Why Meditation?

Hello...

Why I meditate and why I want to teach the world to meditate are the topics I wanna ramble about this day.

How are you? Summer is here in the United States, and people are busy, busy, busy.

When people are busy, busy, busy, they tend to get the momentum of the hurry-up disease, which causes anxiety and a lack of awareness of self and others.

As a young single mother, I was always busy and had a hurry-up disease momentum. This hurry-up disease has no mercy on the soul. The habit of being in a hurry does not allow for time to think about others or actions of the self because the focus is to hurry and get things done.

Let me tell you about my actions when I had the hurry-up disease. My most prevalent behaviors were anger, anxiety, complaining, criticism, debt, depression, drama, exhaustion, inappropriateness, insecurity, insomnia, irritability, moodiness, negativity, overeating, and worry. Just to name a few ~wink, wink~

All of these habits I mentioned I call addictions because an addiction, in my mind, is something a person believes he or she cannot quit. Individuals get so good at practicing a particular behavior they tend to live with the belief that they cannot stop that behavior.

Some people believe they have to hurry, hurry, hurry. Some people think they cannot quit their anger, anxiety, depression, despair, moodiness, or worry. No matter the action, it's just like an addiction. A person has to want to quit and begin to believe he or she can change.

Practice makes habits of permanence, whether they are thoughts, feelings, or actions!

Connecting to God and meditating has helped and still does help me lessen the negative behaviors I speak of above. I have been meditating since 1999 and have, I believe, eliminated much of my past harmful addictions/behaviors. I have mostly eliminated anger, anxiety, depression, and despair.

If something even tries to annoy me within seconds, I giggle because God and meditation have taught me that when I quiet my mind, I realize that life is not as serious as I used to make it out to be.

Please believe me when I say I know I am human and not perfect. Therefore, I keep practicing daily because I do not think one can or does become perfect without negative beliefs and behaviors. Practicing permanence is more of what life is about rather than perfection. When we make things permanent, we leverage habitual human behavior.

Meditation is simply the quieting of the mind, which gives awareness to the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the self and a greater connection to God. This awareness and connection allow one to recognize the negative thoughts, feelings, and actions and intentionally change them to more enlightening, inspiring, motivating, and positive thoughts, feelings, and actions.

The quiet mind allows one to practice the feelings of calmness, confidence, relaxation, and safety, which are the opposite of stress.

I have meditated for twenty years, and I know no one, personally, with more consistent joy than me. I do not say that to brag. I say that to convince you of the incredible pleasure God and meditation have brought me.

God and this joy I speak of have brought me out of the depths of despair and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Now I am the opposite person of whom I was 27 years ago (that's half my age, by the way). That, my friend, is the greatest thing of them all because I was miserable much of the time, and now I am in bliss most of the time.

I love life!

Could you imagine profound, deep, deepest moments of despair to the point of not wanting to live and then becoming so in love with life? That question is a primary reason I write this blog in hopes of helping my brother or sister here on earth. To help anyone I can, go from misery to joy.

The very act of moving from misery to joy is why I want to teach the world to meditate!

Could you imagine someone (possibly you) living in constant or periodic crisis, discovering meditation, making it a practice, and then never knowing or even experiencing crisis again? Could you imagine being in a state of confidence no matter what happens because you know how to remain calm and connected to God?

I have talked thousands of people out of their state of anxiety, and the way I did it was by remaining calm and talking to them through quieting their bodies, mind, and soul. Quieting others like that is something a person can do for themselves regularly and through regular meditation practice.

I have talked to many suicidal individuals and done it from a calm place, pointing them towards calming themselves and their faith in themselves, life, and others. Building on belief comes from a connection to God and a meditative mind of relaxation and feeling secure.

It may sound like I am boasting, and I am, but I do not boast of myself. I boast of God and practicing meditation.

All that calming and faith is much more complicated than just a few words of explanation. But, I know no other way than connecting to God and regular meditation practice that creates the success of bringing the self, as well as other people, from crisis to calm. There is no way I could have ever done what I have done, and still do, for others, and myself, if it weren't for my connection to God and my meditation practice that enhances that connection.

I shall meditate until the end of my days because life just improves.

I shall teach people to meditate until the end of my days because I see more and more success.

So... that, my friend, is why I meditate and want to teach the world to meditate.

