Promises, dreams and You

1. Each one of us makes promises to ourselves, can you think of some promises you’ve made and not kept?
2. What are some promises you can reward yourself with?
3. How many promises have you made to others and kept at the cost of your own needs? Record the promises you make that hurt you. 
4. Select one personal promise that you want to keep. Write when you will keep it.
5. Write about the dreams you’ve had and abandoned.
6. Write about a dream that you did achieve, what did you do that made this one succeed?
7. Intuition is the inner instinct that gives clarity. The you just know sense. Write your experiences of intuition in your life.  Can you think when intuition protected you from harm?
8. Can you think of a time when your intuition pushed you in a new direction
9. Or, a time when you didn’t listen and opportunity passed you by?
10. Practice your intuition. Pay attention to it and write it down as soon as you can.

Write the hunches or feelings you have followed in the last week.

(—O—)

Am I rich in family? Do I devote my time to my spouse and children to build a strong, happy family that is rewarding..

 Am I rich in friends? Do I cultivate friendship and am I a joy to be around

Am I rich in health? Eating right, exercising, taking care of my mind, body and spirit.

Am I rich in strength? Looking after my body with good exercise, relaxing when needed and doing something about my stress levels.

Am I rich in knowledge? Reading and studying to improve my knowledge.

Am I rich in skills? Practicing my skills, sports and spirituality to become proficient in myself.

Am I rich in character? Honest and truthful in all situations and trusted by others.

(—O—)

When writing try to instill into your work some or maybe all of the ideas above. You may find that you begin by following some, and then accepting others or you may find that you are already incorporating them. I wish you well.

• Spirituality

Writing on spirituality can appear awkward as our thoughts, emotions and expression tend to be more inward or private and what appears graceful as prayer or quiet thought can appear difficult and clumsy on the page. I’d urge you not to let this get in the way, like all other expression we get better with practice. Similarly, if the word ‘God’ appears here and is clumsy for you as an expression of spirituality please substitute your own understanding.

1. Are you beginning to understand how your uniqueness is the key to your spiritual path?
   1. Do you know you can choose new beliefs when old beliefs feel limited?
   1. Emotions are beautiful and ultimately a gift from inner being; we need to learn how to understand our emotional nature. How true is this for you?
   1. Are you working towards greater transparency before God?
   1. Self-directed growth; now you’ve begun, how will you continue?
   1. Are you aware of developing greater harmony and balance with yourself and others?
   1. Are you developing a deeper understanding, empathy and compassion for others?
   1. Are you working towards seeing yourself as others see you?
   1.  Change and healing occur when we connect to our own inner power source. True?
   1. Good feelings and a sense of being enough result when we connect to our own inner being.
   1. Symptoms are not to be feared; they exist to be befriended and learned from, telling us where the attention and healing need to be.
   1. Each of us has strong potentials, no matter how low we feel.
   1. We have what we need inside to deal effectively with our challenges. We just have to learn how to access the resources within.
   1.  Is this true for you: We are all spiritual and energetic beings who are currently exploring the physical world.
   1. Life takes on more meaning and joy when we establish a basic trust in ourselves.
   1.  There is no excitement like discovering ourselves.
   1. We are all mirrors to each other.

(—O—)

Looking after yourself 103

Non-Judgement

Non-judgement is letting go of judgment while still being free to discern. If you judge you will not detach from the dictatorship of ‘Safe or Unsafe’ and will continue to hold on to your limitations because judgment is an energy that keeps fear, limitation and pain alive. 

Detachment

Detachment is letting go of your needs and embracing your desires. It is the act of trusting and allowing the creative power of your divinity to open doors and make connections to manifest your desires, instead of depending upon your attachments to fulfil your needs.

Living In the Now

The now is a place where your consciousness is not limited by the past or the future. You’re connected to you and know that time and space are unreal.

Loving Unconditionally by honouring the Divinity in all People and Situations

Honouring is seeing and connecting with the divine in everything. Without knowing there is divinity in all things, you struggle. By not allowing everything to be a part of you, you become or feel separate and instead feel a need for survival. Healing stops if you do not trust and allow your unconditional love to keep you safe. Honouring is to love unconditionally.

Unconditional love flows from your spirit and has the power to manifest your desires and heal your pain. It is not the same as the conditional love of the emotions.

Seeing and Following Your Vision

A vision is finding which paths you desire to travel on your souls’ journey. Holding fear means you cannot have clear vision. By applying these principles you will begin to find the clarity to see your vision.

Before you begin, recognise the commitment to yourself that keeping a Journal is.  Make yourself a promise to stay through ‘thick and thin’ and guarantee yourself that the more you put in based upon honesty and care, the more you will discover about yourself.

More on your commitment to you;

Unless you have confidence in the reliability of those around you, you are at risk. When those you count on let you down, life becomes confusing and maybe even dangerous. Unfortunately we learn this too well when Adults let us down or hurt us.

Mutual trust is the building block of relationships, mistrust cannot build a healthy life. Ask those around you to demonstrate trust in you and themselves, don’t set traps, just ask them to do what they say they will and do the same in return. They will become more valuable to you and themselves.  Without trustworthiness you may be considered worthless and that hurts, it hurts in ways you know and countless ways that destroy you that you may not know.

