Anne's Note, The Anne Report, gives you the lowdown on Anne’s week. In the Main article, Handling Life, Anne shares more ways to make life's activities EZier to handle. The Healthy Living article, The Three Biggies, provides a simple owner's manual for living in a body. In the Anne Talk, Words Make A Difference, Keith Anthony Blanchard interviews Anne about her new book, Words Make A Difference. The Featured Product this month is Anne's newest book, Words Make a Difference.

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

Living EZosophy, September 27, 2016
Published Weekly on Tuesday Mornings

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

Anne's Websites:

  A Note From Anne

The Anne Report

Dear ,

We bought a truck and now our days are supplemented with fervent perusal of online RV ads. We had a few minor repairs on the truck and we are fixing a few blemishes and hopefully we will soon join the ranks of the older generation of RV-ers. My husband Jim grins widely throughout the day. We haven’t had two vehicles in years. It will be nice, when I go out of town, that he has transportation other than his bicycle. Cycling works pretty well, except when it’s raining or 113 degrees outside.

Some people seem delighted when we tell them our house has not sold, while others are sympathetic of our inability to sell. Our home is still on the market. Since we are getting no showings, it feels like it’s off the market.

Work continues on our neighbors’ homes that flooded. Some neighbors live upstairs as the downstairs work is completed and others live in rental homes. The hole in the road that runs by our home was repaired last week, months after the flood. We pray for rain as the dry ground cries again for water.

The new, revised copies of my book EZosophy will come in this week and I am eager to see them.

That’s it this week for The Anne Report. Tune in next Tuesday.

Anne

  Main Article

Handling Life

Last week I wrote about our alternative life plan. Step one. We found a truck and bought it. We are the proud owners of a 2009 Chevy Avalanche. It has comfort, luxury, and functionality. While it is no longer a young truck, it has aged well. Step two. Find the right RV and buy it. My client told me she bought a used RV and the roof fell off it when she drove it on the road. Fortunately, I have two friends who purchased used RV’s that are very happy with their purchase. I think we can find something that works. As usual, I put in my order to the Powers-That-Be, but I’ve learned that I still must do my due diligence when making a purchase. Sometimes coincidences are wonderful and lead us the right way, but at other times, the first thing that appears, is not always the best choice.

Fall is finally arriving in The Woodlands, one degree at a time, yet last week we had feel-like temperatures into the 110’s. While some places have to consider frigid temperatures when it comes to doing outdoor activities, we have to consider whether we will pass out from heat exhaustion or not. This is reality in the deep south. I used to hear about older adults and the heat and I thought their comments were hyperbole, but it’s for real. The older I get, the better I was, because now extreme heat can and does get me down.

The things I mention are the practicalities of living in a body. Although we might be mystics and have experiences of amazing clarity, compassion, and expansion, we still have to be somewhat practical. I wrote Offbeat Prayers for the Modern Mystic to address the everyday situations we face in life, whether it is our relationship with our computer or the care we must take to not be codependent in our relationships. Our lives have to be maintained. Maybe you can identify with the following prayer.

Middle-of-the-Road Mystic

Lord, I’m not a tip-top mystic. I don’t do all the things I could do to make my life easier. I don’t play enough. Shucks, I hardly even know how to play. I knowingly hold unloving thoughts. I watch violence on television, and I know that is not good for me. I eat when I’m not even hungry.

Lord, isn’t there a life style for a middle-of-the-road mystic like me? I’m stuck in a human body and it’s very limited here. I don’t act like my divine self all the time. There are a lot of bizarre thoughts in my mind. I don’t seem to be able to pluck out all those unholy thoughts.

I’m just asking for a way of looking at things that would be human and divine. That divine part of me is simply divine, but that other part is not all that divine. That other part embarrasses me, but I don’t think it’s going away. I’m stuck in the middle, and I need a plan so that this human part can make it, ’cause I think it’s here to stay. Help me, God.

I need a good map, a strong hand, and sometimes a swift kick. Help me, God. I think I missed the high road and the low road has become all too familiar. Help me find my way. I’ve heard the path is straight and narrow, but mine seems to be filled with a lot of curves. Help me God, I’m a middle-of-the-road mystic. AMEN.

One of our missions on earth is to learn to live with the infinite and the finite. We have to be in this world but not of this world, yet we can’t pretend that the world doesn’t exist. We are sometimes expanded and generous, yet moments later we feel afraid and contracted. One day we are saints, but when someone makes a crass remark, we feel like a wounded child. It’s all a part of this adventure we call life. These extremes, that hurl us from humanness to divinity, are the ones we have to integrate so we can be fully functioning people. We are spirits in form, and even though the spirit part defines us, the human part provides a unique vantage point for spirit. To complete our mission on earth, we need a kick in the butt, a shoulder to cry on, self-trust, and a sense of humor. None of this is serious, and if we are somber and serious all the time, we have missed the point of life. We don’t need to be serious about our faults; we just need to set ourselves on course when we miss the mark. Life has demands, and when we meet them with common sense, without judgment and resentment, we always find that life can be EZier and EZier.

