I first heard this story in a group for Adult Children of Alcoholics, nearly 25 years ago, and was delighted to find it again tonight.  If you aren’t familiar with it, I hope you enjoy it!  If you are, I hope you enjoy reading it again.   An Autobiography in Five Short Chapters A poem [...]

I first heard this story in a group for Adult Children of Alcoholics, nearly 25 years ago, and was delighted to find it again tonight.  If you aren’t familiar with it, I hope you enjoy it!  If you are, I hope you enjoy reading it again.

 

An Autobiography in Five Short Chapters

A poem by Portia Nelson that appears in Claudia Black’s book. Repeat After Me

I

I walk down the street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I fall in

I am lost . . . I am helpless.

It isn’t my fault.

It takes forever to find a way out.

II

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I pretend I don’t see it.

I fall in again.

I can’t believe I am in the same place.

But it isn’t my fault.

It still takes a long time to get out.

III

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I see it is there.

I still fall in . . . it’s a habit.

My eyes are open.

I know where I am.

It is my fault.

I get out immediately.

IV

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I walk around it.

V

I walk down another street.

 

 

Put the Glass Down By Dr.Claude Shema-Rutagengwa, Pr.Dr.Udaya Kumar and Pr.Dr.Dietrich http://www.author-me.com/fict07/puttheglass.htm Once a professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see and asked the students, “how much do you think this glass weighs? ’50gms!’?…’100gms…’125gms’…. The students answered, “I really don’t [...]

Put the Glass Down

By Dr.Claude Shema-Rutagengwa, Pr.Dr.Udaya Kumar and Pr.Dr.Dietrich

http://www.author-me.com/fict07/puttheglass.htm

Once a professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see and asked the students, “how much do you think this glass weighs? ’50gms!’?…’100gms…’125gms’….

The students answered, “I really don’t know unless I weigh it.”

The professor said, ‘now, my question is: What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?’

‘Nothing’ the students said.

“OK what would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?” the professor asked.

“Your arm would begin to ache” said one of the students.

“You’re right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?”

“Your arm could go numb; you might have severe muscle stress & paralysis; have to go to hospital for sure! Ventured another student”, all the students laughed.

“Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?” Asked the professor.

“No” was the reply of all the students.

“Then what caused the arm to ache; the muscle to stress?” After a pause the professor asked “Before my arm ache, what should I do?”

The students were puzzled.

“Put the glass down!” said one of the students.

“Exactly!” said the professor, “Life’s problems are exactly like this. Hold it for a few minutes in your head; they seem OK. Think of them for a long time; they begin to ache. Hold it even longer; they begin to paralyze you. You will not be able to do anything.”

It’s important to think of the challenges (problems) in your life, but EVEN MORE IMPORTANT to ‘put them down’ at the end of every day before you go to sleep. That way, you are not stressed, you wake up every day fresh; strong; can handle any issue, any challenge that comes your way!

Remember to put the glass down everyday!

 

Feeling judged by others is a fairly universal theme among my clients and friends, so I wanted to share some insights I’ve gained which might help you reframe the way you hear hurtful comments. The spiritual principles you need to understand are the relationship between our lower and higher natures, the principle of neither giving [...]

Feeling judged by others is a fairly universal theme among my clients and friends, so I wanted to share some insights I’ve gained which might help you reframe the way you hear hurtful comments.

The spiritual principles you need to understand are the relationship between our lower and higher natures, the principle of neither giving offence nor taking offence; and the concept of “love languages”.

Dual Natures:

We were born with both a higher and lower nature.  The lower nature is the voice of the ego, and the higher nature is the voice of God.  You can tell the difference between the two, because one is judging and condemning, and the other is pure love.

It’s common to hear “you should” . . . and immediately go to “I’m not good enough”.  Both sentences are lies emanating from our lower nature!  The only one who knows what you should do, is God, and you can know His will for you through the Bahá’í Writings.

The truth is that God created you perfect . . .

