Anne's Note today is Paradox. The Main article, ­How to Have a Great Relationship, reminds us that our internal relationship precedes all external relationships. The Healthy Living article, Energy, provides insight into what energy is and how to get and maintain it. Today's Anne Talk, Lost in LA, is an example of Anne experiencing her life in the moment, in real time. The Featured Product this month is Anne's new reprint of EZosophy: The Art and Wisdom of Easy or At Least Easier Living. Click here to learn about Anne's newest book.

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

Living EZosophy, December 6, 2016
Published Weekly on Tuesday Mornings

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

Anne's Websites:

  A Note From Anne

Paradox

Dear ,

Some of the articles, quotes, and suggestions in the newsletter may seem to contradict each other. It's not because one idea or concept is right and the other one is wrong; it's because the concepts are offered for different levels of consciousness. There is an immanent presence of Love (God, Good, etc.), and when we live in the physical, mental, emotional worlds, we need different information than when we operate from transcendent level consciousness.

The local level offers us practical advice and the transcendent level operates from a deep sense of wisdom. If I habitually overeat, I might need a kick in the butt, to keep myself from harming my body, but at the transcendent level, love consistently presents itself as compassion and does not offer how to's on food. One level of consciousness might say, "You are unconditionally loved, addictions and all," while the more human aspect of ourselves might say, "You're killing yourself; you need help."

On a personal note, we have taken our house off the market. We no longer want to clean up and vacate the house at inopportune times. While we don't know what's ahead and how our lives will route themselves, we do know that there is a Power that does know and we can rest in that assurance. I think life is a win-win situation and that no circumstance can stand in the way of our good. You may remember I call that the Supreme Okayness, and I am certain that it is always present and that it makes our lives EZier and EZier. Go figure. Life is good even when we are not paying attention! Just because we thrive on drama doesn't mean that our good has evaporated. It's always with us, and when we can't see it, we are looking the wrong way.

Happy holy days,

Anne

  Main Article

­How to Have a Great Relationship

Have you experienced disappointment in any of your relationships? I certainly have, and on more than one occasion. Given the demands we place on relationships, pain and suffering are inevitable. We get into relationships to gain something or to benefit, only to find that relationships can't offer a permanent fix to our hungry souls.

Frequently, there's an inner desperation, one that we don't know we have, that slithers its way into our primary love relationship. We go into a relationship during our finest hour, only to lose our brilliance once the clock strikes 12. We put on a show for about six weeks, then revert to our self-centered, got-to-get-more of something mode, must have a better version of something, or a different version of something from this relationship. We try to get our partner to change, to fit our model of how things should be, and if the relationship endures, we go to work on it. We accentuate the pain as the pleasure recedes beyond our reach.

Relationships do not work when they are applied as a bandage to life. They can only add richness when we are already full. Relationships  are the dessert of life; they can never be the main course.

How do relationships get this way? What makes relationship failure a pandemic disease? Hold on to your ego; the following might be distressful. We suffer because we foster multiple relationship illusions. We take the Daffy Duck approach with our significant others. Remember Daffy? He was one of the first animated characters that showed up and acted like a screwball! When we believe the following ideas, we get screwball results:

• We must belong to be happy.
• We must have a mate to be a success as a person.
• Getting married brings safety and a sense of belonging.
• Someone must love us or we can't be happy.
• We cannot be happy without a significant other.
• Single people are sad and to be pitied.
• People will stay, and if they don't, we have the right to feel abandoned. (Maybe they will stay, but not all the time. They divorce us, die, and emotionally check out.)
• The romance lasts forever. The chills and thrills are required, and if they are gone, something is wrong.

We experience a diminished interest in our relationship when we see our beloved cannot fill enough soul holes. Once we see the illusion, that relationships will not fulfill our fantasies on a permanent basis, we try to find another way to realize our illusions. Maybe we go on to the next partner. We might have an affair. We may emotionally block out our partner and pursue other means of fulfillment, such as work or a hobby.

Hopefully at some point we figure it out. We've been looking for love in all the wrong places. We have been looking at love in false concepts and beliefs. We place our salvation (happiness) in the hands of another person. This is the worst place to put it. Our happiness and well-being belong to us, not to others.

