The journey of the self to the self

Even though we set goals, have targets and achieve results, we never arrive at a final destination.
Because there isn't one!

As spiritual beings having a short term visit in this human suitcase we may achieve certain things in this life time experience, but ultimately, the journey of our soul is endless so there can never be a final destination.

WOW, here's a thought, what if we actually remembered this every day of our lives?  Rather than getting all wrapped up in the struggle and stress of living our human life, what if we really got that this is just a short outing for our soul and that as soon as we jump out of this suitcase very little of what we experienced here will be of any use to us?

That is not to say that we don't have really important things to do each day, and that we are not here simply to sit on our duffs waiting for the universe to deliver our good. However, we could be willing to get in the flow and accept life as easier than we ever thought it could be.

Releasing struggle and moving into the natural flow of life could make our experience in this suitcase so much easier.

So if everything in life can come to you easily and effortlessly when you place you attention, energy and focus on it - what would you love to be, do or have in your life?  Also, failure is not an option you are guaranteed success!

I invite you to make some time in your busy schedule to really think about what you want in your life. It doesn't have to be a huge goal, it could be that the best thing for you right now is a day off, or a full nights rest, allow it to be what ever it is. Trust that you have innate inner wisdom which will guide you for your highest and best good.

Today I take time to reflect on what I would love to be, do and have in my life. I am willing to let that be easy and effortless and I know that I cannot get it wrong and my success is guaranteed.

In trust and faith

We had an amazing evening yesterday on the radio. Southern Spiritual Radio has re-branded to One World Radio and can now be found at www.oneworldradio.org.uk. As part of that change one of the studios was closed and two new ones opened. This all happened in very short order and involved some entirely new software and hardware as well as some new systems and processes to allow everything to work. We did experience some network challenges last night, but my friend Carolyne kept going for her show and by the time we got to our joint session everything was working really well. We have now uncovered the reasons why the network was dropping out and everything is good to go for Carolyne's Sunday inspiration evening next week.

Throughout the evening our listeners were patient and and we were called to have faith and trust that the perfect solution would reveal itself, which it did. This got me thinking about patience and trust in general. How often do we think in our small ego mind that we are the ruler of the universe and that we must do everything ourselves? What if, as part of our morning ritual, we said to the universe, "OK, I hand all world management to you today. I will do the things that are my business and I have faith and trust that all the rest is handled." After all you aren't consciously thinking about making your heart beat right now, you aren't telling your eyes to process the images it sees and then get the brain to make sense of the images. You have faith and trust that all those clever things will happen automatically. You still feed, rest and nourish your body, you clean it and generally look after it, but the rest you expect to take care of itself.

Back to my currently favourite hermetic axiom - As above, so below. As within, so without. If it can happen in your body, it can happen in the bigger out-picturing of your world. IF YOU LET IT.
If you release the need to control everything in your environment, if you still do the things you know to do and take 100% responsibility for doing those things, not more and not less, then you are allowing the Universe to respond to you. "Hi, this is the Universe, don't worry about making anything happen today, I have it totally handled. You can just do what you know to do and have fun, be love and share your joy."

I therefore invite you to play with this, see how it feels to you, notice where letting go of control feels challenging and journey deeper into that to allow release and flow. You are always safe and going in the best direction.

Today I open myself to trust and faith. I know that everything is handled for my highest good. I take 100% responsibility for my thoughts words and deeds and I let God do the rest.

Persistent Practice

It is easy when on our journey to self realisation to forget spiritual law only works in certain areas of our life, or when it suits us to remember. The fact, of course, is that it is always at work and that we are always divine perfection.
The trick is remembering when out ego wants us to forget.

Obvious reminders that we have forgotten:
• Complaining to others about an area of our life
• Focusing on lack and limitations in our life
• Blaming others for our experience

There are many other ways to notice that we are out of the flow, but these are some easy things to notice.

When you catch yourself take a breath. Then take another. This is not an opportunity to beat yourself up and give yourself a hard time. In every moment you are doing the best that you can.