With the hands of power I made thee and with the fingers of strength I created thee; and within thee have I placed the essence of My light. Be thou content with it and seek naught else, for My work is perfect and My command is binding. Question it not, nor have a doubt thereof.  (Baha’u'llah, Hidden Words, Arabic 12)

. . . and noble,

Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself.  (Bahá’u'lláh, Hidden Words, Arabic 22).

We abase ourselves every time we act from the lower nature, by putting ourselves down or allowing others to do so.   You’re good enough for God, and that’s all that matters.

Giving and taking offence:

To protect us from ourselves, the Bahá’í Writings tell us we’re not to give offence nor take offence:

Thus no member should ever allow himself to be prevented from expressing frankly his view because it may offend a fellow member; and, realizing this, no member should take offence at another member’s statements.  (Universal House of Justice,  Lights of Guidance, p. 179-180)

When we “give offence” we are deliberately saying things designed to oppress a soul – another “no-no” in our Faith:

There is no fire in the eyes of those who have known God and His signs, fiercer than to transgress His laws and to oppress another soul, even to the extent of a mustard seed.  (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 79)

“Taking offence” means believing someone else’s lie – something spoken from their lower nature.  The best remedy for that is to see them as captives of their lower nature, and forgive them:

If someone commits an error and wrong toward you, you must instantly forgive him.  (Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 453)

Language of love

Dr. Gary Chapman has written a book called “The Five Languages of Love”.  In it, he identifies 5 ways in which people demonstrate their love for each other:

Words of Affirmation:  If this is your love language, unsolicited compliments mean the world to you. Hearing the words, “I love you,” are important—hearing the reasons behind that love sends your spirits skyward. Insults can leave you shattered and are not easily forgotten.

Quality Time:  In the vernacular of Quality Time, nothing says, “I love you,” like full, undivided attention. Being there for this type of person is critical, but really being there—with the TV off, fork and knife down, and all chores and tasks on standby—makes your significant other feel truly special and loved. Distractions, postponed dates, or the failure to listen can be especially hurtful.

Receiving Gifts: Don’t mistake this love language for materialism; the receiver of gifts thrives on the love, thoughtfulness, and effort behind the gift. If you speak this language, the perfect gift or gesture shows that you are known, you are cared for, and you are prized above whatever was sacrificed to bring the gift to you. A missed birthday, anniversary, or a hasty, thoughtless gift would be disastrous—so would the absence of everyday gestures.

Acts of Service:  Can vacuuming the floors really be an expression of love? Absolutely! Anything you do to ease the burden of responsibilities weighing on an “Acts of Service” person will speak volumes. The words he or she most want to hear: “Let me do that for you.” Laziness, broken commitments, and making more work for them tell speakers of this language their feelings don’t matter.

Physical Touch:  A person whose primary language is Physical Touch is, not surprisingly, very touchy. Hugs, pats on the back, holding hands, and thoughtful touches on the arm, shoulder, or face—they can all be ways to show excitement, concern, care, and love. Physical presence and accessibility are crucial, while neglect or abuse can be unforgivable and destructive.

For example, I’m a person who values quality time and acts of service, and don’t particularly care about getting gifts.  As a life coach, I’m likely to think deeply about what my clients tell me and sometimes go overboard finding the exact quotes from the Bahá’í Writings which might help them solve their problems.  Sometimes, clients who value words of affirmation “take offence” because I give them lengthy responses which turn into blog postings instead of simply affirming that they are OK where they are.  They feel judged instead of feeling loved, and “take offence” when no offence was intended.  They don’t understand that I was only acting out of my “love language”.

A note to my life coaching clients:  You can be 95% certain that whatever I say, I am not judging you (the other 5% is because I’m human!)  One thing you can know for sure, though, is that I can’t bear to give offense.  If I know I’ve hurt someone, it hurts me even worse!

Click here to find out what your love language is.  You don’t need to give your name and email address.  Just click on “skip this step”.

