Today is August 17, 2005 A Great Day for Recovery!
COURAGE
"Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must be first overcome." -- Samuel Johnson
There was a time when I never attempted anything because I said it "can't" be done. I could never get sober. I could never stand up to my drunken friends. I could never face my buried secrets. I could never stop gambling. I could never change my eating habits or stop using cocaine.
Then I heard the confidence and hope that was reflected in people who were recovering from these same problems. I heard people talk about what it was like, what happened and what it is like now. They told me I didn't mean "can't", I meant "won't"! They told me to take a risk, think positive, try.
Today, yesterday's objections are mere memories.
Thank You for showing me the light at the end of the tunnel. May I continue to walk in the light.
This is a dialogue between the author, Neale Donald Walsch, and "GOD" as he refers to the inspirational flow of information that came through to him. In the book, Conversations With God: an uncommon dialogue, Book 3, Page 14-17, the distinction is made via different indentations in the actual text. So it would be easily read, I inserted God, where "God" speaks, and Neal where the author, Neal Donald Walsch, speaks.
GOD: Most people believe if they "have" a thing (more time, money, love -- whatever), then they can finally "do" a thing (write a book, take up a hobby, go on vacation, buy a home, undertake a relationship), which will allow them to "be" a thing (happy, peaceful, content, or in love). In actuality, they are reversing the Be-Do-Have paradigm. In the universe as it really is (as opposed to how you think it is), "havingness" does not produce "beingness," but the other way around. First you "be" the thing called "happy" (or "knowing," or "wise," or "compassionate," or whatever), then you start "doing" things from this place of beingness -- and soon you discover that what you are doing winds up bringing you the things you've always wanted to "have."
The way to set this creative process (and that's what this is...the process of creation) into motion is to look at what it is you want to "have," ask yourself what you think you would "be" if you "had" that, then go right straight to being.
In this way you reverse the way you've been using the Be-Do-Have paradigm -- in actuality, set it right -- and work with, rather than against, the creative power of the universe.
Here is a short way of stating this principle:
In life, you do not have to do anything. It's all a question of what you are being.
This is one of the three messages I will touch on again at the end of our dialogue. I will close the book with it.
For now, and to illustrate this, think of a person who just knows that if he could only have a little more time, a little more money, or a little more love, he'd be truly happy.
NEAL: He does not get the connection between his "not being very happy" right now and his not having the time, money, or love he wants.
GOD: That's right. On the other hand, the person who is "being" happy seems to have time to do everything that's really important, all the money that's needed, and enough love to last a lifetime.
NEAL: He finds he has everything he needs to "be happy"...by "being happy" to begin with!
GOD: Exactly. Deciding ahead of time what you choose to be produces that in your experience.
NEAL: "To be, or not to be. That is the question."
GOD: Precisely. Happiness is a state of mind. And life all states of mind, it reproduces itself in physical form. There's a statement for a refrigerator magnet: "All states of mind reproduce themselves."
NEAL: But how can you "be" happy to begin with, or "be" anything you are seeking to be -- more prosperous, for instance, or more loved -- if you are not having what you think you need in order to "be" that?
GOD: Act as if you are, and you will draw it to you. What you act as if you are, you become.
NEAL: In other words, "Fake it until you make it."
GOD: Something like that, yes. Only you can't really be "faking." Your actions have to be sincere." Everything you do, do out of sincerity, or the benefit of the action is lost.
This is not because I won't "reward you." God does not "reward" and "punish," as you know. But Natural Law requires the body, mind, and spirit to be united in thought, word, and action for the process of creation to work.
You cannot fool your mind. If you are insincere, your mind knows it, and that's that. You've just ended any chance that your mind can help you in the creative process.
You can, of course, create without your mind -- it's just a great deal more difficult. You can ask your body to do something your mind doesn't believe, and if your body does it long enough, your mind will begin to let go of its former thought about that, and create a New Thought. Once you have a New Thought about a thing, you're well on your way to creating it as a permanent aspect of your being, rather than something you're just acting out.
This is doing things the hard way, and even in such instances, that action must be sincere. Unlike what you can do with people, you cannot manipulate the universe.
So here we have a very delicate balance. The body does something in which the mind does not believe, yet the mind must add the ingredient of sincerity to the body's action for it to work.
NEAL: How can the mind add sincerity when it does not "believe in" what the body is doing?
GOD: By taking out the selfish element of personal gain.
NEAL: How?
GOD: The mind may not be able to sincerely agree that the actions of the body can bring you that which you choose, but the mind seems very clear that God will bring good things through you to another.
Therefore, whatever you choose for yourself, give to another.
NEAL: Would You say that again, please?
GOD: Of course. Whatever you choose for yourself, give to another. If you choose to be happy, cause another to be happy. If you choose to be prosperous, cause another to prosper. If you choose more love in your life, cause another to have more love in theirs. Do this sincerely -- not because you seek personal gain, but because you really want the other person to have that -- and all the things you give away will come to you.
NEAL: Why is that so? How does that work?
GOD: The very act of your giving something away causes you to experience that you have it to give away. Since you cannot give to another something you do not now have, your mind comes to a new conclusion, a New Thought, about you -- namely, that you must have this, or you could not be giving it away.
This New Thought then becomes your experience. You start "being" that. And once you start "being" a thing, you've engaged the gears of the most powerful creation machine in the universe -- your Divine Self.
Whatever you are being, you are creating.
The circle is complete, and you will create more and more of that in your life. It will be made manifest in your physical experience.
i'm tired today, had 2 days off work and i did everything but what i should have done....as usual
Dentist??
not good, can't afford to save my 2 teeth...instead i get to play the waiting game till they break more then get them yanked. The last thing i want to do is start pulling my teeth. I'm not happy.
but thanks for asking. Its another day,cranky, think i'll start mine over.