The best part is that meditation doesn't take long at all. Five minutes a day is where anyone can begin. That five minutes can and will help anyone bring that quiet mind to the full force of the present moment at any time and anywhere.

You can begin by listening to the five-minute meditation video I created by clicking this link. The only thing required is focusing on the sounds. You can have your eyes closed or open. It's a start. Every journey begins with one simple step, eh?

I pray that I have inspired you to meditate so that you may develop a calm, sure, and confident mind. So you may learn what a constant state of relaxation, safety, and security feels like. So you may eliminate any anger, anxiety, depression, or any other negative emotion, especially despair.

Warning! Warning! Warning!

Once you meditate, you can never go back!

What I mean by that is that if you begin to meditate, you will become so aware of your beliefs and behaviors that when you continue the meditation, life just gets better and better and better because you become more connected to God. That connection to God becomes obvious via guidance and inspiration toward others, you, and your future. 

When a person meditates, he/she begins to feel so good that if that person stops the meditation practice, the negative emotions experienced in the past become so much more intense. I believe that when an individual discontinues a meditation practice, the negative emotion becomes so much more profound because the feeling of good from meditation is so powerful. That contrast is so clear that anyone would long for that special good feeling place.

It takes practice to make permanent, and so one must continue meditation to remain in that good feeling place of a calm, clear, confident connection to the true self and God.

That connection, my friend, is authentic, which is precisely why I will meditate to the end of my days and possibly beyond. 

Nothing is more important to me than being connected to God! There are not enough money, recognition, or titles in the world more important to me than knowing, talking, and walking with God. I've been asking for that closeness and connection for the whole of my life! And, if you feel the same way, you will learn to make time for meditation.

Have a wonderful weekend and the week ahead.

Take good care!

Hug, hug, hug...

I love you...

Elizabeth Stanfill

If you love what you read here, you may find my books by clicking, books by Elizabeth Stanfill.

God bless you...

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING WHEN DESTRESSING YOURSELF

Hello my peoples ;)

Hope your week is starting off perfectly.  Mine is, we got some snow over the weekend and if you know me, you know, I LOVE THE SNOW :)

The last couple of weeks I have gotten several emails about quieting the mind.  Sheee Hooo!!!  Lots of resistance there ;)  It's okay though, actually it's perfect.  No one should attempt to or learn to quiet their mind until they are ready.  It's all in the attitude.

Attitude is the construct of our likes and dislikes. 

Attitude is the perspective one has towards a person, place, or thing.

Those are just definitions that I Googled, he he he...

The way I define attitude is your thoughts, feelings, and actions towards anything.  Any thing you think, feel, or do is not neutral, it is positive or negative.

What I am trying to say is, if you think you can meditate, you can.  If you feel good about meditation, you will meditate.  If you just meditate, it will get easier.

The reason I am saying all of this is because stress is doubt, fear, and worry and if you meditate you can calm your thoughts of doubt, fear, and worry.  At first, when you quiet your mind, you will really notice your unhealthy thoughts.

Many of my clients tell me, after they learn to meditate and quiet their mind, that they didn't realize how negative their thought process is.  When  you discover this, you can turn it around.

Did you know that we have at least 60,000 thoughts a day?

People really believe that they know what they are thinking.  If we knew what we were thinking, we would make ourselves think thoughts like, "I can be, do, have anything my heart desires," and believe it!  And then pursue what we want to be, do, and have. 

When you meditate, and quiet your mind, you can notice those limiting beliefs like, "I am not pretty enough, skinny enough, smart enough, or energetic enough to do this or that."

When you destress yourself, you discover your stressful habits, which are usually your thought processes, and then you eliminate them by replacing them with healthier and more powerful thoughts.

So I am trying to create some persuasion for meditation here.  Quiet your mind, calm yourself and your body, discover your unhealthy thoughts, question those thoughts, and turn them around.

Attitude is everything when you wanna destress yourself.

You gotta believe you can meditate and see the benefits of meditation.  You gotta feel good about meditation, and you will do it.  You gotta just do it, and it will get easier.

YOU GOT THE POWER!!!  JOO CAN DO IT!!!

That's all I got...

Have a super duper alli ooper week, and don't forget to have fun and be playful.

Elizabeth

Are You Seeking Spirituality?

