The Most Important Decision

"The most important decision we ever make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or a hostile universe."  Albert Einstein

Each of us is operating under one of these two beliefs - whether or not we have ever consciously contemplated the question.  Here is just a short list of how life shows up when you are operating from the belief that the universe is beneficent:

You see the good in others even when they are troubled or acting unkindly.

You laugh at life's little irritations.

When something goes not as you had planned or hoped, you look for the blessing in what showed up instead.

You seldom take yourself seriously.

You experience each day as an opportunity.

You expect success even when it has not yet arrived.

You give easily, knowing that the universe always gives back.

You greet strangers as though they are your friend already.

If you were to poll a group of people who believe the universe is kind, and another group that holds that the universe is hostile, you would find that each group has lots of proof for their position.  What you search for, you will find.  And what you expect will arrive.  What you believe you will perceive, and  that is how your reality is born.

And the universe is so generous that it always leaves the choice up to you.  And it always responds when you choose differently.

"The reason things always work out for the best is because this is actually the highest of all spiritual laws.  Any apparent exceptions are simply evidence that work is still in progress, whether or not it can be seen."  Mike Dooley

Living in the Present

The best remedy for a painful, troubling, or disappointing past is living in the present.  Today's experience of life will be determined by the lens with which you view the world, your life, and your circumstances.  Every single moment each of us is writing the story of her/his life.  What story will you create today?

Today you get to decide if you will experience the world thru the lens of your past, or thru the lens of the story you wish to create for yourself.  Who is the person you want to be?  What is the life you want to live?  Today you can begin a new story simply by being that person you envision and making choices congruent with the life you want.

The past no longer exists.  There is only now.  And now creates the nature of tomorrow.  IF you allow the past to be the past, it does not matter what mistakes you believe you made, what hurt you experienced, what you failed to do.  All you need to salvage from the past is a clear vision of what worked, what did not, and who, where, and what you want to be now.

'Living in the present' is more than being in the present.  You are in the present because that is all that exists.  Living in the present means bringing all you are and all you want to be to this moment, and leaving all the stories of the past in the past.  It means being, in this moment, the truth of who you are at your deepest level today.  

Today, begin your new story.  Forget all that has been.  Express all that your soul envisions.  Use each and every moment to write the life you truly want into creation. You and only you are the author of your life.

Reality Rules

Do you know what reality is?  Reality is whatever already is.  One of the ways that we all step away from happiness is by arguing with reality. 

Whatever is, is exactly what should be. How do I know? Because that's the way it is. How presumptuous we are when we are constantly saying to reality: "you're wrong - this is not the way you are supposed to be." 

If it's raining and you run outside and shout, "It shouldn't be raining," how sane are you? Well, reality rules. So every time you argue with reality, you are wrong.  

This doesn't mean you have to like it. And it doesn't mean you can't endeavor to create a different reality. It just means you might want to stop wasting time talking about how things "should be," or complaining about the way things are. I'll say it again. Reality rules. (and laughs at our whining)  

Until reality becomes something else, it is exactly the way it is supposed to be. The fun part is going to the next step and asking, "Okay, what is the value in this reality, and how do I use it to create a different one?"