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I recently heard a Sunday message from the spiritual director of Ananda, Nayaswami Jyotish that really touched my heart. He shares that the more we practice any attitude, the easier it becomes. Whatever attitudes we practice we become very good at those attitudes. He tells the story of an 8 year old that delivers an amazing speech asking: “What do you practice? Whatever you practice, you’ll get good at it. If you practice complaining, you’ll get very good at it. You will be able to complain about everything.  If you practice peace, you’ll get very good at it. If you practice joy or happiness, you’ll get very good at it.” 

It is important to be honest with ourselves and ask, what am I practicing? If we realize that we are practicing negative attitudes, we must have the will power to shift the energy, so we are not held back by those habits or attitudes.

Nayaswami Jyotish says: “There are habits in your life that try to pull your consciousness up and there are other that try to pull your consciousness down, so our job is to ask yourself: What do I practice? Do I practice those habits that are pulling my consciousness down, or do I practice those habits that are pulling my consciousness up?”

He continues to say: “The habits or thoughts always follow the energy. Thoughts are universally, not individually rooted. Where do you have the dial of your consciousness tuned to?

When those thoughts are going around, don’t think I am this. Think what station am I tuned into? And is that station making me happy? If you stay tuned to that station you are not going to scape the thoughts that come with that station.

When you find that a pattern is going on, that you don’t want in yourself, or that you feel is destructive to your peace of mind or your well being or your spiritual advancement, then, change the station. And you have the power to do that because you also chose the station that you are listening to.

How do you change the station?

• We have to put out the opposite energy to whatever that station is playing in our consciousness.
• Bring your energy up to a higher consciousness simply by Deep breathing and right posture, standing up straight bringing your shoulders back
• Get your energy moving in a positive direction.
• Counteract a specific attitude with the opposite attitude
• Worry is counteracted by faith. Greed is counteracted by giving.”

Affirm: “I go forth in perfect faith in the Power of Omnipresent good, to bring me what I need at the time I need it.”

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It has taken me many years and great suffering to finally stop looking for happiness and inner peace outside of myself. For a long time, I was convinced that the people in my life, parents, siblings, husband, and friends had the responsibility to make me happy.

That happiness was not lasting. It was there one day and the next day it was gone. This created constant turmoil inside of me. It also created resentment and a behavior of playing victim, blaming, judging and complaining. Obviously, all of these feelings generated the absence of inner peace.

I also looked for peace and happiness in external things, like vacations, places, neighborhoods, houses, jobs, careers, cars, and material things. I did not find them there either.

It was only when I decided to look inside, and understand who I was and my relationship with the Creator of the Universe, that I started to see the light at the other side of the tunnel. Here is what I discovered about finding peace and happiness:

1. I needed to spend time in meditation to still my mind and connect with the divine inside of me, who is the source of all happiness and peace.
2. I learned how to pray, not as a beggar, but as a child of God deserving of His blessings and happiness.
3. I discovered that peace and happiness reside inside of me and I am the only one who has to decide to awaken them from within.
4. I learned that nobody and nothing could deprive me from experiencing lasting peace and happiness. It is 100% up to me to have the right attitude about all experiences in my life.
5. I learned that God is joy and if I attune myself with His consciousness, I am able to experience His joy flowing through me.
6. I understood that I could be a channel of transformation. The more I awaken the peace and happiness that resides in me, the more I can impact others in a positive way.

Affirm: “As I go inward I find eternal peace and happiness.”

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“You are not a victim until you blame someone”. I recently saw this quote that a client of mine had posted in Facebook. It was a comment that I had made to him in one of our sessions and he turned it into a quote. I decided to use it as my theme in the month of February, for my free “Thank God it’s Monday”inspirational calls. What I shared in the call this past Monday is that we need to pay attention to any behavior of victim mentality. Click here to listen to the message.

Unfortunately, in many cases, we are so hypnotized by this victim mentality, that we do not realize how this behavior can impact our life in a very negative way. We forget that any time we blame anyone for anything, we become a victim. The challenge is that the more we live our lives from this mental frame, the more we attract into our lives experiences that are going to reaffirm our beliefs. It’s crucial that we shift any victim mentality as it shows up in our minds and replace it with thoughts of self-confidence, faith, determination and the knowing that we have an internal power that was given to us by our Creator and all we have to do is claim it and live it!

To shift your energy from victim to victor, here are some tips that can help you stay centered in higher truths:

• Pay attention to the quality of your thoughts, words and actions. What is the underlying tone: positive or negative, kind or harsh, hopeful or hopeless, courageous or fearful?
• Believe that you have a power within you that can help you overcome any obstacles.
• Never tell yourself, “I can’t do that,” if what you’d like to do seems to you impossible.
• Be willing to have the right attitude about all situations in your life.
• Attune yourself to your Higher Power, live more in His consciousness, and you will be free from the temptation to play victim.
• Remind yourself that the Divine Presence in you is already a Victor and you just have to align with this eternal truth.
• Have positive expectation. If you expect the best, that is what will show up in your life.