Hello there, my dear reader!

How are you doing today?

Did you meditate?

I have a prayer in my heart you read my last post, Would You Meditate for a $Million$, and you began or renewed your commitment to meditate.

If you haven't read it, you can by clicking here.

I believe, with all my heart and soul, if a person is seeking spiritual things, a person can, and will get there faster if they meditate.

Do you know the greatest commandment in the law given by Jesus the Christ?

In the book of Matthew, from the Holy Bible, a lawyer asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment in the law, in which Jesus replied, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." ~Matthew 22:37-40, New Testament, Holy Bible, KJV

Do you believe in this commandment?

If so, do you live it?

This is actually quite brilliant because love is spiritual. If we love, we appreciate, we have compassion, we are cooperative, and we want to learn, and listen to understand. These ways of being, which are the fruit of the spirit, which is who we really are, leads to happiness, joy, and vitality. Therefore, love and spirituality are genius.

Isn't it true?

I do not know about you, but for me, I have always sought spiritual things the best I know how. As I continue to seek more and more, I learn so much from what I observe, and read.

I've been reading the scriptures, literally, since my son was about three years old, and he is thirty four now. That's a lot of research, and this studying of mine is driven by the desire for spiritual things.

I've had the coolest jobs, with some pretty amazing titles, and they were plenty of fun. I've obtained education and certificates that are, in my eyes, quite impressive to myself, seeing how I never thought I was smart enough to accomplish them. I've had great health, and magnificent relationships throughout my life but none of it could, or would have happened if I was not on this path of pursuit for the divine. The best part is the ineffable happiness I feel when I am connected to God.

I am not, by any means, at one with Heavenly Father all of the time, but I try to be much of the time with increases in that relationship. This, I believe, is all possible because of my desire for, research in, and studies on spiritual things.

The greatest commandment, in the law, is probably the most important thing we can live when we are on a quest for spirituality. So, the question is, how does one live this great law?

That is an excellent question!

Maybe you believe you already live this law. Truly, no one but Christ has lived it fully. Therefore, we must continue the obtainment if we're looking for an even more transcendental experience.

What does it mean to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind?

We should probably discuss what love is first, mustn't we?

There are scriptures indicating what love is, especially perfect love. "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." ~1John 4:18, New Testament, Holy Bible, KJV.

Fear comes from the human conditioning of competition; a you against me type of thinking, and creates anger, anxiety, and depression.

Perfect love comes from a cooperation; a you and me type of thinking, and creates calm, confidence, and happiness.

Perfect love is a synergy with God.

Cooperation with God is truly living the commandment of love.

I try my hardest to talk and walk with God, always! The reason I do this is because that is what a loving daughter does, and it gives me inner peace.

Unity with God, and living with inner peace is what this life is all about.

Working with God leads to enlightenment, and is achieved by practice.

There are three stages in life and they are innocence, adolescence, and enlightenment.

As we mature we teeter back and fourth between innocence and adolescence, and adolescence and enlightenment.

Innocence is a spiritual being growing, and learning through this human encounter.

Adolescence is an angry, anxious, and competitive attitude with others, learned from the human experience.

Enlightenment is a calm, confident, connection to God. Some people are lucky enough to be trained up this way, and some suffer and struggle much before they reach this height. Then there are those that seem so far from this stage, it is difficult to ever conceive of them getting there.

Yes, I ramble! Ha!

But it's okay because there are so many people seeking a connection to God, and an inner peace that comes from self research on spiritual things.

If you are seeking, and I can point you in the direction of more spirituality, while I am walking this path myself, I am grateful for the opportunity.

But first, you gotta meditate!

Well, that's a fib really because you don't gotta do anything but! If you do meditate, you will get there so much faster. 

Trust me on this!

This is all leading to contemplation, focus, and meditation on the love part of the great commandment.

Contemplation, focus, and meditation on perfect love.

Are you ready?

In our daily meditation, at the same time everyday, let us contemplate, focus, and meditate upon perfect love.

To give you an idea of what this looks like, I am reminded of a young, innocent boy, who would talk to me with love, in the midst of pointing out my inaccurate view of reality. When my son was but a toddler, he would put both his palms on each side of my face, with love, and explain to me how my view of others was a little off. I listened to him because I love him. 

