Over the years I have “done it all” to try to improve my life and achieve worldly goals. I would have a lot of momentum and energy and enthusiasm for the first few days (or the first few hours at least!) and then I would be back to my old habits and usual ways of thinking.
I would think: WHY CAN’T I STICK WITH THIS?
What the hell is wrong with me?
How come I can’t stay motivated?
What is so difficult about achieving my goals?
Mostly because deep down, I knew that having a shinier life was utterly meaningless.
I would achieve a goal and still felt empty and alone.
I was looking for connection and a feeling of completion.
I wanted the peace of God and I just couldn’t hold onto it.
Back then, I mistakenly thought the solution was to TRY HARDER and DO MORE.
What I discovered is that the real solution for real lasting change is RELAX and DO LESS and BE STILL.
This realization was a turning point for me.
A Course in Miracles says that a miracle is a shift in perception and healing only takes an instant – because how long does it take you to change your mind??? An instant.
You can do it now.
And this is precisely what happened for me, and I invite you to try this out in your own life.
Join me for 40 Days starting either January 1st, May 1st or September 1st and we will do it together.
The decision is to live in love and be aware of everything that comes up, and let it go with forgiveness.
For me, it was a decision TO BE AS GOD CREATED ME AND STAY THERE CONSISTENTLY FOR FIVE WEEKS.
I did it as an experiment and I wasn’t sure if it was going to work. But I had nothing to lose, and it was only 5 weeks.
I realized in a flash that I had been “trying to get somewhere” so that I could be a certain way. I was “waiting for later” and for my external world to change, so that I could be happy, in gratitude with lots of energy. I had it all wrong. For example, I was always on a diet trying to lose weight (30 pounds) so that I could be vibrant, alive, whole and perfect.
I read this now and think HOW UTTERLY INSANE that I thought I had to wait for my body to change to be happy and vibrant, but I really believed this back then.
I also thought “When I have more money, I’ll be super generous.”
I didn’t realize that I could be generous right from the place where I was. I could be the richest person in the world, in that moment and forever.
To me a rich person is someone who knows they have everything and is constantly giving.
It occurred to me that I could CHOOSE to be that way right now, and not wait.
And that is precisely what I did.
I became the richest person in the world, by my own choice and decision.
For years, I had this idea that when “I make it” – when my book is a best-seller, when I’m traveling around the world and teaching in front of big audiences – that I’d have loads of energy and that I would leap out of bed in the morning in gratitude.
I imagined that I’d be super happy, I’d be inspiring, vibrant and alive. I imagined that I would have a daily prayer/meditation practice; I would acknowledge Jesus, listen for guidance, and follow through with action.
I thought I could only BE all these things when I “had all my ducks in a row” and had money in the bank.
Now I know that happiness and abundance is a choice you make.
Back then I was a Zumba instructor, with 10-years worth of credit card debt. My only income was the money that came in from the donation box I put out 2 times a week when I taught Zumba. This was before the Teachers of God Foundation and before the 40-Day Program (which was born out of this experiment).
MY DECISION: TO LIVE IN LOVE AND STAY THERE.
To use the words of A Course in Miracles: I accepted the Atonement for myself.
It occurred to me that I was whole and perfect, and that God was with me all the time.
I shifted on the spot. It’s actually quite easy to do when you really want it.
My life changed overnight. I suddenly was super generous, living in gratitude and appreciation, acknowledging God in everyone and everything. I was in love with everyone and everything. I was suddenly a total success in my mind,
Nothing external had changed, I was still teaching Zumba, but everything internal now reflected the Love of God.
When ideas came to me, I acted on them.
Who was this person????
I liked her very much!
In the past ideas would come to me, and I would always say “later” I’ll put that into action (when I lose weight and have more money).
With a decision, I ended my story of lack and clicked the delete button on it.
I began to see in a very real and dramatic way that everything really IS mind.
When you change your mind, the world you think see REALLY does change!
Would you like to transform your life?
Are you ready to click the delete button on all your stories?
Join me for 40-Days as we do what Jesus, the man, did 2000 years years ago:
GO INTO THE DESERT AND SEE WHAT NEW THINGS EMERGE.
Leave your past and your story behind.
Let go of your future plans and goals.
Just come as you are, with no agenda.
And watch what happens!
At 30 years of age, he made a decision that his life as he knew it (as a carpenter) was over, and that he was going to enter into a quiet space to see what emerges.
I imagine that he didn’t know what was next.
This is what happened to me. I made a decision that “I was done” with my life of poverty, negativity and doubt.