First be grateful. Grateful that you have remembered, grateful that you have more opportunity to practice and to embrace growth in your spiritual path.
Then take time to see the truth in any area that you have got caught up in. As the truth is remembered, you will see the things that still need some work.

Make the time to do the work. Persistent practice is what is called for. Like anyone who wants to get better at anything, you need to have regular practice.

Always return to the deep knowing that even though you seek to get better and to move into the ever revealing more, you are a spiritual being, therefore you are already all right.

Today I take time to reflect and I do the inner work I am called to do. Every resource I need for my growth and expansion comes to me easily and effortlessly. I express the more in all that I do.

Letting go of the story

What story are you telling about yourself? Do you have different stories depending on who you are talking to? When did you last think to check if they are true for you for now?

Throughout our lives we acquire and absorb information, we process it both on a conscious and subconscious level and then decide what it means about us and how we present that in the world. When you were little and couldn't do certain things people told you, "You're too small, you can't do that." Which was true at the time. Someone may have said, "You're a girl you can't do that." or perhaps, "That's sissy boys shouldn't do that." These things may or may not have been true at the time, but are certainly not true for you now. You are at choice in how you let the stories of yesterday effect your life today.

Take time to hear the story you are telling, regardless of whether you are saying it out loud or if it is on a tape in your mind. Think about whether these things are true or not, really be objective and spend time letting go of all the old story. You have everything you need for a fabulous life already within you. You are at choice on how to move forward and achieve the life of your dreams, what will you choose today.

Today I make time to listen to the stories I tell, to evaluate them and release those that no longer serve me. I live in the moment and embrace my Divine nature.

What's God?

The concept of a higher power has received much bad press over the millennia. There is an amazing range of material available that will tell you about someone's God. Much of which creates disagreement and often war. At this point in the 21st century I believe that human kind is yearning for a deep connection to the universe and the globe upon which we live that does not create difference, but rather creates and amplifies unity and oneness.

There has been a recent proliferation of books which in one way or another reflect a search for God. Eat Pray Love and The Shack are just two examples of this. Each with a very different approach but when read with an open mind and heart each speaking to a deeper connection with the creative source.
On my journey I struggled for a long time with the 'God' word. I was comfortable with many other words, such as creator, spirit, gaia or great mystery, but as soon as I heard the God word I mentally had my hands over my ears singing la la la in my mind. I went to the old paradigm of a middle aged white guy on a cloud, watching, judging, criticising.

One day I was at a conference and a chap asked the speaker this very question, it could have come from my mouth. "I am content with these other words, but I cannot connect to God, what should I do?" The answer was quick and certain, "Pick another word." That was a light bulb moment for me. So simple, so obvious, but it was the right time for me to hear it, my mind and my heart was open at that moment to receive that information.

This highlights two things:
1. Your connection to the creative source is entirely personal and unique to you. You may not believe in any form of a higher power right now, but I know that is okay for you for now. There are over 2500 different words in the world for God, my favourite is Love. As there is lots to choose from, pick one you like. The other thing to remember is that the divine creative source really has no attachment to what you call it.
2. You will receive your learning at the perfect time for you. When the student is ready the teacher will appear and that teacher may be three words you hear at a conference, it may be a book, class, radio show or a passing conversation. I'm a great believer in divine timing. It has moved my life to greater and greater good as I have set clear intentions and then let them go. Sometimes we want things in a certain time frame. The universe doesn't work like that, just like the seasons, everything in our life has a perfect time to manifest. The more I have experienced this the more I have some to realise that divine time is far more effective than Juliet time. I now find it so much easier to let go and let god.

In the really ancient teachings it is known that everything is god in action. There is nothing else, you are a living, breathing expression of source energy, which you can call god if you want, or not. You are connected to everything, there is no space between you and anything or anyone, there is a web of life that is pure energy or light that connects us all to each other and every part of the universe.

