Spiritual Questions Answered

I pray that this message finds you in the best of spirits. It's been a long time since we've been in touch. But, I'll take responsibility for that.

In the last few months I've put the final touches on the paperback version of Brilliance is Your Birthright, conducted more keynotes and workshops, and been on a mission to increase my knowledge in personal and spiritual development.

Some interesting emails have popped into my inbox in the last few weeks. These messages presented me with what I initially viewed as "tough" questions.

This quote kept coming to mind as I pondered my responses: "When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." With that thought, I realized that the best way for me to look at these inquiries was as opportunities. The person asking the question might be able to get clarity, I would have a chance to grow, and you might benefit from this dialogue as well.

Instead of agonizing over my answers I decided that the best thing to do is to just respond truthfully, from the heart, and through the lenses of my personal experience.
Find my answers to a few of these "opportunities" below. I'll be posting this on my blog and looking forward to any feedback you can give.

1. How can I imagine that I'm blessed when so many others are suffering with illnesses, hunger, and pain?

Are you healthy, strong, intelligent, creative, thoughtful, caring, ambitious, and educated? Are you sensitive to other people's needs? If you say yes to any of the above then you are blessed. I believe that one of the reasons we were put on this earth is to help others using the gifts we've been given. Many of the most philanthropic and purposeful people take action to help others because they know they have an answer to many of the world's problems. If they don't have an answer they're willing to roll up their sleeves and find one.

You don't have to attempt to feed the multitude with five loaves of bread and two fish as Jesus did. By helping one person you cause a ripple effect which helps their family, which improves their community, which changes the world. If you do this you are performing a miracle.

2. The reason why I don't have abundance is because I was taught that it's wrong to long for material things such as money, clothes, etc. Is this true?

Author and child specialist, John Bradshaw estimates that the average person has over 25,000 hours of recordings of their parent's voices inside of them. No wonder why we struggle to shake the ideas we have about the world and adopt new thoughts. But, there is nothing wrong with wanting nice "stuff". I think problems arise when we make accumulating "stuff" our only focus and we neglect our families, bodies, and spirits.


A lot of folks are using their "stuff" to compensate for a lack of love, companionship, and confidence. I've realized in recent years that happiness and joy start inside-out, not outside-in.

3. Why did God not create a simple world without drugs, suffering, crime, etc.?

I think the world, meaning nature, is perfect and simple. Is just that the imperfect people who populate it complicate things. There are laws that govern the universe and when we violate them we can cause pain. God gives us free will and the ability to make choices.


In The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra, he encourages us to ask ourselves "What are the consequences of this decision?" and "Will this choice bring happiness to me and to those affected by this choice?" If more of us used these questions as a guide before we act I think we would see a world with less suffering.

Warm regards,

Derek

You Are What You Think About!

This article was written by guest contributor Carolyn D. Townes.

"If we are not responsible for the thoughts that pass our doors, we are at least responsible for those we admit and entertain." ~ Charles B. Newcomb

Experts say that we operate on about 90 percent of the negative thoughts we learned as children. What this says is that there are a lot of negative people and negative energy circling our immediate environment.

It is this negative energy that then gets spread to all the other parts of our lives. So, if we have a negative workmate. We then absorb her negative energy and pass this on to our family life. This then gets passed on to our leisure time. And the cycle continues until every part of our reality and our connecting realities are infused with this negative energy.

So how do we break the cycle? Think about what you think about!

Instead of entertaining every toxic thought that comes into your head, make the conscious choice to flip the script.

We have been given a powerful tool that may elude many of us. It is the power of choice. We have the awesome power to choose – to choose to entertain negative thoughts; to choose to not drink the poison; to choose to not give our quality time to toxic people. Here are three powerful tips to change your thinking and to avoid those toxic people:

1. When a negative thought does enter your mind (and they will!), choose to change it. Just say CANCEL! Then just for the moment think about something funny.
2. When you cannot remove all of the toxic people from your life – some may be family or workmates, then find some nutritious people to balance the scale. Find a life coach or a support group, or both. Spend less time with the toxic people until you have enough resolve to deflect their negativity.
3. Develop and attitude of gratitude. When you are grateful, there is no room for negativity. When those pesky negative thoughts start to creep in, think of five things you are grateful for at that moment. Remember, you always have something to be thankful for. You don't think so? You're breathing, aren't you?

So just for today, learn to think about what you are thinking about. You have the power to choose more "nutritious" and empowering thoughts – thoughts that will lead you to creating a life of inner peace, passion and purpose!

