Posted on Thursday, June 23, 2016

Moving From Pain To Joy

I am so proud of my son Ryan. And I’m excited to share this story today about acceptance, love and how I shifted my thinking and understanding.

It was such a beautiful day, I dreamed about it for so long. The day had finally arrived, the day my son would graduate from high school.

I had pictured this moment in my head a thousand times. I even went to the football stadium at his high school 2 years ago at dusk, and I climbed the bleachers and I sat there picturing him laughing with friends and throwing that cap in the air.

It’s been a long road for him, and it has not been easy.

On his graduation day, his cap and gown were all ready to go, and he had been to the rehearsal in the morning.

Everything was in place and then something happened that I wasn’t expecting.

He came down the stairs and he just looked at me and said,

“Mom, I can’t do it”.

I remember standing there looking at him, in total disbelief about what he had said. But I thought,

“Of course he will go, he has been talking about this for so long. He went to the rehearsal.”

I realized in that moment that I had a choice.

I could either get really upset and basically force him to go. (That would not be easy, to force a 6-foot 18-year-old adult to get in the car and go to graduation… and it sounds funny to me to even say it).

Another option would be to try to “guilt” him into going. (Yup! I went there.)

I could let him know how much we had all been waiting for this day, how much it means to me, and how disappointing it would be to miss this opportunity.

But I realized that this is an old pattern, and it was time for me to let this old way of thinking go.

This was about letting my son BE HIMSELF!

I literally had no idea what to do, so I decided to do absolutely NOTHING.

At first I told myself that I must call on everything I have learned about in ACIM so far.

I reminded myself that I have had all of this amazing training, and I practice and I live and breathe this stuff every single day.

I grabbed my course book and started looking for a workbook lesson that would “save me”, something that would make all of this sadness and disappointment make sense.

I thought Lesson 138 could be the perfect one that I was meant to hear.

“Heaven Is the Decision I Must Make”.

That one seemed to fit just right.

Well, it turns out that did not work at all! I had one of the moments I have heard many others talk about. One of those moments when they rip up their course book and make a decision that it’s all so stupid and crazy and it really makes no sense at all.

Heaven is a decision I must make…what a joke! This feels like HELL!

I felt there was no heaven to be chosen in this moment. I felt completely robbed of my moment of seeing my son having his moment.

So instead of trying to see it differently, I chose to just embrace it for exactly what it was, pure sadness. I decided to let myself have the night to wallow in it. I decided to let every feeling come through, and every tear.

In other words, I decided just to feel it, all of it, to let it come over me like a wave.

It was pretty brutal at times. Especially when I pictured all those other families celebrating this moment with their graduates. I thought,

“They are so lucky. Everything for them is so normal, their kid WANTS to go to graduation. What kid doesn’t want to go to graduation?”

While I was going through all of this, I wanted to hide how I was feeling from my son. Whenever I heard him coming down the stairs, I would wipe me tears and put on my “game face” and act like everything was just fine, but inside I was really sad and I felt like I just wanted to run away from all of it.

At one point my son said that he got do exactly what he wanted to do that day… to hang out with his friends at the rehearsal, and go eat lunch together. He was happy and relieved with his decision not go to the ceremony.

This time that I took was the best thing I could have ever done. I honored the pain but did not get lost in it. I did not let it push me back down into all of my stories of victimhood.

I let myself have that night, and by the next morning the pain had dissolved.

It was like all the sting had gone out of it. I don’t believe this could have happened so easily if I didn’t let myself go through those feelings.

When we deny our feelings and push them away and say they are not real, another opportunity will be right around the corner to go through this process. I feel it is best to embrace it in that moment and not try to be spiritual AT ALL!

Put it all on the altar, give it to God and Just HONOR it.

I found a particularly helpful workbook lesson in all of this. It was Lesson 190 –

“I choose the joy of God instead of pain.”

It says pain is a sign illusions reign in place of truth and it is your thoughts alone that can cause you pain.

The course for me really allows me to “reframe” my thoughts and bring me back to the truth.

It’s not actually painful that my son did not participate in a ceremony, it is simply my thoughts about what I think that means that cause me pain.

I really wanted my son to graduate, especially because so many people said it would never happen. I always knew deep in my heart that he could do it.

I had made a decision, even when nobody else thought that he could do it. I had even thoughts at times that he could not do it. But when I changed my mind, when I made that decision that he will do it and that it all would be just fine… everything changed.