Ultimately it cannot be proven or disproven that there is a creative source, but I know for me that when I believe it to be true and I live my life as that divine expression my life is a million times more wonderful and everything just works better.

I invite you to develop a personal connection with a higher power that works for you. Pure love exists through everything and the extent to which you can welcome that into your life is the extent to which life will expand in the most wonderful and magical way.

Today I choose love and oneness. I embrace and expand into my personal connection to the creator. I honour my divine magnificence as I remember god as me, in me, through me. I love myself and I allow love to envelope me.

Who have you come here to be?

Henry David Thoreau said that, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." In reading this you may feel a twinge of pain or discomfort in your solar plexus. Are you living the life you came here to live, or are you lurching recklessly from one drama to another, from one misery to another?

From the moment of our conception we have been influenced by the other humans around us. Our parents, siblings, wider family members, friends and teachers have all influenced us with their perceptions, beliefs, rules and emotions. We have subscribed to these because as children it is difficult to do anything else. Even when we find a voice and learn the 'NO' word we are over powered by the adults in our life and we give in to the considered opinions of those around us. We fall into line with the beliefs of those around us, we play by the rules they create, we learn how to value ourselves based on their values, both of themselves and us.

Somewhere in all this development and information absorption we forget who we are and start to behave in ways to please the people around us. We behave in ways that allow us to get praise and avoid us getting punished or told off. We learn how to keep the peace, we learn to lie to avoid trouble, we learn ways of being that are not our original nature, but which bring us the rewards we desire.

Have you ever seen a young child dancing and singing as if no one is watching. They are utterly carefree and have no concern to what anyone thinks about them. Their faces are usually filled with joy and wrapped in a broad smile. As a child gets older they become more and more self conscious until they get to a point as young adult where they totally consumed by what others think about them. This is not our true self. We are designed to be the carefree child, to live our bliss and to have lives filled with abundance and joy.

No matter where or when this happened in your life, right in this moment you have an opportunity for change. You are at choice to continue living in your own myth or to embrace the courage to revert to your authentic self. Embracing the possibility of change allows the universe to rush to your aid and to allow the process to unfold in your life. It will need you to take regular action and to practice making different life choices day by day, but opening to change is the very first step.

If you would like to see change happen, if you are ready to make a shift in an area of your life then I invite you to start by saying, "I am willing to change." Repeat this often, write it on sticky notes and dot them around your home. Embracing change is the very first step towards returning to the authentic, original you that you have come here to be.

Today I open myself to change. I welcome the memory of my original self. I am willing to change.

How easy can it be?

In this phase of growing my business I have noticed that sometimes I make things more complicated and difficult than they need to be. I get stuck in the beliefs of how I did things 20 years ago in my first business and stop looking for the inspired solution. I 'should' on my self based on other peoples beliefs and my outmoded thoughts.

Do you ever do that? "I should exercise every week." "I should eat more healthily." "I should take this action or behave that way." I got in a lift the other day, I was going to the third floor and a woman got in who was going to the first floor. She said to me, "I know I should take the stairs." My immediate response was to tell her, "I don't believe in the word 'should.' You could take the stairs but you have chosen not to." In doing this I gave her the opportunity to let go of the guilt she had about her perception of being lazy by not walking up a flight of stairs. Any time you have a 'should' you are stepping away from inspiration. Should has the feeling that it is being inflicted upon you, that it is something you are being made to do.

What if you changed the first example to: "I could exercise every week." The next question then could be, "What inspired thing would I enjoy doing that would provide me with some physical exercise that I'd love to do?" Do you see how the energy has shifted? The idea of having to do exercise is filled with someone else's idea of what you must do, in shifting it to more of an invitation you are giving yourself the choice, not only to exercise but as to how that might be.

When we come from inspiration life gets many times easier. Our brain is programmed to keep running the same script, just like a computer. However at any moment we can press the interrupt button and start entering a new program. The more we run the new script the easier it gets to go to that mode first.