How has your life been affected by giving or taking offence?  Post your comments here:

 

 

The biggest problem about thoughts is this; people don’t know the source of their thoughts. They don’t stop and ask, “Is that really how God thinks?” or, “Is this thought coming from the kingdom of God or the kingdom of darkness?” For example:  Where did the thought come from, which led Mírzá Yahyá to betray [...]

The biggest problem about thoughts is this; people don’t know the source of their thoughts. They don’t stop and ask, “Is that really how God thinks?” or, “Is this thought coming from the kingdom of God or the kingdom of darkness?”

For example:  Where did the thought come from, which led Mírzá Yahyá to betray Bahá’u'lláh?

Where did the thought come from, which led Osama Bin Laden to bomb the World Trade Centre?

Where did the thought come from, which led Hitler to want to exterminate the Jews?

These thoughts all came out of their lower natures.  Not from God.  As “the Omniscient”; “the All-informed” and “the All Knowing”, God might have known what was going to happen, but He didn’t put the thoughts into their minds.  They bought those thoughts as if they were real, and coming from their own minds.  Because of their disobedience towards the laws of God, pathways were open for those idle fancies and vain imaginings to take root.

In the course I’m taking this week, I’m reminded that the word of God is the only source of true knowledge.  It’s the standard by which to judge everything else.

Do you know the source of your own thoughts?  Are they coming from God or from your lower nature?  The only way to know for sure is to run them through the Bahá’í Writings.

There are 3 sources of thought:

o      People in the here and now, telling us things

o      Our lower nature

o      Our higher nature – or the voice of God

How do thoughts develop?  We’re told in the Bahá’í Writings that we see something, which goes into our imagination, then into our thought, comprehension, and memory:

Sight is one of the outer powers; it sees and perceives this flower, and conveys this perception to the inner power — the common faculty — which transmits this perception to the power of imagination, which in its turn conceives and forms this image and transmits it to the power of thought; the power of thought reflects, and having grasped the reality, conveys it to the power of comprehension; the comprehension, when it has comprehended it, delivers the image of the object perceived to the memory, and the memory keeps it in its repository.  (Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith – Abdu’l-Baha Section, p. 317)

And when we choose to act, our negative thoughts come from our lower nature.  They aren’t who we are.  I can think “I’m fat; I’m ugly” or I’m poor, but that isn’t who I am.  It’s just a thought, and thoughts can be changed.

Negative thoughts come into our minds, flooding us with feelings and emotions (sounds like a definition of how I feel when I’m in overwhelm!), as if they were from ourselves.  They distance us from God, resulting in shame and guilt in a matter of seconds.  As a result, we hide from God, unable to pray, putting us deeper and deeper into our lower natures.  Bahá’u'lláh describes this process so eloquently:

Ye are even as the bird which soareth, with the full force of its mighty wings and with complete and joyous confidence, through the immensity of the heavens, until, impelled to satisfy its hunger, it turneth longingly to the water and clay of the earth below it, and, having been entrapped in the mesh of its desire, findeth itself impotent to resume its flight to the realms whence it came. Powerless to shake off the burden weighing on its sullied wings, that bird, hitherto an inmate of the heavens, is now forced to seek a dwelling-place upon the dust.  (Baha’u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, p. 327)

Pride and ego are also manifestations of our lower nature.  For example, perhaps the Kings and Rulers at the time of Bahá’u'lláh believed that their thoughts were arising from their own genius, rather than their lower natures, and this blinded them and caused them to reject the letters Bahá’u'lláh sent to them.

For many centuries, religious leaders controlled the thoughts of believers, training them how to think.  Literacy and questions were forbidden.  Their interpretations of scripture was not always based on truth as set forth in the Words of God, which is why Bahá’u'lláh abolished the priesthood.

Don’t ever believe what a man says.  Justice demands that we:

. . . see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor.  (Baha’u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words 2)

We can’t stop our lower natures from speaking to us, but we can choose whether or not we will listen and how we will respond.  In order to do this, we need to hold every thought captive, so we can discern whose voice we are listening to.

