The most rudimentary form of prayer is worry.  How, you ask, could worry be a form of prayer?  Worry is not only a form of prayer, it is the form most often practiced by the most people.  How can this be?

Our understanding of prayer beings with one basic principle:

Every thought you think tends to manifest according to its nature.  Everything in your life began with an idea.  If you are going to build a home, you start with a blueprint.  If you are painting a portrait, the model sits before you as you set your hand to the canvas.  If you are traveling from Chicago to Seattle, a thought precedes your first step.  The notion of something coming into existence without a thought preceding it is as preposterous as a flower growing without a seed to start it.

This brings us to our second prayer principle:

Apples make apples, and oranges form oranges.  An apple seed has never grown an orange, and it never will.  In the same way, thoughts of love, light, and joy beget more of the same; and thoughts of fear, lack, and smallness attract their own kind.

Because most people do not understand that every thought is a prayer, they attempt to change their lives by rearranging the outer world without addressing the negative thoughts they are holding about it.  This is called a "geographical cure," which does not work.  It is useless to try to change your outer world unless you first change your inner world.  If you attempt to make external changes before doing the necessary inner transformation, the outer world will just keep repeating the same pattern.  The movie Groundhog Day illustrates a very entertaining lesson in how we keep re-creating the same situation over and over again until we change our mind.  The moment our attitude shifts, so does the situation.

If you want or love something a great deal, you will attract it into your life.  And if you fear or worry about something with emotional intensity, you will attract the object of your fear.  The universal manifestation machine is unbiased in turning your thoughts into reality.

If you are not aware that your thoughts are powerful, you will spend a great deal of time thinking and talking about what you do not want, and you will receive more of the same, and on and on, until your life is a mess and you have no idea why.  You will identity yourself as victim, find people who agree with you; and discover news stories, scientific studies, and all manner of evidence to prove that life is unfair and you are just a pimple on the complexion of the universe.

There is another way.  You weren't born to live small, and you don't have to.  You can shift your attitude now and begin to think about what you do want instead of what you don't want.  Then, the universe will have no choice but to give you what you are concentrating on in your favor, instead of against it.

Worry is the power of creation turned against your own best interests.  The same engine that runs your car in reverse will move it forward if you but reposition the gearshift.  To shift from reverse to drive, reframe your experiences to find the blessing rather than the problem.  Then you will become the master of your universe, rather than its victim.

What you become is not a result of what happens to you; it is a result of how you think about what happens to you.  Six-year-old Tommy's parents were aghast as they watched their son repeatedly throw a baseball in the air, swing at it with a bat, and miss it by a foot.  Finally, Tommy's dad could take it no longer. He approached the boy, put a hand on his shoulder, and compassionately told him,  "Well, son, I guess you're just not meant to be a hitter."

"Hitter?" the child looked at his father questioningly.  "Who cares about hitting?  I'm going to be the greatest pitcher who ever lived!"

When Jesus taught, "As a man thinketh, so shall it be," he was reminding us that we must keep our mind on our hopes, not our fears.  We must focus on our heart's desires rather than our nightmares.

Here is your antidote to worry:  Choose a phrase that brings you release, relief, and empowerment, such as "Peace, be still," "The power of God is within me," or "Love is the answer."  Whenever worry begins to set in, consciously and meditatively repeat your positive phrase until you return to peace.  The mind is capable of paying attention to only one thought at a time.  If you focus on ideas that uplift you, your mind will be unable to dwell on fearful issues.  Eventually you will develop the habit of positive thinking, and the worry that once haunted you will have no reality.  Begin to master the power of prayer by replacing self-defeating thoughts with visions of your brightest future.

Today I set my mind and heart on a new path.  I focus my energy on love, appreciation, and my highest possibilities.  Today I claim responsibility for my own success, and step forward with a new enthusiasm to manifest unprecedented good.  I use my mind to create only the best, and I draw unto me all the support and resources I need for positive change.  Thank you, God, for opening the door to a life filled with blessings.
   
   

Living Life Fully, the e-zine
exists to try to provide for visitors of the world wide web a place
of growth, peace, inspiration, and encouragement.  Our articles
are presented as thoughts of the authors--by no means do we
mean to present them as ways that anyone has to live life.  Take
from them what you will, and disagree with whatever you disagree
with--just know that they'll be here for you each week.