When we get to the end of the relationship road, it's time to go where fulfillment lies, and, if we are sensible, we will start that inner journey. It seems simple, but few people are willing to give up delusional thinking. The mind believes that without this self-defining thinking, it (the mind) would be left in an endless void. The mind cannot deal with the angst of losing its limiting concepts. These limiting concepts define our minds and what we believe to be our selves.

When wisdom dawns, we find that the mind exists only as the concepts it holds. The mind as we know it consists of limited viewpoints, memories, and future projects. Emotions work symbiotically with mind to create the entity we call ourselves. We further limit this self-constructed entity by believing that it is a body. Even though bodies and complex belief systems give us a point of reference for reality, they are merely a limited viewpoint. The less we identify with the mind and body, as who we are, the freer we become and the more we experience reality as it is. The experience of reality is different than the second-hand version we define and refine to fit our beliefs.

There's an old tale whose point illustrates our unwillingness to look inside for our divinity. We prefer our souped up version of reality. Our version of life is exciting and full of purpose, even if the purpose is only to get out of the dramatic situations we create! What we fail to see is that our divinity is our identity, and until we know this and live from our divinity, our relationships are doomed.

So rather than studying relationship techniques and trying to get our significant others to give us what we need, we would be better served to spend our time practicing the Presence. Home work is the practice that teaches school children certain skills. We take time to practice the guitar. People take golf lessons and play round after round of golf. The more practice one gets, the more proficient s/he becomes at golf. Do we practice the presence of our divinity? And if not, why not?

Don't answer that last question. Looking at the problem can release us, but too often it sends the mind spinning and lands it in another useless intellectual pursuit. It's simple. Practice going to the center of who you are as frequently as you think of it and put as much silence in your mind as you can. This practice takes on a life of its on, and as our awareness expands into the Stillness, we lose our need for external fixes. The sweetness of the inner world calls us to this Radical Presence, and when it does, our relationships become the dessert of our lives. We get to enjoy them rather than place demands on them. We get to have fun in our relationships rather than having to control them. We get to experience freedom rather than the feeling of being trapped. We get to feel okay, whether we are with our significant other or not. When we practice the Presence, we discover our identity as divinity, and the need to strive disappears.

Practicing the Presence is the easiest way to bypass the multiple avenues of relationship distress and to come into the joy of being. Good relationships are the byproduct of our inner divinity and inner joy; they are not our reason to live nor the cause of our happiness.

Let's give up our need to find a partner, fix a partner, or get rid of a partner. None of these actions will deliver what we need. But practicing the Presence will deliver the fulfillment we seek. Try it and you will find that your life becomes EZier and EZier.

Anne

  Quotes

Bertha Elizabeth Crandall Keel
Anne's maternal grandmother

While going through an old family bible, I found this note from Mama Keel, my maternal grandmother. She wrote this more than 40 years ago.

"I read this the other day and thought it was real good." (Mama Keel)

"Find your own particular talent; think big; be honest; live with enthusiasm; don't let possessions possess you; don't worry about your problem! Don't cling to the past! Look up to people when you can; down to no one. Assume full responsibility for the world in which you live, and pray consistently."
-- Unknown

EZosophy Prayer

Give me the grace to grow in your space, to live in your kindness, and to distribute your essence in loving forms to others. May my pride be replaced with humility and my drama drain into a channel of peace.

Breathe into me the everlasting breath of love and create within me a resting place for my weary mind. Bless every feeling, thought, perception, and belief system with compassion, generosity, and ease.

May all beings be blessed with unexceptional caring and love, with wisdom and abundant peace, and may we live in harmony, compassion, and respect.

  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).

Click here to check out Anne's newest book, Words Make A Difference, 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.