Anne

  Quotes

"Hostility and resentment are the number one risk factors in premature death. More than smoking and cholesterol."
-- Deepak Chopra

"You think who you are is not good enough. Try to be somebody else. Follow others’ leads. Be who your parents want you to be. How does that work out? It’s impossible. Your parents’ dreams are your nightmare if they are not in line with your essence. Everybody but you is already taken. Life offers each person a unique and personal invitation to be who they are. You are invited to be you. RSVP."
-- Anne Sermons Gillis

"The present moment contains gifts that fill the emptiness of the past."
-- Anne Sermons Gillis

  Featured Product This Month

Finally, a book of affirmations, action plans, and deep insights into the human consciousness that transforms and heals the soul, the local and global community, and the planet. Travel with Gillis on a journey through deep psychology, metaphysics, and nondualism.

We are responsible for a world that works for everyone and, as a collective assembly of souls, we cannot rest until greed no longer supersedes need. We cannot rest until greed no longer supersedes need. We are called to plant the seeds of blessing along the path to liberation. Revolutionary words call us to a world-wide renaissance of cooperation and community.

• Heal the most basic wounds of our human condition.
• Move beyond narcissism to compassion and justice.
• Become a Global Boom-Box.

You may order it from the website or call me at 713.922.0242 to order directly from me. The price is $16.95 plus $3.99 shipping. A Kindle version is available for $5.99.

Click here to order Words Make a Difference.

You can also download a Kindle version of Anne's new book, Words Make a Difference, on Amazon, for $5.99.

  What is EZosophy?

Click the graphic above to learn about EZosophy.

NOTE: If you are viewing this on a cell phone, be sure to scroll to the right to see the other column.

  Healthy Living

The Three Biggies

The main article covered our need to integrate our spirituality with the physical. This article focuses on the how to’s of the physical world. These are three biggies to life in a body. Get ready, spirit: you’re in a body now. Here are the instructions!

1. Learn how to subdue the mind. “It is important to set aside time each day for stilling the outer mind. This gives higher levels of mind an opportunity to reach personality consciousness. It also has the beneficial effect of stopping the buildup of the miscellaneous junk pile of useless mental furniture which prevents any true or clear thinking. When the outer mind is in a constant turmoil of activity, it might be likened to a room into which one continues to pile all kinds of furniture without thought as to its usefulness or appropriateness. It is as if a large and spacious room were filled with an assortment of furniture of every kind, with many small gadgets lying around in every conceivable place. Such a room, containing a disorderly conglomerate of things, is of little use for any purpose.” -- Jesse K. Crum
2. Heal our emotions. Emotions cloud how we see the world. When we have joyful emotions, life looks full of magic and promise. When we hold onto anger, resentment, fear, and sadness, the world looks menacing or unfriendly. It’s fine to feel these emotions and let them go, but when we harbor bad feelings, our lives are greatly affected. It is our job, as a human, to clear up the emotions that keep us spinning in hopelessness and desperation. Psychology Today offers “Ten Tips for Emotional Healing.”
3. Remember how to live in the present and then live with our awareness focused in the here and now. This is where the action is. We only need to handle the present moment. We can make plans for the future, in the present moment, but our job is to train our minds to be present. Mindfulness trains us to be present. Harvard Health Publications offers the benefits of mindfulness, along with techniques for this kind of awareness. This article offers more than enough information to start you on the journey to the present.

Being a human, in a body, requires intention, commitment, and action. We have to teach ourselves to cut away the extraneous, to be radically present, and how to handle the emotions that block us. We get carried away in the content of life. We fuss over our appearance, our to-do lists, and overlook the foundation of living. But when we master the three biggies of being in a body, we are freed to live the powerful lives we were created to live. Life is a miracle. Prepare yourself for heaven, because it stands before you, ready at every turn. Your mission, if you chose to accept it, is spelled out above.

Anne

  Anne Talks

Today's Anne Talk is Words Make A Difference. Keith Anthony Blanchard interviews Anne about her new book, Words Make A Difference. Time: 1:00:22. Here's a link to Anne's page on Keith's website.

  Anne Art

Click the image to see a larger view.

Click the image to see a larger view.

  Anne's Schedule

All times here are Central Time.

Saturday, October 1, 2016
10:00 AM, "Developing Your Intuition"
The Houston Lodge of the Theosophical Society
1525 Heights Blvd., Houston, TX 77008
Public invited.

Sunday, October 9, 2016
1:00 PM Workshop: Down With Ego Driven Suffering, Stress, and Strain
Lunch will be provided for participants after the service. Donations accepted.
Unity of Charleston
2535 Leeds Ave.
Charleston, SC 29405
Phone: 843-566-0600

Sunday, October 23, 2016
11 AM Service: "Living in Ease"
Carmel Temple
1208 Pennsylvania St.
South Houston, TX 77587
Phone: 713-944-0014

Sunday, October 30, 2016
10 AM Service
Unity of Brazosport
507 So. Brooks St. (Hwy 36)
Brazoria, TX 77422

  Call or Email Anne Now to Schedule
  Your Next Meeting with her.

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.