Anne's Note shares about The Power of Staying Present. The Main article, Suffering, provides ways to help us focus on the beauty of the present instead of suffering over the past or the future. The Healthy Living article, Tahini Candy, provides a recipe for a delicious sweet dessert. The Anne Talk, Fifty Feet, asks us what we're doing with our Fifty Feet of influence. The Featured Product this month is Anne's book, Standing in the Dark.

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

Living EZosophy, April 12, 2016
Published Weekly on Tuesday Mornings

Phone: 281-419-1775
Email: anne@annegillis.com

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  A Note From Anne

Dear ,

This weekend I attended a Gerry Robert workshop. Gerry is an author, speaker, and the consummate salesperson. He teaches authors, speakers, and wannabes how to parlay their skills into money. He gives his content away, but it pays off in the high fees he charges to help people realize their dreams.

Watching Gerry perform, and he’s quite an actor, it was clear he is not in it for the money. When you have more than enough money, getting more money often loses its attraction. Gerry has plenty of money, he’s older now and could retire, but he’s still out there. What is his motivation? He enjoys what he’s doing and he’s good at it. He’s not only good at what he does, he’s one of the best in the world. My friend, Shanthi, heard him in Malaysia more than 30 years ago, confirming that he’s made it his life’s work to share his knowledge, have fun, and help others for a long time.

While his pay to play program is not for me at this point in my life, he provided valuable information I can use in my business. He gives a lot; he gets a lot. It is refreshing to see someone firmly planted in his dream. He is living the dream he once wanted to come true.

How would it be if I focused everything I had toward staying present? How would it be if I were riveted toward compassion, or kindness, or joy? What do I really want and what am I doing right now to get there? While these questions sound like action questions, they are really realization questions, because the only power any of those qualities have is in the present. These are the questions that come up when I see such dedication and focus and I’ll pass them on to you. What do you really want and what are you doing to realize your desires in this moment? These questions are asked with the motive of calling the mind from racing to that of stillness and to invite you to be present. Did it work?

Anne

  Suffering

Do you ever feel like there's something missing and that life holds a secret formula you have yet to find? If so, you are not alone. Songs are written about this missing feeling, this yearning - this longing. Some go on quests to solve the mystery of what is missing, some replace spouses, and others go to therapists.

We think something is missing and it is! Now is missing. We are missing the present. We live in a mental dialogue that separates the mind and creates a story of the past and future. The story is woven into the Story of Me and off the mind goes, drunk with words and fantasies that rival the cleverest SciFi book ever written. We have a personal Me Maker whose job it is to keep us tied to the story of me and keep us away from the present. The story of me replaces reality, and everything one encounters is filtered through the story of me. Nothing occurs without my opinion of how it affects me; therefore, everything one sees is about me, not about what is really happening. One of the best ways to keep the story going is through ego driven suffering.

One aspect of this suffering consists of the thoughts we create, think, and rethink about events, happenings, and circumstances. The story consists of grudges and "what if's" and is firmly rooted in fear. While there are terrible happenings that occur in the world, most of them don't happen to us. We stand as voyeurs to others' dilemmas and react with an outrage that holds our minds captive to a dramatic story. We use these stories to justify closing our hearts and staying separate from life itself.

The other aspect of egoic driven suffering is subtle. It is based on inside stories we don't even know exist. They reside in the subconscious mind. The stories go like this, "I'm not okay, life is not okay, no one else is okay, nothing is okay." These hidden beliefs define our search. We search for that which is okay, while believing that okay-ness in any form is nonexistent.

While it seems impossible to move from the stories we tell in our inner and outer worlds and the story of me drama, it is not as difficult as we might think. There is an emerging stream of consciousness that carries us with it. It's like an updraft that supports us and makes it easier for us to drop our stories and to show up in the present. There is a tenderness that surrounds us. It brings forth tears when we need them and delivers a hug through familiar and cherished arms. It walks with us when we are strong and carries us when we falter. Like a wave that is not separate from the ocean, this power claims us as its own.

