Anne's Note, The Choice of EZ, tells of her experiences last weekend in Nacogdoches, TX. The Main article, Finding Joy in Your Spiritual Journey, shows us the delight that can be found in walking our spiritual journey. The Healthy Living article, Raw Apple Pie, is an easy recipe for this unusual apple pie. The Anne Talk, Five Minute Mental Break, is an EZ way to take a quick mini vacation. The Featured Product this month is Anne's new reprint of EZosophy: The Art and Wisdom of Easy or At Least Easier Living.

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

Living EZosophy, November 8, 2016
Published Weekly on Tuesday Mornings

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

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  A Note From Anne

The Choice of EZ

Dear ,

I spent the weekend in Nacogdoches, TX. The town claims to be the oldest town on Texas. It is quaint and full of celebrations and historical sites. My friend, Mary, her mom, and I attended the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival. I played outside with Mary’s 4-year-old grandnephew and was sad to learn that he could outrun me! We watched the Texas A&M game on the telly, but I wasn’t up to going to the annual duck races! Too much for me, and no, they don’t use real ducks. Think yellow rubber duckies. We also attended the Stephen F. Austin homecoming parade in the short time I was in town, accompanied by three other family members.

   
Two Dia de los Muertos Parade Participants

I watched the parade, lost in memories of my school years. Marching bands, floats, cheerleaders, the home coming court, majorettes, fire trucks with jammed students, and vintage autos, walked and rode by. It stirred something within. I sensed the freshness of youth as they strode by, wearing the scent of invincibility. Soon enough they will learn to handle cynicism, hopelessness, and sudden, unexpected changes in their lives. The way they handle these cultural tidbits will determine whether they stand tall in life or shrink down into a seemingly normal life of resignation and blandness. Will they rise or will they fall?

I wish I could take each one and fill them with my experiences so that they could avoid some of the pitfalls of growing up in the western world, but it’s up to them to decide once again whether they will make life harder than it is or if they will tune out the drama and tune in to the EZ of life.

Fortunately, as adults, if we have chosen the life of suffering about things that don’t directly impact us or that are non-existent, we can choose again. We can lay down our psychologically invented instruments of oppression because, when we do, everything is EZier and EZier.

Until next week,

Anne

  Main Article

Finding Joy in Your Spiritual Journey

When I first dived into my personal psychology, I was convinced there were memories, held in my subconscious, that would reveal why my life was the way it was. I was afraid the uncovering of those memories might expose terrifying material. There must be some missing link, something bad inside. As I poked and prodded into my delicate mental constructs, I found questionable material, but the bad things I found were life-denying thoughts and beliefs, not repressed memories.

I took this in stride. If thoughts were my problem, I would find the one thought that held my angst in place and heal that thought. This massive undertaking was sure to open my life in new and powerful ways. While my idea had some merit, the hunt to find that thought did not work out as I imagined. There was no key, no one thought to fix; there was a wide assortment, but I discovered that the search itself bore fruit. The process was the answer, not the hidden thoughts. In my quest, I learned to vigilantly watch my thoughts without judgement. I added powerful words of affirmation along the way as I trained my mind to be still and ultimately found my mind moving in more expansive, compassionate directions.

We must undergo this healing journey, even if we start out in the wrong direction. We cannot remain like sleepwalkers on the sidelines of our lives, and we cannot remain unresponsive to our true selves. If we believe something is missing, we need to look for it, even if it is not really missing. When we undertake this quest, we become the knights in shining armor in our lives. We save ourselves by giving up the images of our false self and emerging as the spirits that we are. It is a long journey, and it can be filled with disillusionment, but as we awaken, somewhere along the way, it becomes a joy-filled journey.

