I was not a happy camper and was resistant to change

Posted by admin in Blog (Weekly), Blogs

Apr
14

“I give thanks for DIVINE DISCONTENT-that inner stirring to do or be more. With each inner nudge, I have an opportunity to express more fully my divine potential. I open to my higher voice, the whisper of Spirit in my heart, compelling me forward on new quests and rewarding life experiences.” Daily Word

Has this ever happened to you? There is a shift in your thinking and you don’t know how it happened or where or when. You may have experienced a lot of “resistance” to something in your life that needed changing (diet, relationship, career, family) and all of a sudden the “resistance” is gone and you are open and WILLING to try or do something new.

I believe that at the bottom of resistance is fear that we don’t know how to do something or that we might fail or succeed. It can be so overwhelming that we stay stuck and do nothing. We are not happy and living our dreams, but it is easier to stay stuck and do nothing. The resistance to change something in our lives may be about not wanting to “go within” and feel our feelings so we avoid them by staying busy, working or eating.

I believe it is my willingness to do something different that is important. Even a little step in the right direction is good. Just praying for the grace to be willing has worked for me. I know it is God’s grace when I am open and willing to receive guidance and God’s goodness. When I connect with the Divine consciousness within through meditation and prayer, I open myself up to more of God’s goodness in every aspect of my life. I experience God’s grace as unconditional love, guidance, intuition, a gut feeling, an inner knowing, strength, comfort, protection or a divine idea. Guidance may come in a flash or it may unfold organically.

For most of my life I’ve been able to eat different kinds of food without any problems. I think I’m pretty healthy, with the usual aches and pains of growing older! I try to eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly and am not on any medications.

Recently, I started experiencing (bad) gas and digestive problems after I ate. I wasn’t sure what was causing it i.e. lactose intolerance, food combinations, gluten or sugar. I was not a happy camper, to put it mildly. I was resistant and didn’t want to start eliminating foods to determine why my body was reacting the way it was. I knew I had to do something because it wasn’t getting better. In fact, one night I had to sleep in the other bedroom. UGH! It is interesting how God gets our attention to “wake us up” when we are unwilling and resistant to do what is good for us. I am grateful that it wasn’t something more serious that got my attention.

I’ve read many articles about sugar not being good for you, especially for my bones which are thinning. My attitude has been that it is o.k. to consume sugar in moderation. I don’t smoke or use drugs so a little sugar every day can’t be that bad for me. I love my sweets after dinner and didn’t want to deprive myself of that pleasure. I have been very resistant to cutting sugar out of my diet for a long time, despite the fact that it could be hurting me.

I asked God for guidance to show me what to do to alleviate the problem. I know that when I “show up,” Spirit always guides me to the next right action in my life. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Teachers are appearing all over the place. I am sure they were always there, but I wasn’t ready and willing.

As I let go of my resistance to change my diet and began the process of eliminating sugar and dairy and possibly gluten, I felt lighter and even excited to explore healthy recipes that didn’t include sugar and dairy. It is a process and I‘m learning to trust myself and what my body needs. I realize that what works for one person may not work for me and I must take the time to go within and ask Spirit what is right for me, just like I do in every other area of my life. I treated myself and bought a Vitamix, which I have wanted for years. I made a delicious green smoothie this morning and a decadent dessert with cacao and avocado and no sugar. Who knows I may become “Suzy Homemaker” after all these years. I am taking responsibility for my health one day at a time and with God’s grace and my willingness to change, I will continue to do so. Is there something in your life that you want to change, but have been reluctant to do so? I suggest that you pray for the willingness and God’s grace and you will be amazed at the results.

Larry

Resistance and acceptance have been on my mind lately. My understanding of what happens when we resist is that we prevent ourselves from accepting an opportunity that has been presented to us. We may think that accepting the opportunity may cause fear or pain so we try to protect ourselves by closing or restricting our consciousness and heart.

We don’t want to suffer so we grab and hold onto whatever is happening in our lives. We give it a story. When we do this, it gives the situation power and control over us, which causes more suffering. Once we accept the negative energy and give it a home, it’s very difficult for us to release it. I suggest a more positive way to respond is to accept the situation just as it is. Don’t resist it and stay open. Let it pass through you and don’t hold onto it by giving it a story.

For example, you might be going to the dentist and know you have some unpleasant dental work to endure. You probably are not going to like it or have a good time, but you know it has to be done. When you don’t resist, but accept the situation as it is and not give it a story like, “Oh this is going to be painful. I don’t like this because my whole day will be ruined,” you will be free to go forward one moment at a time and can allow the energy and light of love to help you with your experience.

By doing this we allow the greatest power known to human kind to handle it for us. Don’t get me wrong there still may be suffering and pain, but we simply allow the experience to be whatever it is. We stay open and accepting and allow the power and light of love to enter this situation. By doing this we will find the peace and strength needed to accept the challenge and the opportunity presented to us.

I had the opportunity to experience and practice acceptance this last month. I manage a vacation rental in Kihei. I had the unit rented for the full month of April. About a week before my guests were to arrive I received a call from them. The husband had a serious medical condition that had to be addressed immediately and they had to cancel their reservation. In the past, I would have panicked and said to myself, “How am I ever going to get this condo rented in so little time? I now have that whole month open and no revenue coming in this month. This is terrible and so stressful. bla bla bla!”

My new approach is, I’m not going to resist this and I’m going to accept it as an opportunity. I am not going to give it a story and not going to hold onto it. I will just let it happen. I’ll experience my feelings of disappointment and allow them to be. I will trust that everything will take care of itself. I just stayed open and trusted that if it were for my highest good April would take care of itself and it did. In a short time, I had the full month rented again.

This is an excellent path to explore when accepting an opportunity or challenge whether it is small situations like going to the dentist, running out of gas on a rainy night, losing your cell phone, or something more serious like the death of family member or friend, ending a relationship, being seriously ill or losing a job.

Many of us resist not just the negative experiences in our lives, but also the positive gifts, like love, forgiveness and peace. We may resist Love because we don’t feel worthy or good enough or cannot forgive ourselves for things we have done in the past. We may think we have to earn good things from God or that God is mad at us.

I suggest that we become friends with Love because Love wants to be friends with us. Love is like the sun which shines its light on all people everywhere. Love does not discriminate and wants to shine on everyone. Love is color blind. Love does not judge. Love can only Love because it doesn’t know how to do anything else. Love is always given freely. Love will never turn away from us. It is us who turn away from Love. We don’t Love ourselves so we believe Love couldn’t Love us either.

Let’s try not to resist, but instead open our hearts to Love. The gift of Love is always there for us and it is never withdrawn. All we have to do is accept the gift and then we will live in the joy and peace of love forever.