightening than the emptiness I
experienced when I had plenty of money.
The man I married was a compulsive liar. He lied about little
things and I could never figure out whether I was standing on the
ground or in quicksand. I couldn’t believe he would lie to me. He
was such a master at weaving fact and fantasy, that I couldn’t
tell the difference. I began to doubt reality, because I was
desperate to believe his lies. I made myself wrong in order to
make him right. I almost went crazy. I ran the numbers and figured
that if I really went crazy, it would be so expensive, I might
never get out of the hole. Finally, in a fit of sanity and
self-preservation, I divorced him.
Then came many years of life experience, relationships, travel, a
thirst for spiritual truth, and a journey that continues. I’ve
done more in my life and with my life than I ever expected to do.
I look back and can’t believe the experiences I’ve had and that I
have touched the face of love again and again. Life has become a
friend that holds my hand and comforts me.
Waking up was not a guarantee of a perfect life; it was the door
that opened the understanding not to take life so personally.
Tragic events come and go, wonder and happiness come and go, but
all these events were external to me because who and what I am
cannot be defined by events. Events are the toys on the playground
of life, but they are not life itself. This insight was not
apparent at the time. I had to grow into it. And grow I did.
This was my life, and what I’m sharing is not a prescription for
anyone’s life. I just want to mention that life was not what I
planned it to be, it was not what I expected it to be, but through
some twist of fate, it was and is better than my expectations.
Events in life are not life itself, and the more I’ve come to
understand that, the easier it’s been to appreciate the magnitude
and fortune of my life. There’s an old saying, “Enlightenment is
just a recognition, not a change at all.” And as I’ve recognized
what is really present, I find myself at the starting place of my
journey. The difficult and joyful events in life were stepping
stones that took me back home. They were the grit in my "grail"
and the thread in my life’s tapestry. The grit is still here, but
I don’t have to sweep it under the carpet anymore. I can add it to
my garden and it will soon support a flower or tree. I guess you
could say I’ve learned to “kiss my grits,” and, as Robert Frost
would say, and that has made all the difference.
Anne
Anne Art
Expression is to key to personal art, not talent. I like art as an expression. Art to me is also play, and it is relaxing to create pictures with no need to make them great or perfect. Adults get too serious about art and often don’t participate because they have judgments about the end product. My doodles and dabbles are not serious. They are just fun things to do.
Flower-Pink
Click image for a larger view.
Two Trees
Click image for a larger view.
Featured Product This Month
Click graphic above to learn about Anne's Products.
What is EZosophy?
Click the graphic above to learn more.
NOTE: If you are viewing this on a cell phone, be sure to scroll to the right to see the other column.
Healthy Living
Create a Good Day
Want to have a good day today? You can do it. Start with this thought, “Today, regardless of the situation, I will not get irritated, upset, or have a Hard Attack.” Sometimes it takes an intention like this to turn us from our familiar and habitual mind traps. Much of our struggle is almost imperceptible; we suffer just enough to keep down our enthusiasm, spontaneity, and creativity. You can tell when you are having a Hard Attack by the tell tale Hardaholic mantra. Watch an example of a "Hard Attack" in the Anne Talks video below.
So, just for today, set your intention to have a good day. Give
up your hard attacks, do away with those sighs of struggle, and
you will not only have an easier day, you will open the door to
healthier living. And if you like how your intentional day went,
you may want to create another good day tomorrow.
Anne
Anne Talks
This week's Anne Talk is The Hardaholic Mantra. In it Anne demonstrates an example of someone using "The Hardaholic Mantra." Remember, life can be EZier than this. Time: 1:06
Quotes
It's high time for you
to claim the rewards
that were promised you
at the beginning of time:
not just any old
beauty
wisdom
goodness
love
freedom
and justice
but rather
wild beauty
that excites your curiosity
crazy wisdom
that makes you allergic to dogma
outrageous goodness
that drives you to perform
heroic acts of lusty compassion
insurrectionary love
that endlessly transforms you
ingenious freedom
that is never permanent
but must be reinvented
and reclaimed every day
and a totally-serious-yet-always-laughing justice
that schemes and dreams
about how to diminish the suffering
and increase the joy
of every sentient being.
-- Rob Brezsny
Anne's ScheduleAll
times
here are Central Time. To be announced Schedule AnneAnne is available to speak at your Sunday Service, lead
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