• We discover that the only thing wrong in our lives was the belief that there was something wrong in our lives. Simply stated, we believed in wrongness, not in truth.
• We find that the kingdom is within: the kingdom of kindness is within, the kingdom of compassion is within, and the kingdom of love is within, and it is here we must go. This is the place for the journey.
• We realize that what we say about others shows what we believe about ourselves. When we dwell in kindness, we speak kind words about others. When we dwell in peace, we speak peaceful thoughts. When we dwell in fear, we dwell on others’ faults, put them down, and develop a revulsion toward life.
• We find that we don’t have to earn our space on earth. We don’t have to earn worthiness. We don’t have to deserve anything. We are called to appreciate who we are and to know that who we are is untouched by any action from our past. We don’t have to work to be a better person: we only must work to undo the belief that we are bad people.
• We find that being present erases the past and that now is our point of power.
• We move from narcissism to service.

The spiritual journey is the most satisfying journey we can take. It takes us on inner adventures and delivers us back to the world as gentle and generous people. People sing songs about the journey, write poetry about it, call to God (The Universe) for directions along the path, and some even curse it, but what we learn is that when we follow the call of the journey of the self, everything eventually becomes EZier and EZier.

Anne

  Quotes

"Underneath all the stress and distress and sadness in life is a deep well of joy, and every time laughter bubbles up from this deep well, we experience deep wellness."
-- Swami Beyondananda

"Are you missing in action (MIA)? Is your life a flurry of activity? You do a lot but you are never present? Always on to the next thing? You define yourself through your accomplishments or how much you did today? It’s time to be present (PIA). Present in Awareness. Present in Action. One can still accomplish their tasks, but when we don’t show up for any part of our lives, we feel homeless. Being present is going home."
-- Anne Sermons Gillis

"Enlightenment occurs when one realizes s/he already has what s/he is seeking and that s/he already is what s/he is trying to be."
-- Anne Sermons Gillis

  Featured Product This Month

At last, the reprint of EZosophy: The art of EZ or at Least EZier Living, is out. If you've been wanting an EZier life, this book provides a clear path toward EZ.

EZosophy:The Art and Wisdom of Easy or At Least Easier Living is a simple philosophy that radically changes lives. It is a book for the spiritually-based reader who no longer values the ego driven struggle of contemporary life.

EZosophy will help readers:

• Give up Hard Attacks. Hardaholic no more.
• Drop the drama.
• Make your life EZier. Ease is not indolence. Rather, ease is the art of accomplishment without struggle.
• Learn to identify ego driven suffering (EDS).

  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

Raw Apple Pie

My friend, who is nearing 80 and looks wonderful, has the best memory of anyone I know, and is in excellent health. He has been a vegan for more than 60 years. He recommends we eat 80% of our food raw. While that might not be practical for most people, there are many ways we can add raw food to our diet that are enjoyable, such as a raw apple pie.

I’m not sure where I got this recipe, so apologies to its originator, but if you are an apple lover, here’s one for you.

Raw Apple Pie

Crust
1.5 cups shredded coconut
1.5 cups pecans
0.5 cups pitted dates (cut them up in small pieces)
0.5 teaspoon salt

In a food processor, combine the coconut, nuts, and salt. Process until fine. Add the dates and process until a dough is formed. Press the dough into a 9″ pie plate or tart dish.

Filling
6 cups peeled and chopped apples
Juice from half a lemon
1 cup of pitted, soaked, and drained dates
2 heaped teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Combine two cups of the apples in food processor along with the rest of the ingredients. Blend well and pour the mixture over the remaining apples. Mix well. Pour the apple mixture into the pie crust. Refrigerate for an hour or longer.

This is a pricy pie to make, but since it’s apple season, and the holidays are upcoming, you might want to treat yourself. Go organic with your apples. According to the Environmental Working Group, apples are at the top of the list of foods that are heavily poisoned with pesticides. They make the dirty dozen list.

Apples also make the healthiest food list, so incorporating them into our diet, especially when eaten raw, is a great dietary choice. Although eating healthy can be expensive, health is wealth. So if we must skip a movie, cut the cable bill, forego those sandals, it’s worth it because investing in our health is the best investment we will ever make.

Anne

  Anne Talks

Five Minute Mental Break

Today's Anne Talk, Five Minute Mental Break, is an EZ way to take a quick mini vacation. Time: 6:02.

  Anne Art

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