Adolescence, the competitive stage of life, does not listen, because an insecure person values being right. This being right, is the very essence of what a person may believe his or her value and worth are. This person, who needs to be right, has a closed mind to evidence. This is the opposite of self love.

To love is to learn, and listen, with compassion, for evidence of the truth.

The reason I give this example is because I was that very competitive, insecure individual, much of the time. Sometimes, that person comes back to haunt me. But, I do not want to be that person because, although she can hurt others, she harms herself more than anyone else.

When you love yourself, you have an open mind.

When you love yourself, you learn by listening to understand.

When you love yourself, you have no need to compete.

When you love yourself, you feel safety and security.

When you love yourself, you can and will discover what perfect love is.

When you love yourself, God abides in you.

Appreciation and compassion are the truths that can and will bring an individual to this perfect love we are meditating upon.

Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to meditate upon perfect love, in our daily meditation, set aside at the same time everyday.

Contemplate, focus, and meditate upon perfect love and learn, by listening for guidance and inspiration towards understanding.

Love shows me great things, and I pray it will show you more spiritual things too.

That's all I got...

My rambles and repetitions on seeking spirituality...

Big Hugs...

Speak soon...

Elizabeth

Ungrateful me...

Hello my friend. How are you this fine lovely Sabbath Day?

My prayer is that you are doing super duper alley ooper.

What I wanna blog about this day is being ungrateful.

When I was younger I use to be so ungrateful. That's right, the ungrateful me.

Now, at the age of fifty, I am so grateful that I cry on a daily basis when I have gratitude in my heart. Quite often I cry two or three times a day. Some say it is hormones but I say that I finally know what gratitude is.

For many years I have found several things to be grateful for but my heart has been completely full of gratitude for the last two or three years. I have no idea what happened to me but something touched me where I just fell in love with people, places, things, and life.

It is my humble opinion that this love and thankfulness is from my meditation practice.  I have been meditating since 1999 and the more I meditate the more aware I become.

My meditation has allowed me to be aware of my ungratefulness, or my thanklessness, and to be more grateful.

My meditation has allowed me to focus on the better things in life.

When I was so ungrateful I was always focusing on what was wrong, I was caught up in my anxiety and that didn't allow me to be fully present right here, right now.

Now I am so grateful, everywhere I go people are so loving, so kind to me, and they didn't use to be that way so it must be my gratitude.

Nearly everyday, I get free things all the time, I swear.

The other day I went to a sandwich shop and the guys gave me three free chocolate cookies.  The day before that I was at this facility, which had this coffee machine, I put my money in it to get a hot coco, and the money came back out so I got a free hot coco.

I don't know if you wanna call that karma or what but, you can ask anybody who hangs out with me, or has known me for a long time, and they will tell you that people give things to me A LOT, like all the time.

This free stuff never use to happen for me but I believe it's because I live in a place of gratitude. The emotion of gratitude is so close to the emotion of love, and this emotion has given to me the openness to fall in love with everything and everybody.

This love allows me to always have a big smile on my face, and to nearly always be very playful.

I do not say this to brag, I say this because I want to teach the world to meditate.

I want to teach the world to meditate because before my meditation practice I was the most angry, anxious, and ungrateful person but now I am just the opposite.

The reason my life has evolved is because I did the work! In order to be who you want to become, you must do the work on you, and your life.

Meditation is a mental exercise.

When we practice awareness, we become aware of our thoughts.

When we become aware of our thoughts we can choose them more wisely and govern them.

When we govern our thoughts we govern our emotions.

When we do not govern our emotions we are on autopilot with the habitual emotions we have, which often have momentum. The emotions I am talking about are the unhealthy ones like anger, irritability, moodiness, and sadness.

All emotions on autopilot can develop great momentum to where they put us in bliss or in burnout.

The reason I am sharing this is, I was crying this morning because I was so grateful for the kindness that people show me and I am so grateful to be able to serve The Lord everyday.

When I was crying this morning, I was thinking about how I cry two or three times a day because my heart is full of gratitude when before I started meditating I use to cry two or three times a day because of anxiety and depression.

I know that I do not have anxiety or depression anymore. I don't even have nervousness or sadness anymore. I don't have anger, anxiety, frustration, or any of that and it is because I meditate, which is my mental exercise that allows me to release the negative emotions that do not belong to me.