Accomplishing Nothing

It's really fascinating to witness one of my more annoying traits--my inability to do nothing without feeling that I'm wasting "precious" time.  It's a trait that annoys only me, fortunately, because other people generally don't know what I'm feeling.  Let me explain.

When I have days off, or even weeks off, I always feel that I should be accomplishing something.  I should be on the computer, working on revising one of my unpublished novels (there are four), working on the website, or creating or revising something else.  If I shouldn't be on the computer, then I should be out in the yard, working, or in the garage, cleaning and arranging.  Or perhaps I should be painting the house or washing the dishes.  My mind somehow thinks that I always should be accomplishing something "worthwhile," and not "wasting" time by doing nothing.

When I was a kid, I used to love to read.  I read tons of books, almost all the time.  These days, though, I start to feel guilty when I spend time sitting around and reading--even though I know that when I'm reading I'm accomplishing something very important.

Because of this trait, it's very important for me to monitor myself and to force myself to take time to relax and be still.  Stillness is one of the most important things of my life, and there are few things I like better than putting on a CD of soothing sounds and sitting on the couch and listening.  As I said, though, I really have to force myself to do this; otherwise, I'd listen to that part of myself that says I'm wasting time by "doing nothing."

And when I am doing "nothing," I remind myself that the inactive times are just as much a part of life as the active ones, and that I need to accept my inactivity for what it is--for my acceptance of it can bring me peace of mind and make the time more valuable.  This way, I don't fret about what I "should" be doing.

These two contradictory parts of myself are pretty constantly at odds, and it's a very strange feeling to have.  I write about it, though, because I'm sure that I'm not the only person who goes through this--I know people who work 60 or 70 hours a week because they feel they're wasting time if they're not "accomplishing" something.

What they don't get, though, is the truth that rest and relaxation are key ingredients to working really well.  Many studies have shown that people who aren't overworked are actually more efficient workers, and they tend to do their jobs better.  The people who take the time to back off from work and being busy are the people who are truly taking care of themselves, and allowing themselves to recharge their energy so that they can work better when they do get back to the job.

Is it hard for you to sit back and do nothing?  Is it hard to pick up a book and enjoy a simple story?  Is it hard to go for a long walk without having a destination in mind, or some sort of task to accomplish while walking?  If it is, it's time to listen to the common-sense side of yourself that tells you that working all the time isn't healthy or wise, and that there's much more to life than "accomplishments."  Many people have lived happy, healthy, creative, loving lives without ever having been promoted to a high position in a company, or without earning tons of money or buying expensive cars or houses.

I don't particularly like the fact that I have to tell myself constantly that it's okay to do "nothing," and that doing so is just as much a part of life as doing "something" is.  But I do feel grateful that I'm able to recognize the trap that my mind has created so that I can avoid making "busyness" my reality.  If I weren't able to slow down and relax often, I'm sure that I would burn out rather quickly, and I certainly don't want to do that.  What about you?  Are you able to put on some quiet music or nature sounds and sit on the couch or floor and listen to your own breathing, without thinking of the tasks that need to be done right now?  When you can reach the point at which you're able to do so, you'll definitely be on track to have a rich, full life.

But not for another twenty years would I understand that the vibration in my grandparents' house was love.  That is a conceptual understanding that had to be guided by an intuition, which then was nourished by a lot of reading and reflection.  My grandparents were in love.  They loved each other.  They loved their children and grandchildren, and were loved in return, though probably not quite as much.  Their children loved one another, the way sisters and brothers do.  My grandfather and grandmother loved God, each in his or her own special and sometimes peculiar ways; and their love for God was reciprocated, in some graceful proportion.

It was not my grandparents' love for each other, or for their children, or for me, that made the air hum in the twilight.  No particular expression or impression of love caused that vibration, but love itself, ever so briefly made perceptible.  Love sounded a chord now and again, this chord of intense pleasure tinged with melancholy, to remind me that all of the component notes had been ringing there for generations.  In visual terms, it was like noticing all at once that the rainbow of colors flowing from a prism is derived from a ray of pure sunlight.

Daniel Mark Epstein

The Art of Living with Others
Wilferd A. Peterson

The secret of living successfully with others is not in the practice of certain surface techniques and assumed attitudes.  Harmony within ourselves comes first in learning to live harmoniously with others.