Recognizing imperfections, which we all have, is a positive step towards spiritual growth.  (The Universal House of Justice, 1993 Jun 05, Homosexuality, p. 6)

And once we’ve determined whose voice we are listening to, we need to identify the source and cast out all idle fancies and vain imaginings.  For example, I’m not usually a person who swears, but whenever I find myself using profanity, I seem unable to rid myself of it, until I can identify the person closest to me who is using those words.  Then I stop swearing effortlessly.

Our lower nature trains us how to think:

The root cause of wrongdoing is ignorance, and we must therefore hold fast to the tools of perception and knowledge.  (Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 136)

What we think and meditate on, becomes a part of who we are.

The reality of man is his thought . . . (Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 17)

For example:  If my reality is that I am poor, and my reality is my thought, it makes sense that my thoughts become the reason for my poverty.

Henry Wright, in his book “A More Excellent Way”, suggests that negative thoughts affect the body, change hormones and neurotransmitters and become habit.  We’ve been given clear guidance on how to reverse this trend:

I charge you all that each one of you concentrate all the thoughts of your heart on love and unity. When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love. Thoughts of war bring destruction to all harmony, well-being, restfulness and content.  Thoughts of love are constructive of brotherhood, peace, friendship, and happiness.  (Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 29)

If we think evil thoughts long enough, we will become evil.  One way to avoid it, is by using this affirmation, found in the prayer for spiritual qualities:

I will not dwell on the unpleasant things of life.  (‘Abdul-Bahá, Baha’i Prayers, p. 151)

And education alone can show us how to rise above it:

Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.  (Baha’u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, p. 259)

But true education comes from God:

The hope is cherished that ye may obtain true education in the shelter of the tree of His tender mercies and act in accordance with that which God desireth.  (Baha’u'llah, Tablets of Baha’u'llah, p. 27)

True education is superior to human education in that it:

. . . releases capacities, develops analytical abilities, confidence, will, and goal-setting competencies, and instills the vision that will enable them to become self-motivating change agents, serving the best interests of the community.  (Baha’i International Community, 1990 Mar 08, Teacher’s Situation Determining Factor of Quality)

If parents don’t educate their children in the ways of God, they will be called to account for their deeds before a “stern Lord”.  This is the only place in the Writings, where this threat exists!

In this New Cycle, education and training are recorded in the Book of God as obligatory and not voluntary. That is, it is enjoined upon the father and mother, as a duty, to strive with all effort to train the daughter and the son, to nurse them from the breast of knowledge and to rear them in the bosom of sciences and arts. Should they neglect this matter, they shall be held responsible and worthy of reproach in the presence of the stern Lord.  (Abdu’l-Bahá, Baha’i World Faith, p. 398)

In order for our thoughts to become aligned with God’s thoughts, we need to:

Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its depths.  (Baha’u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, p. 136)

In conclusion, we are thinking beings with the power of discernment.  We can choose which thoughts to put into our minds.  But we can’t do this unless we first immerse ourselves in the Ocean of God’s words by reading the Bahá’í Writings morning and eve and by saying our prayer three times a day (morning, evening and the obligatory prayer).

How many of my beliefs are coming from God’s teachings and how many from my own pathways and traditions?  I wanted know, so I’m taking the next three weeks to explore that question, through an online course, called “For my Life” – a biblical program based on the teachings of Henry Wright in a book [...]

How many of my beliefs are coming from God’s teachings and how many from my own pathways and traditions?  I wanted know, so I’m taking the next three weeks to explore that question, through an online course, called “For my Life” – a biblical program based on the teachings of Henry Wright in a book called “A More Excellent Way”.

I haven’t done much sharing from the heart in this blog before – most of the postings have come from the head and not from the heart.  I’ve lived my life that way for so long, that I’m only just becoming conscious of a desire to change that.