I decided to “go into a desert place” for five weeks and acknowledge God and live in love.
Are you ready? Are you done with a life of littleness, boredom, wishing & waiting for things to happen?
Do you want to join me?
You can sign up by clicking this link, where you’ll find registration info: https://www.teachersofgod.org/40day
I’m convinced that the single most important thing you can do is SAY YES.
YES MOVES MOUNTAINS AND MAKES ALL THINGS POSSIBLE.
Choose your start date for the 40-Day Program: January 1st, May 1st, or September 1st.
I invite you to join me for this new adventure.
Click here: https://www.teachersofgod.org/40day
Remember, it’s totally free!
Every time I give myself the gift of 40-Days, new exciting things occur. I’m always surprised.
How many of us have come to this point where WE KNOW that whatever we have been doing up until now is finished?
But because of fear, we keep doing what we’re doing, even though there’s a constant feeling that “there’s more” and that we’re stuck in a routine.
So, Jesus, the perfect demonstration of a man getting unstuck, made an unwavering decision to leave his life and go into the desert.
To do what?
NOTHING!
He went to be still.
He went to listen.
He went into the desert with an open mind and curiosity.
He wasn’t striving. He wasn’t trying to improve his life. He wasn’t attempting to achieve anything.
He went into the desert, having zero idea what to expect.
And somehow, when I read this story, I knew that this was my path – to give myself A SPACE to simply be still and listen, and not try to accomplish anything.
His fears came up and he didn’t run away – he confronted them and cast them out.
That’s what we do in the 40-Day Program.
In the bible these fears are called demons and the devil, which are nothing more than what A Course in Miracles calls your “ego thoughts.”
Jesus faced these thoughts directly, and did not wander back into his old life, his old routine, his old habits.
This is what you will be encouraged to do.
Often what we do in this thing called life is push our fears aside, with stories and distractions. We try to improve our lives instead of looking directly at the fear and confronting it, and not backing down.
If you are ready to commit to a new way of living for 40 days, NO MATTER WHAT,
make a decision that will change your life forever.
SAY YES.
If you are anything like me, you want to get started NOW!
DEVELOPING A NEW MORNING ROUTINE
Take some time to think about your morning routine. Everyone has one. If you think you don’t have one, then tomorrow morning from the second you are awake (before even your eyes are open), I want you to pay extremely close attention to every single thing you do.
Do you reach over for your cellphone to check the time? Now that the phone is in your hand, do you start checking emails and Facebook? What happens next? What happens next? How long is your morning routine? Pay close attention to yourself, like a hawk. Watch every single thought and every single action.
This is your morning routine.
Do you wake up happy? Do you acknowledge your Inner Guide? Do you give thanks for a perfect day? Do you think about the kind of day you want to have? Do you know that the day you want to have can happen every day exactly the way you imagine it?
In the 40-Day Program, we are going to invite you to have a new morning routine (along with lots of other simple practice that will rock your world in the best way possible) so that your day is intentional, joyful and filled with miracles.
For now, I invite you to pay attention to your current morning routine. Write down what you currently do and what you are thinking – from the moment you are aware that you are awake (before you eyes are open) – and write down everything you do and everything you think until the moment you are in the car on your way to work.
If you work from home (or if you don’t work), pay attention to what you do in the morning, for the first hour or two. Write down your thoughts and actions.
Are you present? Are you intentional? Do you think about the kind of day you want? Do you have a spiritual practice? Do you acknowledge a Presence and Power that is with you? Do you have for guidance and direction for the day?
Once you know your current morning practice, set aside 20 minutes to sit quietly with no distractions.
Write down a new morning routine. Think about what you can change about how you start your day so that you are more present and aware.
Now change it.
It might be getting a new alarm clock and leaving your cellphone out of the bedroom, so that you can begin the day with no electronics.
You might want to stay in bed for a few minutes before you open your eyes and be grateful.
In the 40-Day Program, I’ll describe my morning routine and you will come up with a new morning routine for yourself, which includes thinking about the kind of day you want and learning how you can have that very day, every day.
For now, for the next month through December, just start paying attention.
If you simply do this little thing – pay attention – you will be AMAZED how much of your thoughts are unconscious and how much of your day is on auto-pilot, just going through the motions.
The 40-Day Program will change all that.
During the 40-Days, you will become aware of your thoughts, feelings and emotions.
You will see how easy it is to become miracle-minded and to have a life you love.
I hope you join me.
Love,
Lisa