If there was anything I could tell you to help you destress yourself it would be, learn to meditate, learn to relax, and practice it everyday.  This learning and practicing will develop a calm, certain, and confident you.

This practice will give you much more faith in life and others versus doubt, fear, and worry, which is anxiety.

I would love to teach the world to meditate so that everyone can know gratitude so much that they are crying everyday like me.

I just wanted to share these thoughts with you because I know that there is a lot of crisis, despair, and devastation out there, I have lived crisis, despair, and devastation, and I have been assisting people with crisis, despair, and devastation for many years.

When the crisis, devastation, and despair come, I know everything is going to be okay, I know that it is all a part of life, I know I can be grateful for the things that are going right rather than the things that are going wrong, and I know this through the practice of meditation.

If you are having a hard time, learn to meditate. You will be so grateful you did but don't believe me! Try it yourself and see how it will evolve your safety, satisfaction, and security for life.

That's all I got...

I love you, I truly do.

Elizabeth

Destressing Peaceful Practice

Greetings dear reader...

Praying you are living with faith and peace in your heart and soul.

"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that it is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." ~Joshua 1:8, Holy Bible, KJV

This scripture has everything to do with the way I’m living my life right now. Meaning, I am meditating, day and night, on chosen scriptures, and I feel peace because of it.

In 1999 I heard my favorite speaker, at the time, Gordon B. Hinckley, mention that he meditates, and suggested to others, to do it too. Not long after, I got a book on meditation for beginners and began the journey of quieting my mind. I’ve been meditating since.

When I began this path, 21 years ago, it took me about two weeks of meditating, at the same time every day, to quiet my mind. The goal was to meditate 30 minutes, at the exact same time every day. It took me one month to successfully sit with a quiet mind for 30 minutes.

Four distinct things happened during this time of my life. 

First, I discovered, for years, I was unknowingly, nonstop, on the go with my body and mind. In other words, habitually practicing the hurry up and racing mind disorders. 

Second, I literally relearned how to relax, without having to remind myself. The practiced meditation allowed body and mind relaxation, and it became a part of me.

Third, the most amazing opportunities began to happen in my personal and professional life. Literally, things were falling in my lap, so to speak, and possibilities, and options were handed to me. 

Fourth, I became extremely alert and aware of my negative actions, behaviors, beliefs, thoughts, and words. This awareness began a change in me. This change was a movement from carnal conditioning, to a spiritual awakening.

In the scripture above it says, "then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." This is true for me, and is only the beginning. Can you imagine meditating for over twenty years, and knowing it's just the beginning?

I live the most prosperous and successful life I could ever have imagined. This prosperity and success is from the peace I feel in my heart, right now! This peace has everything to do with my connection, guidance, and inspiration from God.

This is spiritual success. Spiritual success, is true success to me. Living by the spirit, who we really are, gives me everything I've been asking for and didn't even know it.

Compassion, confidence, faith, patients, love, and trust, has been obtained in large quantities, from practicing meditation and striving for a connection to God.

I've had the most amazing careers, and have lived in the most magnificent homes and neighborhoods. But, not one of these titles, or environments, brought the prosperity and success of peace that the connection to God, has brought me. This peace has come, and continues to, through practicing meditation of the mind and relaxation of the body.

There are three kinds of meditations that I practice. 

First and most importantly, I quiet my mind, and focus on my breath and heart beat, several times, throughout the day. 

"Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." ~Psalms 46:10, Holy Bible, KJV 

When I practice quieting myself, I calm my body and mind. It is my humble opinion, from experience, in this relaxed state, guidance and inspiration from God comes. In this practiced, quiet, way of being, we can find, and recognize God more.

The second meditation I practice is, I choose a scripture, memorize it, and try my best at keeping it at the forefront of my mind, throughout the day, and for a specific amount of days. This helps me create spiritual habits by focusing on spiritual things. This has, and still does, help me change my conditioned, habitual, human thoughts of fear, to more faithful behaviors and beliefs.

The third kind of meditation I practice is visualization.

The carnal, training of the human experience teaches us to meditate upon, and visualize doubt, fear, and worry of the future and past. Many people do these stressful habits by default. 

When I visualize, I do it to recondition, and retrain my way of thinking by desire, rather than default. This practiced visualization sustains a habit of using my creative, and critical thinking skills by desire, and promotes great faith in myself. This faith replaces fear, and cultivates confidence.