Six short years ago, I described my heart as a huge brick wall – impenetrable.  Four years ago, I referred to it as a stone, and was thrilled at the progress I’d made.  Now I want to clean out all the debris from my heart; remove the dust and dross; clear out the veils, so that there’s room for God to reside in the only place He wants to live, which is in my heart.

So, with a heart open to new ideas and new ways of looking at my life and the world, I had to come face to face with my relationship to God.

My purpose as a Bahá’í is to know God and to worship Him, something I say everyday in the Short Obligatory Prayer.  It’s become routine, and I frequently say it by rote, so I sometimes need to stop and remind myself of what it means.  I often need to ask myself how well I’m living up to my purpose.

Frequently I get caught up in the minutia of living my life, trying to control every aspect in order to feel safe, which is a remnant of years of violence and abuse in the home.  I forget that God has chosen me.  God is carrying the weight of the world.  I don’t have to!

I am reminded that God created me because he loves me.  He made me in His image.  He created me noble.  He created me as a “mine rich in gems of inestimable value”.  This is the truth.  Everything else I believe about myself is a lie.

I’m feeling sad as I write this.  My heart is breaking for the me that God created, who has been lost for such a long time.  O God, help me to get her back.  Take my grief and transmute it into certainty and a steadfastness so strong that nothing will ever break it again.

As I Bahá’í, I know I have to love God and love my neighbor, but the abuse I experienced as a child robbed me of my ability to love myself and distanced me from God, because I truly believed I was unlovable.  If I truly loved God and my neighbors the way I “love” myself (with hatred, judgment, condemnation), none of us would benefit and it would pull us all down.

I thought it was my right to hate myself.  When I started this journey of self-discovery, looking at what happened in my childhood, I truly believed it was my right to hate myself because I was a “worthless piece of s***”.  Fortunately God sent me an angel in the form of David Sowerby, who asked me ever so gently:  “Susan, are you arguing with God?”  This helped turn me around.  I’ve come a long way since then, and I have a long way still to go.

God wants me to know the truth so that it can set me free and transform the world.  I always thought I was unloveable.  I believed it to the core of my being.  The abuse taught me that.  The actions of my parents and friends and a cruel world taught me that.  And I believed it.  And it’s a lie.  I don’t want to believe a lie any longer!  I need to change my beliefs to match what the Bahá’í Writings say, not the other way round.

My God is the “All-Loving”; the “Ever-Forgiving”; the “All-Compassionate”, and not the fearful, wrathful, judgmental god of my parent’s teaching.

For most of my life, I’ve lived as though I truly believed I was unloveable, despite uncontroversial evidence to the contrary.   I have lots of well-wishers; lots of people who want to be my friend, and yet, something’s always stopped me from being able to feel or receive their love.  That has to change, as I recognize I’m defending a position that’s indefensible.  The only truth that any of us can believe is what we’re told in the Bahá’í Writings.  Just because I believe something, doesn’t make it true – it just makes me sick.

God wants me to accept myself:

Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Edu­cation can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.  (Bahá’u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u'lláh, p. 260).

If I substitute my name, I read this quote in a way that’s more personal:  Susan, regard yourself as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Edu­cation can, alone, cause you to reveal your treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.

Wow!

And He wants me to recognize that there is something valuable and valued in me.  God created me because He loved me:

I knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee, have engraved on thee Mine image and revealed to thee My beauty.  (Bahá’u'lláh, Hidden Words, Arabic 3).

Susan, I knew My love for you; therefore I created you, have engraved on you Mine image and revealed to you My beauty.

And God wants me to see myself as a noble being:

Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself.  Rise then unto that for which thou wast created.  (Bahá’u'lláh, Hidden Words Arabic 22).

 

Noble have I created thee, Susan, yet you have abased yourself.  Rise then unto that for which you were created.

Wow again!  He’s telling me what He wants me to do.  Anything less will not benefit mankind!  Please God, let that change our interactions!  Please God, let me truly believe, in the “twinkling of an eye”, with ever fiber of my being, that I am loveable.