Affirm: “Everything that comes to me is a reflection of my energy, so I choose to have only positive thoughts and expectations.”

Gloria Ramirez
Transformative coaching for Self Mastery
Click here for more information

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Recently I read an inspiring blog about resolutions and the real reason why sometimes we are not able to keep them. The author says, “The problem lies with our will power: the creator and destroyer of habits.” Click here to read article

The good news is that we can strengthen our will power. It is like a muscle that we need to exercise similar to going to the gym to strengthen our body muscles. To do this, we need to have perseverance, be focused, create a plan and have unquenchable faith. We have the power within to keep our new year’s resolutions, but we must be willing to put the effort to boost our will power.

We have the power within to change negative habits into positive ones, to learn new things, to manifest our dreams, and to reevaluate our life choices. We must be aware that this power is divine consciousness that wants to help us but we must do our part: have the will power to do whatever it takes.

Here are some tips:

• Keep a positive attitude. Let go of negativity anytime it shows up in your self-talk. Release from your mind any ideas that it is too difficult, or you are not good enough, or you do not have the resources. Remember that the divine Presence in you is in charge of the “How.” Trust and take action as you receive guidance.
• Use affirmations. Affirm, I can, I will, I am capable, I have what it takes, My will power is strong.
• Keep your resolutions simple. I like what the blog I mentioned suggests: Take on only one or two things at a time, those that you really want to accomplish. I would suggest that you choose one physical habit, let’s say exercise, and one spiritual habit, such as meditation.
• Receive all experiences with a smile. Be willing to face obstacles with a positive attitude instead of asking, why me. It is part of life to face challenging situations and the secret is not to identify with them and keep going with a strong will power.

Affirm: “I have the will power to keep my new year’s resolutions.”

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“As we journey inward we reflect our light outward.” ~ Baron Baptiste

The journey of self-transformation and spiritual advancement is the most rewarding journey anyone can ever take. As we change from the inside, we are able to reflect our light outward. This means, we reflect outwardly our inner peace, joy and love, which turns into kindness, generosity, faith patience and brotherly love. The journey inward requires our full cooperation and then the grace of the divine is able to guide us and shower us with blessings.

How can we cooperate?

1. Be Consistent. Be willing to take a look at the areas in your life where you know there is room for growth: forgiveness, letting go of criticism, moving from fear to faith. Ask yourself: Am I being consistent in making the changes?

2. Be Confident. Have confidence in yourself and in the loving presence of a power greater than yourself who wants to help you at all times. You just have to allow it to guide you. Ask yourself: Am I developing a deeper relationship with my Higher Self through prayer and meditation?

3. Be Positive. Pay attention to your mind and be willing to shift any negative thoughts about yourself or others. Replace them with affirmations. Be attentive on how you use your words. Any language that does not help to edify, change it to uplifting words. Ask yourself: Am I willing to using the transformative power of affirmations?

4. Be Joyful. Observe your energy and how you are impacting your environment with a joyful attitude. A happy outlook can be contagious. You can affect and possibly change the atmosphere around you, by choosing to be cheerful. Don’t depend on anything outward to make you happy! Be happy inside as a deliberate choice, as a deliberate act of will. Every day determine first to enjoy everything!

Affirm: “I am committed to embracing my journey inward with a winning attitude.”

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I recently completed a wonderful 9-day cleansing diet. My success was due to the fact that a couple of weeks before I started it, I told my mind that everything was going to flow and it was going to unfold according to the plan, and this is exactly what happened.

When I think about it, I realize that I was very firm with my intention and basically told my mind that I was not going to accept any excuses and I was determined to do it. This approach reminded me of the importance of being committed to what we intend to do. Without our full cooperation, the desires of our hearts can turn into intentions without their fulfillment.

How many times have you been in situations in which you committed to do something and did not stop until it became a reality? If you think about it, your intention was clear and you were determined to finish it.

And, how many times have you said you were going to do something and then started to doubt or to loose interest or allowed your mind to control you with negative expectations? Or, let other people influence you with their opinions?

The key to being able to complete anything you decide to do is, first, make sure that what you are going to do brings you joy. Secondly, set up a very firm intention that you will be able to complete it. Third, have faith that the “how” and the resources will show up as you need them.

Here are some ideas on how to bring success to your projects:

• Decision. Make a firm decision in your mind that you are going to succeed.
• Commitment. Be committed, even if in the process you find obstacles.
• Discipline. Have the discipline to do every day what needs to be done. Have a plan of action.
• Enjoy the process. Enjoy each moment and stay present with what you are doing.

Affirm: I am committed to succeed