How Do You Deal With This?

[success]Abundance is a process of letting go; that which is empty can receive. ~ Bryant H. McGill[/success]

That’s it, I’ve officially become ask Abbey, or Prudence, or whatever her name was and I don’t mind one bit.  You might suppose I’m being asked thoughtful, life altering questions…mmm not so much.  Unless, how did you get those grease stains out of your shirt, or what do you do to keep your orchids blooming, count as life altering questions.  And then there’s that age old enquiry  which seems to persistently loom large…why are Brits so stingy with ice cubes in drinks?

But every now and then things pop up that really light my fire…like these.

Sometimes staying positive in the face of reality just makes me feel irritated at myself. How do you deal with that?

I’m having trouble with a neighbour and I get very upset, and want to respond in my old way.  How do I deal with this differently?

I want to lose weight, but I’ve been trying the same old diet thing for years and it works for a while, but then I’m back to where I was.  How do you deal with that?

Remembering what I learned when I was knee high to a grasshopper from those two wise women in my life, mum and grandma and what I’ve been practicing since, here’s my answer…and it’s the same one for them all.

Don’t wait until you have challenging or difficult events to deal with before beginning to practice associating yourself with lovely thoughts.  It makes it all that much harder to deal with.  Begin now, with the little things.  Any little thing.  And keep practicing every day, as much as possible.

If you really want to experience a different life, a different world then YOU have to be different. It’s the only way.  We can’t keep our present level of being, we can’t keep our old reactions, we can’t hang onto the way we’ve thought of things before. The person we desire to be is brought about by a change in our reactions to life.

Who we want to be already exists, but our usual reactions keep us anchored to our current state of consciousness, our state of mind.  To set ourselves free we have to change our reactions.  This means being willing to sacrifice our present level of being.

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. ~Lao Tzu

We must turn away from the dominant mood that governs our actions and reactions to life.  We have to turn away from the thoughts and feelings that keep us in our present state.  Only by changing ourselves can we change our life and that’s often the one thing we really don’t want to change.

If we want to fly…first we have to let go.

By starting now, today we can become more awake to what’s taking place within us, as opposed to what’s taking place in our outer world…what we call reality.  As our thoughts and reactions become more disciplined, we are lifted into higher levels of living.  It’s no more complicated than a rearrangement of our thoughts.  Notice I didn’t say it was easy.  All I can tell you is that whatever the state you dwell in, that’s the state made manifest.

Once again it comes down to what do we choose.  No one can do it for us…although there are times when I truly wish they could, so I could sit on silk cushions and eat strawberries and cream and have someone think wonderful thoughts for me…okay maybe not…or maybe so!

Trust yourself, trust your vision for your life to make it real.  As Gandhi put it so eloquently be the change you want to see in the world.

Please, please begin now…she says selfishly…because as you change your world, you also change mine.

Encourage one another.

Love Elle.

xoxo

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