We could all try this for ourselves.  We all need to read the Bahá’í Writings to find out what God has to say about us and agree with everything He tells us, even though it might go against everything we believe to be true about ourselves.  Anything less is disagreeing with the Almighty; we become dis-eased and vulnerable to disease.

So it’s time for me pay attention to the idle fancies and vain imaginings arising from my lower nature and listen to God.  It’s time to open my inner ears so I can examine my thoughts and beliefs, keep the ones that are in line with the Teachings and discard all the others that are veils between me and God.  I’m up for the challenge.  I’m looking for a new way of being.  Are you?  Post your comments here:

by Susan Gammage, Baha’i Life Coach As you go through life, you’re constantly affirming your own thoughts and beliefs. Throughout each day, you consciously and unconsciously tell yourself things based on your belief system. The problem is, much of the time you may actually be re-affirming negative thoughts rather than positive ones. This is bad [...]

by Susan Gammage, Baha'i Life Coach

As you go through life, you’re constantly affirming your own thoughts and beliefs. Throughout each day, you consciously and unconsciously tell yourself things based on your belief system.

The problem is, much of the time you may actually be re-affirming negative thoughts rather than positive ones. This is bad news. After all, if your affirmations are negative, you can expect only negative outcomes!

How many times in a day do you tell yourself how stupid you are for forgetting something or how fat you are when your favorite jeans feel tight?

Negative thinking reinforces an internal belief that we’ll never be able to change ourselves and that we’re destined to continue repeating our self-destructive behaviors. When we re-affirm our negative thoughts, we enter into a vicious cycle that leads to even more negative thinking.

Imagine how different your life would be if you began using affirmations to reinforce the positive!

Affirmations work wonders if you use them properly. By making a few simple adjustments in the way you phrase your inner dialog, you can begin using this powerful technique to change your thinking and change your life.

Your subconscious mind accepts things on a very literal basis, so for affirmations to work effectively, you need to follow a simple formula.

Follow these tips to create positive affirmations that can change your life for the better:

1.     Your subconscious needs to know you’re doing something now, not in the future. For example, if you state an affirmation as something you want to change, such as “I will quit smoking,” your subconscious cannot distinguish what you mean by “I will.”

It has no sense of planning for the future. In fact, your subconscious mind will accept what you tell it, even if the behavior has not yet happened, that’s why you should state your affirmation as if it’s already a fact.

• “I am free from the desire to smoke” is an effective affirmation and will begin to program your subconscious mind into thinking as a non-smoker, even before you put down the cigarettes.

2.     An affirmation must be personal for your subconscious to accept it. Saying, “You need to eat healthy” won’t help you change your diet. When your subconscious hears the word “you,” it doesn’t interpret it as a statement directed at yourself.

Instead, phrase your affirmation in the first person. Stick to “I” in your affirmations and you’ll soon notice a strong positive effect on your behaviors.

• “I enjoy eating healthy foods” is a positive, first person affirmation that will help you begin making better choices when you reach for a meal or snack.

3.     Your subconscious mind is very literal. It can’t process the concept of “not.” The statement, “I am not going to lie on the couch watching TV when I should be exercising” won’t do anything other than re-affirm how you should lay on the couch in front of the television.

Form your intention in a positive way, even if you haven’t made the behavior

change yet.

• “I enjoy exercising in my spare time” is more likely to motivate you to get up and go to the gym, instead of reaching for the remote control and a bag of chips.

Positive, personal, present tense affirmations are extremely powerful in changing how your subconscious affects your behavior.

Make an effort to stop reinforcing your old, negative thinking that keeps you caught in a rut. Try using these three simple techniques today to create affirmations that can change your subconscious programming, your actions, and your life for the better.