I invite you to look at where you are struggling in your life with the old programming. Take time to let that go and to investigate what your inspired idea may be. You already have within you everything you will ever need to live an abundant, joyous, loving inspired life.

Today I stop the old program and take time to seek new inspiration. I am willing to let it be easier than I can imagine. I know that the path of least resistance is in letting go of struggle and allowing in ease and grace.

Take the next step

Yesterday I presented my very first radio show. It's called The Metaphysical Motivator, it's internet based so you can listen form anywhere in the world every Monday evening from 6pm London time, just follow this link to listen live or pick up the pod cast: www.oneworldradio.org.uk

This experience got me thinking about doing something new or different for the first time. Even though I had prepared for the show I was still nervous. I was using the equipment for the first time and I had no previous experience of speaking into a microphone for an hour. My imagination had many stories running in my mind about what might happen. The 'What if' movie was playing in my head, and I could have believed it, I could have fallen into that trap and not taken this leap into radio. The great thing for me was that it was an inspired thing to do, so all the fears were cancelled out by my passion for spreading powerful transformation techniques to the world.

Do you have a 'What if' movie playing in your mind? Where in your life are you playing small because you are afraid of what might happen if you made a change or took a new step? The likelihood is that none of the negative what ifs will come true, so how about reprogramming the what ifs to be positive. What if by taking the next step you meet the partner of you dreams, you have an opportunity to change your life or something unfolds that allows you to heal.

The ego part of our mind tries to keep us safe and in so doing we can often become stuck and limited. I invite you to set that aside and take an inspired leap. In doing so I know that the universe, in all its unlimited expansiveness, will step up to meet you and carry you the rest of the way to your dreams and goals. Just like a surfer riding the wave into shore.

Today I release old fears that keep me stuck. I know that the universe always supports my highest intention and that I am guided to right action in all things.

The plastic brain.

No matter where you are in your life today, if you want to change and if you believe you can then you will. The adult human brain still has the capacity to change, to be rewired, even in to old age. This is called plasticity, to be like plastic and remain malleable.

Our brains are affected by the environment in which we grow and live and by the things that we do. These discoveries are surprisingly recent. Even though a few scientists were investigating this in the 1800s, the considered wisdom until the 1990s was that the adult brain was fixed and immutable.
How wonderful it is for science to, yet again, support what ancient spiritual wisdom has been teaching for many thousands of years. Your environment affects and moulds who you are and by positively changing your thoughts you can change your environment. A complete circle of life.

As we stand on the planet it is whizzing round at huge speed, both on it's own axis and in it's orbit around the sun, and yet we don't feel any sensation of that movement. It would be easy to see why the idea of a round, spinning earth was so difficult for people to accept when it was first presented.
In just the same way there are spiritual laws or laws of nature that are at work constantly yet invisibly. They, just like gravity, operate equally in every situation and on every person, they don't favour one person over another, they don't stop and start randomly. They are just as constant as gravity and just as invisible.

When we know about these laws and we know about the flexibility of our brain to change it's wiring we can have hope that no matter how bad our life currently appears, it can change, we can change.
Through the powerful mind that exists in the brain and the heart, we can actively select thoughts that support our transformation, we can learn from books, workshops, lectures and even blogs, how we can choose a different path by carefully weeding the old thoughts and planting the seeds of new and empowering thoughts.

One are where the plastic brain research is making a difference is in the treatment of depression. Experiments have shown that voluntary exercise creates an expansion in the brain. That expansion in turn allows new learning more easily. So if you are currently struggling with any form of depression I invite you today to put on a jacket and go for a walk. Even if it just down the road to the recycling centre, the simple act of movement will help. If you are able to consider any other possibility, think about the sort of exercise you would enjoy. Perhaps a dance class, or Tai Chi, maybe aerobics or step classes work for you, or a simple, peaceful walk in nature. What ever inspires you, and no matter how hard it may feel to do, to first step will begin a journey to releasing depression and moving into a new life of joy, peace and love.

Today I move my body in ways that I love and that inspire me. I know as I move in this way my brain supports ever greater expansion and I grow in every way.

