Emotional GPS

Abraham, through Esther Hicks, talks about an emotional spectrum that all humans share and how to use it as a tracking system in creation. His premise is that how we feel indicates how much of Source we are allowing or resisting.

I got myself all tangled up in the notion of feelings. Not that I don’t have them, and not that they’re not valid, but I know myself well enough to be aware that I can resist my own feelings. I can manipulate my own feelings, and so feelings to me aren’t always a safe measuring stick.

The measurer I can always trust, however, is bodily sensation. My body knows and she doesn’t hesitate to tell me when something I’m thinking isn’t helpful to me or the world. These sorts of feelings are more akin to sensations. Body knowings.

But no matter, says Abraham, when in doubt or question about feelings, there’s a default position that always allows more Source than you were experiencing just the moment before, and that is appreciation.

So as we approach our national holiday of giving thanks, let us use appreciation as our emotional destination. For this holiday week, let everything you do be guided by appreciation. If what you’re doing takes you away from appreciation, do something different.

This Thanksgiving, put APPRECIATION into your GPS device, and discover where that takes you!

Another Form of Pollution

I’m a part of an international prayer team which takes prayer requests. Occasionally, our team leader sends a special email she calls Prayer Team Forum. Usually, it’s inspirational. This week I read a sentence in it that stilled my whole being. Try this out:

Complaining is another form of pollution.

That puts it in perspective, doesn’t it? A spiritual teacher I knew decades ago, Edwene Gaines, suggested a 21-day spiritual exercise to her students. Don’t complain for 21 days. If you catch yourself complaining, you get to start over, a whole new 21-day cycle. She said that when she first did this exercise herself that she was nearly silent for three weeks. She found she had nothing to say.

I agree with Edwene and the teacher who wrote the sentence above. Complaining is another form of pollution. It pollutes our souls, and those of others.

The teacher whose name I couldn’t find anywhere in her essay suggests instead of complaining that we appreciate. When we hear someone complain about someone else, we can add our appreciation of that person into the mix and neutralize the complaint. Her idea is:

Complaints pollute and appreciation elevates.

Want to try the 21-day challenge? It’ll surprise you. The more you switch from complaint to appreciation the better you’ll feel, and the more people will appreciate you. This practice is a form of personal climate change!