This meditation of visualization is easy and fun. All I do is ask myself, "what do I want?" followed by the phrase, "I'd like a...." Then I fill in the blank, and think of all the things, in intricate detail, I'd love to have in my future. This doesn't mean I'll have them, and whether I do or not, I'll be fine, either way. This exercise gives way of training myself back to the fruit of the spirit of love and joy. It's fun! I remember doing it as a child, and I have relearned it in my adulthood.

Sound silly?

I believe with all my heart and soul, my faith in God, my never ending dropping to my knees, my praying to Heavenly Father night and day, in despair, for years, and my asking for guidance and inspiration, has led me to this path. This spiritual path has led me to live the life of luxury.

This life of luxury that I speak of is specific to my needs and wants. This life of luxury is prosperity and success to me. My prosperity and my success have everything to do with what I’ve been asking for nearly my entire life. I've been asking for connection to God and how to live from the spirit.

This prosperity and success, this connection to God, and living from the spirit is peace. 

I do not know if 25 years ago I could absorb or understand the words that I speak now but, there are words that I have read that led me to this path. 

It is my belief, through meditation I heard God‘s guidance and inspiration. 

So it is my never ending endeavor to write these words of direction, pointing in the way of this life of luxury, of living by the spirit.

It is with this explanation and scripture that I give you this homework for the next four days. Meditate upon, and memorize the scripture...

"Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." ~Psalms 46:10, Holy Bible KJV 

This is one of the very first scriptures I memorized, and meditated upon, years ago.

Suggestions...

1) Meditate upon and memorize the scripture when you wake up first thing in the morning. Consciously, make this scripture your first thought, say it in your mind a few times, as you are waking, and lay there if you can for a few minutes thinking about it. 

2)In the middle of the day, at the same time, every day, preferably near noon, go into a quiet secluded place and meditate upon the memorized scripture. Take a minimum of five minutes to contemplate it. 

3) When you lay your head on your pillow, to retire for the evening, go to sleep thinking upon this scripture. 

4) Strive to think about the scripture throughout the day, as often as you remember, and what it means to you.

5) Lastly, get a note book, and write your spiritual experiences down. You will be so grateful to read these when times are trying with much troubles.

This is a way of reconditioning, and retraining, to return to the spirit, of who we really are. If a person has had anxious, angry, or depressed, habitual, practiced, thoughts for years, it may take some time to return to the spiritual originality.

This is for the person who has been asking God for connection, guidance, and inspiration. I believe with all my heart and soul that this is a way.

Like in my last post, the scripture that says, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and love, and a sound mind." ~2Timothy 1:7, Holy Bible, KJV, we are using our power, our love for our self to do this, and a sound mind.

This is about enduring to the end, never giving up, and striving for God and spirituality. 

This is about, in my humble opinion, being about your business between God, and you. 

This is about the power that we have to never give up. 

This is about the love that we have from God, for ourselves, and for others, to provide an environment, and life of luxury, of love, of power, and through a sound mind.

When a person begins to govern one's body, and mind, with and through this spiritual meditation, he or she will discover his or her power. If a person hasn’t yet discovered one's value and worth comes from within, from the spirit, and leads to prosperity and success, I believe he or she can, and will, through this power.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to follow the directions given above.

This is a great time for spiritual experiments. Try it, and if it works, make it a permanent practice. This, my dear friend, is the way to destress yourself.

God bless you...

Ever praying for your comfort and strength...

Speak soon...

Elizabeth

Would You Meditate for a $Million$

Hey hey! How are you doing today?

I hope and pray you're calm, confident, and chilling out, it's what destressing is all about.

Got a question for you! Would you meditate for one million dollars?

If I told you I'd give you one million dollars, if you meditated for one year, would you do it?

What if you had to set aside the same time every day for thirty minutes and just quiet your mind, focus on your breath, and heartbeat. Would you do it for one million dollars?

I’d bet you'd do it. If it only takes thirty minutes out of your day, and you just have to sit there listening to your breath, and feeling your heart beat, anyone would probably do it. How hard could it be for a mere million?

I’m pretty sure that if I offered that to anybody they would do it.

Why would they do it? They would do it because they believe that a million dollars would make them happy. 

Everyone is searching for happiness.