My new radio show starts today. The Metaphysical Motivator is internet based, it's on for 1 hour starting at 6pm GMT (that's London time) and you can listen in by following this link: http://southernspiritualradio.co.uk I look forward to hearing from you.

Find your tribe

One of the reasons I come to events like the conference I am currently attending is to be with like minded people. To share my experience with theirs, to learn from all the people that I meet as well as the ones delivering talks or workshops and to feel like I am in community.

It can often be quite an isolated road to travel when you are starting to walk a spiritual path. I have experienced many friends who really didn't connect to the changes that they saw in me and wanted me to stay stuck in their pity party or keep struggling with them. Family members also may not understand what is happening within you as they see you change, possibly stepping away from the religious teaching of the family, attending different events and perhaps moving into new spiritual practice. All this can be quite challenging for the people that love us. It is for this reason that it is important to find a community that supports you and your new pathway. They may not be travelling exactly the same road as you, but if they are loving and open to change then they can bring a great feeling of community and support to you as a fellow traveller.

I remember as a teenager starting to investigate new and different spirituality I went along to a Brahma Kumaris (http://www.bkwsu.com) meeting and meditation session. I really loved it, even though I didn't really know much about meditation at that point. When I came home my Father didn't know anything about that particular group and said I should be careful they might be a cult. It was in the time of the Moonies and he was obviously living in fear that his daughter would be carried off into some unknown religious sect and never be seen again - as it happens that took another 20 years to happen ;). This is an example of what can happen as the people who love us are fearful of our growth and expansion. It is perfectly natural and understandable, but if we are to continue I have found it hugely helpful to be part of a community.

There are many more people in the world now who are open to self transformation and a new and different connection to their creative source. I invite you to investigate groups that are around you to see if there is somewhere that you feel connected to. It is worth stepping outside your boundaries to find that level of love and support to what I now refer to as my soul family.

Don't forget there are many online communities which could give you support, it doesn't replace the lovely feeling of a heart felt hug, but it is still a great help towards feeling like you are not an alien on this planet as you expand a grow into the greatest expression of yourself.

I invite you to go and explore new possibilities and new horizons to find your tribe. The journey will be well worth while.

Today I bathe in the glory of my soul family. I open my heart to them and embrace each path with love.

The Divine Magnificence is YOU!

I am currently attending a fantastic New Thought conference. There have been many wise speakers but the thing that I most want to share today is something that Petra Weldes spoke about yesterday evening.

The main idea was the personal integration of spiritual concepts into all of our lives, using the 7 primary shakras.  Often when we first come to learn spiritual truth it is something that we understand on a very mental level. Petra spoke about moving these concepts from the mind to the heart, and beyond that moving them into every area of the body. Using the body as a metaphor for every area of our lives, we know that no matter what we are doing we are still an expression of the living god, a divine idea expressed through all our thoughts, deeds and actions.

We are each at choice in how we remember who we really are, and how often we remember the truth of our being.  Regardless of how and when we remember, we are never not divine expression. There is only universal energy, the creative source. How you chose, or not, to connect consciously with that is up to you.

You may be comfortable with calling this power God or Allah, Yahweh or Gaia. It really doesn't care what you call it, how or when you connect to it, or even if you never do. It is all there is and it always supports and loves you without condition or judgement.

If you are a parent, you may understand fully that you love your children, no matter what they do or how they behave. I perceive a power within me and all around me that feels like that. Regardless of what I do, say, think or fail at. I know I am adored beyond any measure in every moment of my life and that feeling of fullness allows me to be filled enough to spread that feeling of love into every deed, every connection and every other reflection of God that I meet.

I invite you to breathe deeply and sense that there is a power and a presence within and without of you that adores you, never judges you and supports you through the tough times.

Just for today I know the statement, "do ye not not know that ye are Gods" is true for me. I honour the divine magnificent expression that I am and I see that reflected in every face I meet.

In Love. J x