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.