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Have you ever thought about the effect negative thinking must have on the spiritual body? It’s sort of like junk food for the spirit.
Finding a job after the Recession wasn’t easy, but I finally found one that looked hopeful and I felt I could handle. And I loved the work, but felt out of place and inept, and started having stomach pains from self-generated stress. It would have been so easy at that point to climb aboard the train of negative thoughts we all ride to try to make ourselves feel better.
You know the routine: a supervisor seems a little sharp because we didn’t understand a procedure, so we scheme how to get even or teach them a lesson. These negative thoughts seem to feel good, even fun for the moment. We get the same false sense of elation when we complain or rationalize some action and the adrenaline is pumping. This is junk food for the spirit. The immediate rush seems justified, but deep down we know too much of it will mean trouble.
This may take the edge off our frustration, but hurts us in the long run. It ratchets up the tension, disrupts our health, often bringing headaches, stomach problems and more, yet it does nothing to change the cause of our anger, embarrassment, or self-pity.
But I know if we can catch ourselves soon enough and make the mental effort to keep our outlook positive, it helps us feel better too. Anger or worry can bring on headaches, but when the stress goes away the headache often does too. So I tried using positive thinking, every day, many times, to change my focus. It started with a little prayer of gratitude before I left home. At work, even though I felt anxious, I was determined to smile and be pleasant to the other employees and my boss. Gradually this worked its magic and I turned my thinking around.
It can be even more advantageous to nurture our spiritual bodies with positive thoughts and words as to feed our physical bodies with nutritious food. If we can make what we say and do to others encouraging, even healing, it helps make their days and ours go by harmoniously, peacefully and productively. If we’re aware that negativity is like junk food for the spirit, we can consciously start to replace the space it’s occupying with more helpful thoughts and words.
I still rely on positive thinking today, though it isn’t easy to stay on the straight and narrow and takes time to change old habits. I still need to remind myself to think positively, so I always say that little prayer of thanks each morning. The rewards are sweet.
Next time those negative thoughts creep in, I highly recommend a nutritious snack of comforting, constructive thoughts. And every day offer some of those positives to your friends, co-workers and family. They’ll really appreciate it, and you’ll soon begin to discover a new, happier, and more confident you!
I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. – Christ
One of our students wrote that she had just discovered “mindfulness.” This concept has developed into a major movement for people looking for ways to work with their hectic lives. It is a basic ideal and practice of Buddhism. Yoga teachers sometimes tell their students to “mindfully” practice a pose. They are saying, “Think about this as you do it. Focus. Concentrate.”
An early use of this term in Lemurian Fellowship annals is from 1946, long before it made its way into the popular American vernacular. At that time, the Masters used the word in a message they sent through Dr. Stelle. It began, “We are not unmindful” of certain circumstances. In other words, “We are aware.” At its heart, mindfulness is awareness.
Mindfulness for Lemurians is taught throughout our Philosophy, though the word itself is not often used. Several of our blog articles have addressed this in many situations we each face in life. What is it, really? Isn’t it a form of prayer, of going into your “closet” as Christ advised to focus on something spiritual?
. . . when thou prayest, enter into thy closet and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Matthew 6:6
Mindfulness means letting go of worrying about past and future. From a head spinning with jumbled thoughts, it leads us into quiet moments of connection with God, the universe, and each other.
If you’re stalled in traffic, take a look at the patch of grass by the roadside. What calm, abundant life goes on there that has nothing to do with the rush of impressions in your mind! When you slow down to just focus on the trees, the hum of human activity around you, joyful squeals of kids nearby, or the wind in the leaves, your blood pressure eases, your thoughts soften and a quiet peace finds its way into your heart. A couple of really deep breaths help you remember you are a spiritual being.
Mindfulness for Lemurians begins as soon as new students open Lesson One. The development and practice of precipitation, concentration, observation, perception, attunement, the virtues, meditation, prayer and every aspect of Lemurian thought and action require mindfulness if we are to gain all we can from these efforts.
One mindful characteristic prevalent among veteran Lemurians is the rare willingness and ability to listen deeply to each other. How few people do this! Yet what a kindly feeling of loving regard flows from this simple act.
The more mindfully we approach any action or experience, the deeper its meaning for us and the longer we will remember it. Think of vivid memories you have of your childhood – memories you can easily call back into sharp and full-color focus in your mind’s eye. These indelible snapshots were captured at moments when you were fully mindful of what was happening. Observation, concentration, memory, and emotion all came together to etch this scene and experience onto a page of your life.
Mindfulness for Lemurians means taking time to give good thought to each experience, and finding the good in it, so we can earn the more abundant life Christ promised.
#mindfulness #mindfulnessmeditation #Lemurians #AbundantLife #ConnectionWithGod