  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

Energy

When we don't feel well, we like to rest, because we don't have much energy. But having plenty of energy is natural, and when we don't have enough energy, it's because we've blocked the energy. The first block to Unlimited Universal Energy (UUE) starts in the mental-emotional (ME) body. The ME mind limits the free-flowing energy by using different thoughts and emotions. Thoughts like "I'm a misfit" and the emotions of fear, sadness, or anger limit the energy flow. Emotions of enthusiasm and joy keep the energy flowing. When the universal flow of energy is limited, we begin to feel sluggish and the energy stalls in our bodies. When the energy stalls, the physical body is affected by an etheric degeneration. The energy backs up in our bodies and the limit acts like a dam. Everything below the dam doesn't get the energy it needs, and the dam itself starts to degenerate and we want to take a nap!

When the energy of the universe, or prana, flows through an individual, s/he has plenty of energy.

When Walter Russell was asked the secret to his success, he hesitated then replied, "Yes, I believe sincerely that every man has consummate genius within him. Some appear to have it more than others only because they are aware of it more than others are, and the awareness or unawareness of it makes each one of them into masters or holds them down to mediocrity. I believe that mediocrity is self-inflicted and that genius is self-bestowed. Every successful man I have ever known, and I have known a great many, carries with him the key which unlocks an awareness and lets in the Universal Power that has made him into a master."

He went on to say that when people are connected (to the Source of Universal Unlimited Energy), they possess three characteristics:

• They produce a prodigious volume of work.
• They never know fatigue.
• Their minds grow more brilliant as they age.

Russell said when he was fatigued, he knew he was not aligned with the Universal Energy. Learn more about Walter Russell and download the informative book, The Man Who Tapped into the Secrets of the Universe, written by Glenn Clark.

How do we align with the universal energy? How can we move or flow our energy? These are just a few ways that align us with Unlimited Universal Energy (UUE) and keep it flowing through our mental-emotional bodies:

1. Develop a sense of joyfulness. Joyfulness is more therapeutic than any medicine. Joyfulness prevents disease. Medicine treats illness.
2. Spend a few minutes each morning picturing your upcoming day. See yourself extending Universal Love to your family and/or coworkers. See yourself treating them as if this was to be the last time you would see them. Pay attention to the tone of your voice and feel feelings of tolerance. See yourself expecting the best from others. Tell yourself that you will maintain a sense of peace and harmony all through the day. For more information on this technique, refer to Jessie K. Crum's book, The Art of Inner Listening.
3. When breath flows, energy follows. Watch the breath throughout the day. Holding our breath dams up the universal energy. Try 20 deep breaths in the morning (or work up to 20 per day) and be sure to breathe all the way down to the belly. As we age, we start to subventilate, thus inhibiting our energy flow.
4. Exercise. Raise the arms up in the air with an inhale and exhale while lowering them. Work up to 20 a day.
5. Take a shower, or, even better, bathe in natural water sources, such as a lake, river, or ocean. Natural bodies of water provide us fire, water, earth, and air energy. Some lakes, such as Lake Ouachita, outside Hot Springs, AR, are lined with crystals. It's been years since I've been in that water, but I think it's the Lourdes of this country. People who are energy sensitive can feel the change in their energy when they swim there and those who can't just start feeling good. Baptism by immersion was about clearing our energy bodies and restarting an energy flow.

Anne

  Anne Talks

Lost in LA

Today's Anne Talk, Lost in LA, is an example of Anne experiencing her life in the moment, in real time. Time: 6:06.

  Anne Art

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  Anne's Schedule

All times here are Central Time
unless otherwise specified.

Sunday, December 18, 2016
10 AM EST Worship Service
"EZosophy: The Basic Philosophy"
Mt. Pleasant Unity
3100 Tradition Circle, 2nd floor
Sign in at 1st floor desk.
Mt. Pleasant, SC
Call for directions. It's a little tricky.
Call 843.814.1322. Ask for Kimberly.

Pot Luck after the morning message. EZosophy Workshop after the pot luck lunch, starting around 12:30 PM to 1 PM, as it flows time-wise. The two hour workshop is offered asking for conscious giving of $15 to $35.00. Please do not let finances be the reason you don't come; any donation is deeply appreciated. Workshop includes action plans and support for turning away from traditional forms of suffering and emerging into greater states of EZ (ease).

  Call or Email Anne Now to Schedule
  Her for Your Meeting.

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.