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Carolyn D. Townes is a Spiritual Life and Leadership Coach, Passion and Purpose Coach, speaker and author. For the last fifteen years, she has been telling her story to impact and empower women worldwide. She is the creator and animator of Spirit Women Coaching and Consulting which is dedicated to equipping and empowering female leaders, entrepreneurs and women in transition in creating a life of passion and peace. She writes for the blogs Becoming a Woman of Purpose (http://spiritwomen.blogspot.com/) and Equip and Empower (http://equipandempower.blogspot.com/). Carolyn lives in New York City and can be reached at carolynsfo@spirit-women.org.

Having Faith: By Kevin Bracy

Picture the day when you are able to wake up after a great nights rest and you are overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude and achievement. The day before you has been planned by you and only you, there are no restraints, no obligations, there will be no rushing, no punching a time-clock...this day will be productive and prosperous.

What a far cry from starting your day by crawling out of bed frustrated, unfulfilled, unhappy, no sense of achievement and not even a hint of gratitude because your day entails doing things that you do not want to do, things that bring you no internal satisfaction. You would rather hide under the covers than face another day full of hard work, money challenges, self image issues and challenging relationships all thanks to you living outside of your purpose.

Getting to the day when you wake up refreshed, renewed and relaxed is not easy; there will be people that laugh at you, that say you are just dreaming, they may even tell you that you will never make it. You will even have days when you doubt yourself, when you think that doing what you love for a living will never become your reality.

Look closely, can't you see the momentum shifting your way? It may not be the wave that you have been hoping for, but I bet if you look you can find at least a hint, a sign of great things to come. Do you notice your revenue increasing? Remember, revenue is not always immediate, sometimes the revenue for the work you do now does not come your way for some time, be patient and keep doing the roadwork, it is coming...now do you see it? Are you noticing the growth? Growth in yourself, in your thoughts, your dreams...your possibility thinking?

FREEDOM, it can be your reality. You don't have to earn your living in a way that leaves you feeling empty, that takes time away from your true passion, from your calling. You can do what you love and get paid for it, you can have a fulfilling and prosperous career that allows you to get excited about all that you get to do each and every day.

How? One word...FAITH...confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, of an idea, confident belief in you. Have the faith to chase your dreams, to take a chance, to make a change in your life and put yourself in the position to help others do the same. Remember, faith is belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence; it is complete confidence...confidence in yourself, confidence in your abilities, confidence in your gifts.

Faith pays off. It just may be the last ingredient you need to empower yourself to live your dreams.

Have Faith. Do you?

By Kevin Bracy www.kevinbracy.com

Britney Spears Needs Love and Happiness

Why won't they just leave the poor girl alone? I don't know about you but I'm tired of turning on my TV and firing up my computer and hearing about the latest drama with Britney Spears. I read the other day that paparazzi who catch her on the street can command upwards of $10,000 for a candid photo of her. Businesses are literally being built with her erratic behavior as their foundation. If there was no Britney there would be no TMZ, Entertainment Tonight wouldn't be as strong, and VH1 wouldn't have all these "talking head shows" like Best Week Ever.

As much as I blame the media for over-exposing her I would be remissed if I didn't take issue with Brit herself. Why go out in public where you know there are going to be 500 salivating photographers waiting to snap pictures of you? Why appear in court with another new boyfriend when you know the legal system is already questioning how stable you are? And yes, you're a grown woman who can pick your own friends, but why hang out with the poster-girl of recklessness, Paris Hilton?

It's true that people - even entire nations - feed off the collective energy and consciousness of others. As long as we continue to put out energy that drains us of our power, people like Spears, who are clearly unhappy, will stay in a state of distress. We must become more aware of what we say about people - whether they're in our presence or not. Our words serve as a conduit of either blessings or curses.

I one heard Dr. Wayne Dyer tell the story of a tribe in Africa that does something unusual when someone violates a tribal rule. Instead of shaming the person, they put them in the center of the village and the entire tribe gathers around that person in a circle.

For the next hour or two, everyone in the village shouts out all of the good things the offender has done; all of their character qualities; all of the things that are true and admirable about that person. By the end of this, the violator is usually in tears, which is when the village embraces the person and throws a party.

Imagine that: being reminded of who and what we really are after messing up. Think of how different this world would be if that happened more often. I'm not saying that Britney isn't responsible for her actions. But, shaming her into rehab doesn't help her or her kids. Spears is, like each of us, made in the image of God. She should be reminded that she is loved, valuable, and deserves to be happy.