Learn to keep your word once given, your promises must come true. If you say you will do something; do it. If you say you will not do something, do not do it. Easier said than done, practice for a while, ask for help; you will be surprised how others will help you if asked. Trust in others…

Those of us who keep their word are trusted and admired but those who break their word often never get another chance, they will be untrustworthy until they can consistently keep their word again. Don’t be afraid to give them a chance, only be wary. Each of us has failed and can fail in the future, judging each other only invites failure to walk with us again. Be watchful, be wary and invite those who have failed to win.

Resistance causes discomfort, if you feel uncomfortable, unhappy or find situations difficult this is probably due to you resisting somebody, a situation or event as the way it is. You may be doing this unconsciously, but all suffering, discomfort and pain, come from not allowing what is, to be. If you can learn to not resist what is, your life will be happier and with less discomfort. These unconscious processes come from our internal map of reality, which we originally created to make us safe. However, the events that created the map may no longer hold true for you. When you resist it may seem as if the thing being resisted is causing the discomfort. But really it is your own resistance that causes difficulty and putting this pain outside yourself takes away your ability to do anything about it. We call this projection and projection stops you from recognising the discomfort that is changeable by you. Because the resistance is the cause of our discomfort, ending it is the only solution.

Instead understand the discomfort as a clue to issues you’ve yet to work on, this doesn’t necessarily mean that your life will be discomfort free, because life will always send new things to deal with. It’s more that you are doing your best towards your happiness and you are working on the issues you can work on. Then maybe, recognise that everything else is beyond your control and you can let them go.

Integrity

DO: Stand up for your beliefs

Follow your conscience 

Be honourable and upright 

Live by your principles no matter what others say

Have the courage to do what is right and to try new things even when it is hard or costly 

Build and guard your reputation

DON’T:

Do anything wrong 

Lose heart if you fail or don’t get what you want

Honesty

DO:

Tell the truth and nothing but the truth

Be sincere

Be forthright and candid

DON’T:

Lie cheat, steal, be sneaky, tricky, or deceptive

Reliability

DO:

Keep your promises

Honour your word and commitments 

Be dependable

Do what you are supposed to do

Return what you borrow

Pay your debts

Be on time

Loyalty

DO:

Stand by and protect your family, friends, school and country

Be a good friend

Look out for those who care about you

Keep secrets of those who trust you

DON’T:

Betray a trust

Let your friends hurt themselves 

Do anything just so others will like you

Ask a friend to do anything wrong or spread gossip that could hurt others

Golden Rule

DO:

Treat others the way you want to be treated

Respect the dignity, privacy and freedom of all individuals

Value and honour all people, no matter what they can do for you or to you Respect others’ property, take good care of property you are allowed to use and don’t take or use property without permission

Respect the autonomy of others, tell them what they should know to make good choices about their own lives

DON’T:

Use or manipulate others

Abuse, demean, or mistreat anyone

Tolerance and Acceptance

DO:

Judge others on their character, abilities and conduct without regard to race, religion, gender, where they live, how they dress or the amount of money they have

Be tolerant, respectful, and accepting of those who are different from you Listen to others and try to understand their points of view.

Non-violence

DO:

Resolve disagreements, respond to insults, and deal with anger peacefully and without violence

DON’T:

Use threats or physical force to get what you want or to express anger

Courtesy

DO:

Use good manners

Be courteous, polite and civil to everyone

DON’T:

Use put-downs, insults, yelling, or ridicule to embarrass or hurt another

Duty

DO:

Know and do your duty

Acknowledge and meet your legal and moral obligations

Accountability

DO:

Accept responsibility for the consequences of your choices, not only for what you do but what you don’t do

Think about consequences on yourself and others before you act

Think long-term

Do what you can do to make things better

Set a good example

DON’T:

Look the other way when you can make a difference

Make excuses or blame others

Pursuit of Excellence

DO:

Your best

Persevere

Be prepared

Be diligent

Work hard

Make all you do worthy of pride

Self-Control

DO:

Take charge of your own life

Set realistic goals

Keep a positive outlook

Be prudent and self-disciplined with your health, emotions, time and money. Be rational, act out of reason not anger, revenge or fear

Know the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do

Be self-reliant, manage your life so you are not dependent on others; pay your own way whenever you can

Justice

DO:

Be fair and just

Treat people equally

Make decisions without favouritism or prejudice

In imposing punishment be sure the consequences for wrongdoing are consistent, certain, and proportional, neither too harsh or lenient

DON’T:

Take more than your fair share

Take advantage of or blame others unfairly
 

Openness

DO: Be open-minded and impartial — consider what people have to say before you decide

Be careful, get the facts, including opposing viewpoints, before making decisions, especially blaming or accusing another

Concern for Others

DO:

Be compassionate and empathetic

Be kind, loving, and considerate

Be thankful and express gratitude for what people do for you

Forgive others for their shortcomings

DON’T:

Be mean, cruel or insensitive

Charity

DO:

Be charitable and altruistic by giving money, time, support and comfort for the sake of making someone else’s life better, not for praise or gratitude

 Help people in need

Do Your Share

DO:

Be a good citizen and a good neighbour

Care about and pursue the common good

Be a volunteer by helping your school and community be better, cleaner, and safer

Protect the environment by conserving resources, reducing pollution, and cleaning up after yourself

Participate in making things better by voicing your opinion, voting, serving on committees, reporting wrongdoing and paying taxes

Respect Authority and the Law

DO:

Play by the rules

Obey parents, teachers, coaches, and others who have been given authority

Observe just laws

Honour and respect principles of democracy

(c)neilbenbow