Why do you suppose people are searching for happiness? Is it because misery is so draining and unwanted?

It is my humble opinion that we want happiness because it relieves misery. It is also my humble opinion that we want happiness because it brings an inner peace.

What if you cared about yourself, believed in yourself, and you loved yourself enough to meditate for thirty minutes at the same time every day to bring you inner peace?

There are two reasons, I believe, most recently, I am living a life with inner peace. 

The first reason is my desire to know God, and my faith in God. That desire and faith brings me to my knees every morning, when I wake up, and every evening before I retire for sleep. That faith has guided me to read my scriptures, and to learn about God, Christ, and life.

The second reason is my faithfulness to God has brought me to meditate. This meditation, which I’ve been doing for twenty one years, has brought calm, confidence, a quiet mind, and a relaxed body. This meditation has allowed me to discern, and observe my behaviors and beliefs, and leads me to my connection to God. This connection gives me magnificent cooperation with life, and with others.

This connection to, and cooperation with God brings me to a place of being the person I had no idea I could ever be. This person, that I am today, is the exact opposite of what I was the first part of my life. I was angry, anxious, depressed, and wallowing in despair.

The opposite of what I was, is the fruit of the spirit. I am not perfect but, I practice what I believe, trying to make better habits into permanent behaviors.

If I could see the world through God’s understanding, I could and would see everyone with compassion and love, all of the time. This understanding leads to knowing we are all imperfect, and on our own unique individual path. I believe in this compassion and love, with all my heart, and my desire is to behave like I believe it.

My old desires were to change the world. My new desires are to change my world, which is between God and me. With this new me, the spiritual me, I am able to lift and love the environment in which I stand, the people I am with, and me.

This is worth more to me than one million dollars a year.

Are you opposed to meditation?

If so...

Would you allow me to persuade you to meditate?

Do you believe in yourself, and that you are capable of meditating? 

Do you want to increase your faith in and connection to God, and lift yourself more? 

Yes!?! 

Meditation is probably one of the most valuable habits a person can develop for an increase in life. 

Besides connecting to God, and creating a habit of inner peace, meditation can, and will replace the human habit of hurry and worry?

Meditation is essential for self control.

The self control I am talking about is calm, confident, cooperative, and thoughtful behavior. Self control is part of the fruit of the spirit.

The opposite of self control is lack of impulse control. 

Lack of control over the mind, leads to anger, anxiety, depression, despair, hurry and worry. 

A quiet mind is a controlled mind, and leads to governed emotions. 

Lack of control over the physical senses, leads to addictions like alcohol, food, and inappropriate, and unhealthy conduct.

Meditation is all about destressing yourself from the troublesome human conditioning into the peaceful spiritual nature. This harmonious spiritual nature I am talking about, is who we really are.

Through meditation we can discover who we truly are and, what power we precisely possess.

Have I convinced you about meditation?

Have I talked you into an assignment, and/or a recommitment?

Our new assignment, our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to pick a time, the same time every day, to sit and relax the body and mind, for five minutes. The only thing we have to do is focus on the breath going in and out of the lungs, and feel the heart beat.

Focusing on the breath and beat of the heart, is life. Therefore, we are focusing on life. Pretty cool eh?

This assignment is not for four days though.

This assignment is meant to begin at five minutes for four days.

Then to ten minutes for the next four days.

Then fifteen minutes for the next four days.

Then twenty minutes for the next four days.

Then twenty five minutes for the next four days.

Finally, thirty minutes, everyday, at the same time, and for the rest of your life.

Can you see how this will enhance your life as you get older?

Can you see how a still mind connects you to God, governs your behaviors, and allows more, of being the person you ultimately desire to be?

Whatever we practice we can make permanent, and eventually become perfect at. It is a science! Practice makes permanent habits. 

This is living by desire.

I've always known that God is real.

I attended church every Sunday, read my scriptures everyday, and continue to pray all day. 

I endeavor to talk and walk with God. 

I'm learning.

I'm listening more.

I love more than I ever thought possible.

This learning, listening, and loving has given me great understanding.

I am but an infant, maybe a toddler, in comprehending spiritual things.

Just a meditating girl, learning spiritual things, in a human world.

The best part for me, is the guidance, and inspiration I receive by being still on a regular basis.