My favorite place to find affirmations that work is at:  http://www.thinkrightnow.com/cmd.asp?af=923000

I’ve written to this company twice, to tell them how greatful I am for the results I’ve achieved through their products.  You can read these letters here:  http://www.susangammage.com/for-my-personal-story

What is your experience with affirmations?  Post your comments here:

by Susan Gammage, Baha’i Life Coach Many people go through their lives without understanding why they make the same mistakes, follow the same patterns, and live in the same ruts. They aren’t happy with their present situation, but they seem to be unable to make any lasting changes. Are you one of these people? Perhaps [...]

by Susan Gammage, Baha'i Life Coach

Many people go through their lives without understanding why they make the same mistakes, follow the same patterns, and live in the same ruts. They aren’t happy with their present situation, but they seem to be unable to make any lasting changes. Are you one of these people?

Perhaps you’ve attend seminars, read books, and taken courses, but, in the end, fallen back into the same dysfunctional patterns you’ve always followed! Why does it always turn out this way?

We struggle to make permanent changes in our lives because we input information only into our conscious mind. Here’s the problem: your conscious mind is not what directs your behaviors and belief system.

To change your behaviors, you must first reprogram the hard-wired center of your mind: the subconscious mind.

How Does Your Subconscious Mind Work?

The subconscious is the largest part of our mind. It contains all the messages we’ve received throughout our lives. It holds millions and millions of thoughts grouped into clusters that form beliefs, mindsets and character traits.

The relationship between the conscious and subconscious minds is like an iceberg. The conscious mind is represented by the visible tip of the iceberg, while the subconscious is represented by the gigantic lower portion of the iceberg hidden from view.

You can’t see the subconscious in action, but it certainly has a major impact on the voyage you take in your life.

The subconscious is the place where all of your learned behaviors reside. Once you learn to walk, you don’t need to consider how to lift and place each foot to take the next step, do you? Of course not! Your subconscious mind automatically controls your steps.

Your subconscious learns behavior through repetition and practice. Just as it learned to control your footsteps when you learned to walk, it also controls your footsteps in your life’s journey based on what you’ve reinforced throughout your life.

The good news is you can reprogram your subconscious mind by inputting and reinforcing new thoughts and actions! There are several different techniques you can use to tap into the subconscious mind and reprogram how it works.

Here are some strategies you can use to change your mind and change your life:

1.Affirmations. Affirmations work to change your subconscious mind by using positive, personal, present tense statements to override the embedded negative thinking. By repeating these positive thoughts, you can create new pathways in your subconscious, giving it new attitudes.

2.Visualization. Visualization is the act of creating detailed mental pictures that depict a desired outcome so you can see success for yourself. which then directs behavior accordingly. Top athletes around the world use this technique durThese images stimulate the subconscious into accepting them as reality, ing game-time.The Bahá’í Writings are full of images leading to success.Some of my favorites include:

oAt the right hand of the throne of Thy mercy, seat me.

oBehold me standing ready to do Thy will.

oBestow upon us a share from the ocean of Thy wealth.

oBreak off from me the shackles of this nether world.

oCause me to enter the garden of happiness.

oCreate in me a pure heart and renew a tranquil conscience within me.

oFree me from the assaults of passion and desire.

oFrom the fragrant breezes of Thy joy let a breath pass over me.

3.Hypnosis.

4.Subliminal Audios.

Using techniques like these can help you reprogram your subconscious mind and remove the burden of the negative thoughts buried there. Imagine the freedom of living your life without the automatic dysfunctional behaviors you’ve had driving you for years!

Although these are not subliminal (in that you can hear the messages), my favorites, bar none, are made by Think Right Now:http://www.thinkrightnow.com/cmd.asp?af=923000

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When you transform your negative outlook into a positive one, you can accomplish so much more. In doing so, your mind will be released from negative programming, allowing you to excel and succeed throughout your life.