The belief was there; the intention was there.

And this is all it takes!

All it takes is a decision, a decision to see things differently.

But the most important lesson that I learned during all of this and what I want to share with you is that we cannot be attached to the outcome of things.

When we learn to trust in God completely, then exactly what comes is really perfect for us in that moment. Even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time.

My son really did graduate from high school! He did it! He has a job now, he just got his driver’s license, and he has a truck. I mean this is AMAZING!

The form it took is different from how I imagined it, and this is where I have gained the most insight.

I have really started coming to a place where all I want is the Peace of God in every single moment. If I hit a bump and it feels like there’s some kind of big problem, I’ve stopped trying to FIX IT, and I allow the unfolding to happen.

I would love to hear how you have made the decision to move from pain to joy in your life, because your “shift story” will inspire others. Please share your comments below.

Posted on Wednesday, June 8, 2016

What on Earth Am I Here For?

WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR?

This is one of the most sought after questions in the world.

WHY AM I HERE?

A question for everyone, right? See if this is true for you right now. Are you living in your true purpose? Watch this video:

There is only ONE reason you are here…

TO WAKE UP. TO WAKE UP from a dream of death, separation, suffering and a belief in lack.

The Great News is you can make a difference.

You are part of the solution because when you find your purpose and are LIVING it.

Living in Purpose.

We have been sent by God to what A Course in Miracles calls “a slaughter house.” We are here to Set our Selves Free and then to help others

You have gifts that are yours, entrusted to your care, to give to all who chose the lonely road you have escaped. They do not understand they but pursue their wishes. It is you who teach them now. For you have learned of Christ there is another way for them to walk.

Teach them by showing them the happiness that comes to those who feel the touch of Christ and recognize God’s gifts.

Living in Purpose is what everyone is looking for… A Purpose Given Life.

Here’s the Teachers of God Foundations answer to this Great! Question.

Namaste!

I Love You,

Bill Free

I want to find out more about Living in Purpose Mastery

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Posted on Saturday, June 4, 2016

Everyone – yes, everyone! – is inherently GOOD. All the time.

When I was in my 20s, living in New York City, there was a fundraiser for my childhood library in Tilton, New Hampshire. You could purchase a stone for the outside walkway and have a saying carved into it. I thought “what is my all-time favorite inspirational saying ?” that I could put into a small block of granite? Most people purchased the stone as memorial for other people who had passed on. I wanted to put a quote: a saying that would inspire me as well as possibly inspire others who walked across that stone. I imagined hundreds of people walking over this stone to enter the library (thousands even over a lifetime!) and what I might possibly say that would cause someone to PAUSE and to see a new possibility for their life.

My quote for the library stone:

LIVE THE LIFE YOU IMAGINE.

It’s from Henry David Thoreau.

Here is the full quote:

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” -Henry David Thoreau, Walden

I love this idea of living life as AN EXPERIMENT and ADVANCING CONFIDENTLY in the direction of what you have imagined.

And it is to this I have devoted my life: LIVING the life I have imagined.

If you know me as a teacher of A Course in Miracles, you know my #1 instruction is to LIVE these principles. Don’t just think about them, don’t just study them, don’t sit around talking about them. LIVE THEM. PRACTICE THEM. APPLY THEM.

It is only by LIVING the ideas – by living what you imagine – that you see change.

So what was the life I imagined?

I imagined a world of people that are inherently GOOD – and where I was consciously and deliberately aware of their goodness, and honoring it and acknowledging it.

It means that I see myself as inherently good – and NOT as the shameful guilty person I believed myself to be for so many years.

Inherent means “existing in something as a permanent, essential, or characteristic attribute.”

Inherent means “built in”

This is what I imagined: a world of people that as GOOD, friendly, kind, generous, helpful.

In A Course in Miracles Jesus imagines a world where “every hand is joined in love”

And I began to LIVE THIS WAY – as if every person is inherently good.

I imagined that I loved everyone. I saw that this was possible and that I could live this way.

I imagined that everyone was my friend, and NOT a stranger to be feared.

I imagined that everyone is the light of the world, no matter what they have done.

YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.

I used to not tell people that I saw this way this because every time I did the conversation would inevitably turn to questions: “Well what about the murderers? What about the rapists? Many people are evil and dangerous.”