Beyond this, in my personal relationships with people and the world, I have found help and guidance from an anthropologist and a philosopher.  They opened my eyes to two great truths about living together--the reality of brotherhood and the oneness of life.

The brotherhood of man is usually thought of as something unattainable, the vision of a dreamer.  The truth is that brotherhood exists now and has always existed.  The brotherhood of man is here.  It is not a fancy but a fact.  It is not a dream but a reality.

Ashley Montago, the anthropologist, tells us that there is no such thing as race, that all people spring from common ancestors.  "The existing varieties of humankind," he writes, "are derived from the same ancestral group and belong to a single species.  So far as the mental traits of the variety of humankind are concerned, it is now quite certain such traits are not linked with physical characteristics, and it is reasonably certain that those behavioral traits which are alleged to be racial or inborn are acquired by social heredity and not by biological inheritance.  The genetic structure of humankind is so alike that the conclusion would, on this ground alone, seem inescapable--that all people are brothers and sisters under the skin."

Children do not begin to hate until we teach them to hate, until we create environments that instill hatred in their minds and hearts.  There is absolutely no such thing as a born bigot.  Hatred, resentment, prejudice, intolerance--all are acquired attitudes.

In living with others on this earth we need at last to recognize the reality of brotherhood.  We are brothers and sisters.  We share a common fate.  In this  nuclear age we will live or die together.  To become aware of this fact should inspire us to do our best to break down the mental walls of prejudice, fear and misunderstanding that separate us, so that we may live together and work together to achieve our mutual objectives and realize our full potential as human beings.

Humans are not naturally warlike.  The thought patterns, habits, emotions, ideals that motivate us are acquired.  Because people are brothers and sisters to their fell people, it is high time we began thinking and acting like brothers and sisters.  Not all people will recognize the fact of brotherhood, but those who do should not wait for others to do something but should begin at once to put the spirit of brotherhood into action.  There will be many disappointments, defeats, and discouragements, but we must continue to try to bring people together.  Only if we do this can we hope to survive in this dangerous world.  We must stop incorrect thinking before incorrect thinking stops us.

Albert Schweitzer agrees with Montagu about the oneness of life and gives us a philosophical approach to that oneness.  Schweitzer, who died at ninety, was a medical missionary in Africa.  He was also an organist, an authority on Bach, a theologian and a philosopher.  His greatest teaching is compressed into a spiritual capsule of three words.

While at his hospital in Africa he worked evenings on his books on the philosophy of civilization.  He continued searching for a condensed statement that would embody a universal ethic for humankind.  The words he sought came to him while he was journeying up the Ogowe River in Africa.  He had been writing ideas on a pad.  Suddenly his mind lighted up with the phrase:  reverence for life.

When one has reverence for life, one holds life in the highest esteem as God's gift to us.  One recognizes that all life is a part of God and that God is a part of all life.  One sees that the chief purpose of life--plant, animal, and human--is to express itself.  The universal affirmation of all life is the will to live, to grow, to make the most of its own unique qualities.

When a person has reverence for life, that person will never do anything to harm, hinder, or destroy life.  Instead that person bends every effort to help life to fulfill its highest destiny.  That person strives to maintain, enhance, and assist life to make the most of itself.

When we take the phrase reverence for life into our minds and think about it, our consciousness is lifted up.  We see that when we help other people we help ourselves, because we are one, we are a part of each other.  We come to realize that when we war on life we war on ourselves, for the same life flows through all people.

Reverence for life means helping people, healing people, teaching people, inspiring people. . . . It is having the vision to see that when even the very smallest segment of life is helped, all life is helped.  It is using our influence to glorify and celebrate the eternal miracle of life.

The keys of brother- and sisterhood and reverence for life will unlock the door to new horizons in the creative relationship of humans.

Free Wallpaper!  Just click below on
the size your desktop is formatted to,
right-click on the picture that appears
in the new window, and choose
"Set as background."

1024 x 768 - 1280 x 800

All contents © 2009 Living Life Fully®, all rights reserved.
Please feel free to re-use material from this site other than copyrighted articles--
contact each author for permission to use those.  If you use material, it would be
greatly appreciated if you would provide credit and a link back to the original
source, and let us know where the material is published.  Thank you.