We are trained to identify with the personality and to tell and retell the story of me, but what if we look away from ourselves and toward the present moment? What would we find? We would find something we can't control. We would find life itself, rather than the filters we’ve been looking through. We would find our real selves and step into a reality so beautiful that we would worship at the altar of life.

While it might seem hard to make changes in the way we view life, it is possible. The only time we have to manage is the present. We don't have to take now classes and there's no waiting involved. We are called to respond to the longing inside. We are called to find the missing link. This calling pulls us present to witness life as it is, not to invent it in our minds.

Try these three things often throughout your day to help you stay present in time.

• Notice your breath. When you become aware of your breath, you automatically want to take a deeper breath. The noticing brings your awareness to attention.
• Write the following on a small piece of paper. "I am here now. Life is as it should be. I let go." Put this in your pocket or in your purse. Refer to it frequently during the day. Just touching the paper can be calming. Write a new, similar phase every day and keep it in your pocket. For example, "I am calm and centered in the present." Or "I am safe, free, and fully present." Save all the notes. When you get 30 notes, you can just randomly pick one each day to carry. This action helps you stay present.
• Buy or make some rosemary oil. Place it on a cotton ball. Keep it close and sniff it during the day. This action brings one to the present and helps with focus. Rosemary is a nerve tonic and lifts your spirits.

We are so used to living with ego driven suffering that we need activities such as those above to move us into awareness and into presence. Take the time to keep your mind present, and when you do, you will find that your life is EZier and EZier.

Anne

  Quotes

"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong."
— Abraham Lincoln

"Is suffering really necessary? Yes and no. If you had not suffered as you have, there would be no depths to you as a human being – no humility, no compassion. You would not be listening (reading) this now. Suffering cracks opens the shell of the ego. And then comes a point where it has served its purpose."
 — Nirmala

"Suffering is necessary until you realize it is unnecessary."
— Eckhart Tolle

"The only permanent solution to your problems is to go inside and let go of the part of you that seems to have so many problems with reality."
— Michael A. Singer

  Featured Product This Month

  What is EZosophy?

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  Healthy Living

Tahini Candy

It is almost impossible to avoid sugar. Who doesn't love the vast assortments of sweets available. Think tiramisu, eclairs, Ben and Jerry's. Sugar hasn't always been readily available. Sugar was the first food to be rationed in the U.S. in 1942. Sugar imports dwindled by 1/3, and in order to prevent hoarding, the Office of Price Administration issued 123 million copies of War Ration Book One. People could only purchase sugar legally with a ration coupon. Sugar rationing continued until 1947, when sugar imports were back to normal. We have enough sugar now to bathe in – think sugar scrubs.

Everyone knows that sugar adds no nutritional value to our diet, and that it is even bad for our bodies, but we crave sweets anyway. Why, because sugar metabolizes like a drug. Sugar has the same effect on certain neural pathways that opium and heroin have. People can get withdrawal symptoms from cutting sugar from their diet. The average American consumes 137 pounds of sugar per year.

There is a better way. Some sweets do not affect the body like sugar. Diabetics have to pay attention to the glycemic index, but most of us can use natural sugars without negative side effects. I've been on a one-woman mission for 40 years to get people to eat healthier, more nutritious treats. The following sweet treat is scrumptious and healthy. It has that sweet – salty taste that candy makers everywhere are offering in today's market. It's easy to make and will satisfy any sweet craving.

Tahini Raw Dessert

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup coconut flour (I grind up coconut in a coffee grinder to make the flour)
• 1/4 cup coconut nectar, maple syrup, or agave
• Coarse sea salt

Mix in bowl. Put in tiny bowls, top with sea salt, and freeze. I put the bowls on a baking sheet and the whole assembly goes in the freezer. Take out when you are ready to eat. These have to stay in the freezer until you are ready to eat them or they get soupy. For variety, add carob or chocolate powder to taste.

  Anne Talks

Today's Anne Talk is Fifty Feet. What are you doing with your Fifty Feet? Time: 0:50.

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