Well, what about them?

They are inherently GOOD – innocent, pure love. They are the light of the world.

If someone is murdering or raping, they don’t know who they are. They have forgotten their Identity as the Self that God created. Therefore, they are not in their right mind.

No one in their right mind would harm another … ever.

Jesus up on the cross 2000 years ago, looked down on those who were crucifying him and said “Forgive them Father. For they know not what they do.”

People who don’t know their Identity as Spirit in a state of grace forever know NOT what they do.

Because in your right mind, you acknowledge your Oneness. You realize that “this other” – this “neighbor” – is you and you would love them as yourself.

Now obviously, the majority of the world does not live this way.

Many still have fences and defenses up in order to protect themselves and keep themselves “safe”

But there is a shift occurring. And many people – THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS – are beginning to LIVE in Oneness, determined to see the Christ in everyone – no matter what the behavior of the person is.

We each have the ability to see beyond appearances to the Truth that is really there.

In the 40-Day Program on Day 20, the topic is “Defenses are Fences.” Whatever you attempt to keep separate from you, YOU will suffer the consequences of the belief in separation.

This morning I imagined something new. I imagined telling people how I see – that everyone is inherently GOOD – and that instead of questions (as has been my past history – because of my belief), they would get excited for new possibilities and want to practice living in a new way.

I imagine you reading this blog post and instead of wanting to question me about all “the bad people in the world”, I imagine you looking at your own life and seeing a new possibility, a new way of living. I am image you feeling enthusiasm and joy about seeing only the good in people when you meet them!

Another great quote I love: “I see God in every face. I see good in every situation.” -Florence Scovel Shinn

This way of LIVING did not happen overnight for me.

I truly believe that anyone CAN change their seeing in one instant – NOW – and from this moment on see ONLY the Love of God in everyone. But I have, up to this point, never met anyone who has done it that way, in an instant.

I am open to it happening. I IMAGINE it happening.

Where in a sudden burst of realization, individuals around the world remember Who They Are and let go of all judgment, fear, lack, grievances and upsets.

Imagine that!

Imagine a world where everyone has remembered the Love they are – they have remembered their innocence and the Power of God which they are One with.

Imagine!

Now imagine LIVING this way – knowing that everyone remembers their Identity.

It’s could cause an instant global awakening.

Last year a good friend of mine who facilitates A Course in Miracles group called me in frustration. She had that no one in her ACIM group was doing the work. She said no was practicing. She said no one is serious nor dedicated. She said that no one really wanted peace. She said they all just wanted to stay in their problems. She said that she was the only one who was dedicated.

I said: NO. They ALL want peace. They are all dedicated. I have been around enough people to know that EVERYONE WANTS PEACE and EVERYONE WANTS TO DO THE WORK. You must see them differently. THEN they will change.

I invited her to SEE and LIVE this way – as if every single person in her group was totally committed and dedicated and practicing.

I reminded her of the basic principle of A Course in Miracles – that her thought that “no one wants this” was resulting in a perception of “no one wanting this”. She was literally getting a mirror reflection of her own thinking!!

She called me a month later, all excited and happy, saying: YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED!!! I changed my mind and everyone changed!! I saw everyone as totally dedicated and suddenly they all become that!

She said that some dropped away from this group and that many other newcomers started showing up for the first time.

LIVE THE LIFE YOU IMAGINE.

It works.

What you believe and focus on is what you will see.

You will “meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW! Do you see everyone as inherently good? Do you have a practice for seeing beyond people’s stories, complaints, negativity, and their seemingly “bad” behavior? How would you feel going through life seeing everyone as your FRIEND, as a gift from God, as One with you.

Thank you for showing up and for reading this!

I love you.

Lisa

OUR MEMBER PAGE FOR ONLINE COURSES JUST GOT A WHOLE NEW UPGRADE AND BEAUTIFUL NEW LOOK – THAT’S MUCH SIMPLER TO NAVIGATE! You can see it here: http://programs.teachersofgod.org

There are videos there – one by me Lisa Natoli and one from Linda Leland describing Living in Purpose and TONS of amazing beauiful testimonials from people who have already taken it and seen their lives transformed. There’s also a one-hour phone recording and a transcript of that call. Click here: http://teachers-of-god-foundation.teachable.com/courses/living-in-purpose

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