Do you go thru your challenges & difficult experiences, or GROW thru them?
When we seek to understand what we need to learn from a lesson (challenge) we give ourselves the gift of opportunty - the opportunity for greater joy.
In his newest book, "Why is God Laughing?" renowned teacher Deepak Chopra gives a humorous take on spirituality--using a fictional tale of a comedian and his unlikely mentor to show the way back to hope, joy, and even enlightenment. Here are 5 principles for spiritual optimism adapted from the fable that will help you direct your life on a path to joy every single day.
The Healthiest Response to Life is Laughter
1. This first principle serves as an antidote to fear and sorrow by encouraging you to experience life as joyous....When you feel momentary happiness, or you want to burst out laughing, or you smile for no apparent reason, you are glimpsing eternal reality....In time, these moments of joy will begin to knit together. Instead of the exception, they will become the norm. There is no better way to know that you are growing in God-realization.
There is Always a Reason to be Grateful
2. This second principle is an antidote to victimization....The purpose of gratitude is to connect yourself to a higher vision of life....Once you realize that you alone are the projector of reality, you will no longer be dominated by external events. You will correct the mistake that lies at the very root of victimization: a belief that the movie controls you, instead of the other way around. Each time the thought of a difficult or painful experience enters your mind, send light, love & peace to the person involved in that experience.
You Belong Here, You are Wanted (and Needed) Here, There is Nothing to be Afraid of.
YOU
ARE
SAFE
3. The third principle is the antidote for insecurity....The role assigned to you is right and proper. It is tailor-made for you, for your complete self....The voice of fear tries to convince you that you are a helpless victim of chance. The very opposite is true. At the deepest level, the level of the soul, you are the author of everything that happens to you.
Your Soul Cherishes Every Aspect of Your Life
4. The fourth principle is the antidote for feeling undervalued. It states that your worth is absolute, and that everything that happens to you - whether it feels good at the time or not - is part of a divine plan unfolding from the level of the soul....A person's worth is the value of a soul, which is infinite. Since every event in your life isn't happening just to a person but to a soul, everything in life should be cherished.
There is a Plan and Your Soul Knows What it Is
5. The fifth principle is the antidote to meaninglessness. It states that your life has a purpose. You determine that purpose at the soul level, and then that purpose unfolds in daily life as part of the divine plan. The more deeply you are connected to the plan, the more powerful it becomes in your life. Ultimately, nothing can stop it.
As this year - this decade, draws to a close, I find myself looking at all the lessons that have come my way. Some were of the "Ah Ha" genre and some, well, were more of the "I don't think I can bare this alone..." kind. Do you have some of these lessons too? What a decade it has been.
I intend to walk into 2011 letting go of
every
single
painful
experience
embracing the JOY that is mine, knowing I have learned, and continue to learn my lessons.
I will
laugh more often
express daily gratitude (for it all!)
have faith in knowing I belong right where I am, be unafraid to be all that I am created to be, and trust that I am safe in pursuing this
know that my soul is cherished, and that every aspect of my life is of value
daily seek God's plan for me, to prosper me, and to give me a hope and a future.
Have you learned your lessons?
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