This guidance and inspiration comes from a calm, confidence, and a relaxed body and mind. This gives me feelings and thoughts of safety and security in most circumstances. This is absolutely miraculous because I use to be the opposite.

If I can quiet my mind, and relax my body, on a regular basis, for years, anyone can. 

Trust me on this one!

It is so worth the spiritual expansion.

I believe in myself.

I believe in you.

I know that I am love.

And I know you are too.

If you do not believe and know this for you, and want to, please accept the mission.

God bless you my dear sweet reader. I know you are there. God guides me and inspires me to write these words for you. I believe, with all my heart and soul this is true.

Enjoy your week...

And your new commitment...

Or recommitment if you already meditate.

Big Hugs...

Elizabeth

How To Destress Your Life With Faith In Yourself

How to destress your life with faith in yourself is what I wanna ramble bout today...

Hello, there my lovely friend, how are you this wonderful Spring day? I pray that you are fantabulous. I believe I know rather that you are amazing and brilliant.

How do I know you are? Because I know your worth, and that is what I will discuss this day.

Every single thing we do, every single day, is determined by the faith we have, or don't have, in ourselves.

We stay in our jobs, homes, relationships, and health because we believe that is what we deserve, and we believe that is what we can get or have.

For example, we apply for jobs, or careers we believe we have a chance at, and we do not apply for certain positions because we do not believe we can obtain them.

Many individuals remain in stressful lives because of the beliefs they have about themselves.  In order to destress one's life, it helps to understand the thought process as to the level of faith one has in himself or herself.

So, here I go...

Our self-esteem plus our self-confidence equals our self-worth.

Our worth never changes because we are worth so so so very much. We are children of God, and we have a spirit, which says everything about how much we are truly worth.

Our self-worth, on the other hand, fluctuates as easily as our mood.

If on Sunday, we go to church, learn of God, and how important we are, our self-worth may be magnanimously high. Contrary to that if we work in an environment that houses unprofessional individuals who bully people on a daily basis, we can feel very small, and our self-worth may be very low, and small.

Faith in the self is based on our current self-worth.

Our self-esteem is the level of respect we have for ourselves, meaning the words, thoughts, feelings, and actions we maintain, towards the self are either respectful or disrespectful. You know what I am talking about. ~wink, wink~

Our self-confidence is the level of certainty about ourselves, meaning the faithful, or unfaithful words, thoughts, feelings, and actions we maintain, towards the self.

This confidence I speak of is very different from arrogance. Arrogance is ignorance, but confidence is knowing what you know without having to be better, smarter, or righter than anyone, capeesh?

If you would like to destress your life by increasing faith in yourself, you would do very well to increase your self-worth.

In order to increase your self-worth, you would do great by increasing your self-esteem, i.e., treating yourself with more respect, and increasing your self-confidence, i.e., recognizing your certainty of what you know, and can do, not what you do not know, and cannot do.

Two very easy ways to increase your self-esteem, and self-confidence is to create habits of complimenting and encouraging yourself.

When you compliment yourself you will focus on your good, your gifts, and create respect versus focusing on the bad and using negative words to describe yourself.

When you encourage yourself, you will focus on what you can do, and notice your abilities to do, which will create more trust in yourself.

If you want to increase your faith in yourself and increase your self-worth, go ahead and intentionally practice complimenting and encouraging yourself.

Have fun with this!

If you really want to increase your self-worth, get to know your spiritual being. When we get to know our spiritual being, we realize how truly amazing, brilliant, and courageous we truly are.

How do we get to know our spiritual being? Meditation my friend.

Meditation, affirmations, and visualizations.

All of my clients meditate, affirm, and visualize.

I meditate, affirm, and visualize!

Why meditate, affirm, and visualize?

Because meditation allows us to hear, and become conscious of what our habitual subconscious mind is telling us, because affirming what we want reminds us to do better, and visualizing what we truly want gives us inspiration and motivation.

But heck, please do not believe me!

Find out for yourself.

Practice meditation, affirmation, and visualization, and see for yourself.

Meditate by quieting your mind, affirm by repeating in your mind what you want, and visualize yourself often in the best possible scenario.

There you have it... how to destress your life with faith in yourself.

Have a wonderful day...

Love you so much,

Elizabeth Stanfill

If you love what you read here you may find my books by clicking here.