I think this is what ‘Abdul-Bahá means when he says:

I charge you all that each one of you concentrate all the thoughts of your heart on love and unity. When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love. Thoughts of war bring destruction to all harmony, well-being, restfulness and content. (Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 29)

What’s been your experience in transforming your subconscious mind? Post your comments here:

by Susan Gammage, Baha’i Life Coach Does the Law of Attraction Work?  This question has been asked time and time again by just about everyone that’s ever watched “The Secret” and heard of the Law of Attraction: does it really work? It often comes up in my Bahai-inspired life coaching practice, as people want to [...]

by Susan Gammage, Baha'i Life Coach

Does the Law of Attraction Work?  This question has been asked time and time again by just about everyone that’s ever watched “The Secret” and heard of the Law of Attraction: does it really work? It often comes up in my Bahai-inspired life coaching practice, as people want to set goals for themselves.  As hard as it may be to believe, the Law of Attraction works. It has always worked and it will always work whether you practice it or not.

Have you ever wondered why Bahá’u'lláh tells us:

To look always at the good and not at the bad. If a man has ten good qualities and one bad one, to look at the ten and forget the one. And if a man has ten bad qualities and one good one, to look at the one and forget the ten.

J.E. Esselemont, Bahá’u'lláh And the New Era, p. 83.

Or why ‘Abdul-Bahá tells us:

I charge you all that each one of you concentrate all the thoughts of your heart on love and unity. When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love.

Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 29.

Simply put, the Law of Attraction states that like attracts like. It’s based on the fact that everything in this world emits a certain vibration and those vibrations seek out and interact with other things that have similar vibrations.  If you focus your attention on the positive, you’ll attract positive; if you concentrate your energies on love and unity, you’ll be a magnet for those qualities too.

Haven’t you ever noticed when one bad thing happens in your life it is often followed by another? This is often called the domino effect. We have other sayings for it such as: “When it rains it pours.” That’s the Law of Attraction at work.

If the Law of Attraction is so great, why use negative examples to illustrate its effectiveness? For some reason, we as a society find it much easier to believe something negative instead of the things that are positive. When good things happen we just write them off as a one-off lucky break or think that it was just chance.

Is the Law of Attraction About Chance?

There’s no such thing as chance. Everything that happens in this world and in your life happens for a reason. That reason is the Law of Attraction.

Whether you accept it or not, the Law of Attraction works. To believe that it works means that you have to accept responsibility for where your life is and that makes it hard for many to accept the Law of Attraction. Most people right now reading this are going to think: “I do accept responsibility.” Do you really?

Where are your thoughts right now? Are you worrying about money or how to pay the bills? Are you stressed over the fact that more bills keep coming and the money keeps getting spread thinner and thinner?

• The more you worry and stress out about bills, the more bills you’ll receive. The more you worry about not having money, the less money you’ll have in your bank account. If you simply change the way you think about these things, you’ll be amazed at what will happen. You will begin to take positive action subconsciously.

Spend the next 14 days not thinking about your bills. Don’t look at your bank account. Every time you go to the mailbox, picture money in there. Every time you start to think about bills and debt, transform your mind into thoughts of overflowing abundance.

• Think about what you have in your life that is good. Everyone, no matter who they are, has something to be grateful for. Figure out what you’re grateful for and focus on it.

“. . . recount the bless­ings of his Lord, and render thanks unto Him at all times and under all conditions”.

Bahá’u'lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u'lláh, p. 155.

Some people will argue that it takes more than just “thinking” about things to make them happen or appear, which is true. Thoughts need to be transformed into actions, that’s why some believers say that, so long as you’re thinking about what you want in life, you will take the necessary actions to make those things happen. This is simply another way the Law of Attraction can work.  As we know from the Bahai Writings:

“Intention brings attainment”.

‘Abdul-Bahá, Ten Days in the Light of ‘Akká, pp. 30-31.

The Law of Attraction is working right now, all around you. It’s at work in your life. It’s time for you to take control and make the Law of Attraction work in your favor. This means you have to change the way you think. You have to be grateful for what you have and you have to always focus on the positive. The Law of Attraction is real, and it is powerful.

How have you seen the law of attraction work in your life?Post your comments here.