©  Rhoberta Shaler, PhD
www.SoulWiseWays.com

Many of us were raised with the idea of God being somewhere outside of ourselves, a Being, an Entity, a Deity above and beyond us. Some see an anthropomorphic God pictured as a man with long silver hair, floating benevolently above on a cloud. Some adopt artist’s renderings such as Michaelangelo offered. All were beyond the individual.

Where is God to you?  If you are interested in the Bible, you will remember that it clearly tells us that “behold, the kingdom of God is within you’ in Luke 17.21.  What a huge shift it is for many to think that God is within and expressing through you. Everything changes.

Where is God to you?

Many blessings,
Rhoberta

Rhoberta Shaler, PhD
Consultant. Coach. Counselor. Catalyst.
Helping Businesses Prosper & People Flourish Since 1982
www.Rhoberta.com
www.SoulWiseWays.com
www.SpiritualLivingNetwork.com – Join in. It’s free!

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©  Rhoberta Shaler, PhD

We call people “spiritual seekers” and many are looking for God in all the wrong places…in my opinion. (Of course, I can only share my thoughts and conclusions about this after fifty years of walking the spiritual path through amazing experiences and beside still waters, and they are just mine.)

Why do I think folks are looking in all the wrong places?  Because they are looking for God outside of themselves.  You know there is an old story about sages arguing about where to hide the truth, each with his own idea.  Finally once suggested hiding it inside people.  When asked why he thought that was best, his reply was:

“Because they will never think to look there!”

God is within me, expressing in, as, around and through me and I know that to be true. Believe me, I’ve had ample opportunity to figure that out! As a young mom, I made my way alone with three children, a fulltime job, little child support and parents who espoused that infamous phrase,

“You made your bed. Now, lie in it!”

As I sat down with a pile of bills much higher than the pile of dollars each month, I would feel myself slipping into the “ain’t it awfuls” and have to remind myself–maybe even talk out loud very strongly to myself to get my attention–that God is, in fact, expressing through me and only I can stop the flow! And, oh, I had such supposedly rational ways to stop that flow.

What if you could wrap your head around the idea that God is within you, made you as the Bible says “in his image and likeness,” and you could live from that idea? God has poured everything out for you long before you went looking for it. Could you accept that?  Or, do you prefer fear, limitation, and struggle?

Believe me, I know it is not always easy to stay in that flow. I’m an expert at finding justifications for making plans and making things happen.  Foolish me. Truly, when I remember that God lives as me, then all is “added unto me.” It’s when I get my knickers in a knot, thinking I have to MAKE it happen, that anxiety, anger, frustration and fear take over.

Fortunately, after all these years, I’m quicker at remembering and getting back in the flow that has sustained and maintained me with manna all these years.

How about you?  How do you get yourself back into the flow?

Many blessings,
Rhoberta

Rhoberta Shaler, PhD
Consultant. Coach. Counselor. Catalyst.
…leading you to the life, love & livelihood that fulfills you and serves the life of the world
www.SoulWiseWays.com
www.Rhoberta.com
Enjoy free social networking for spiritually-minded people at www.SpiritualLivingNetwork.com

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©  Rhoberta Shaler, PhD

Would the world stop turning if I gave up my illusion of control?

That’s a big question with two important parts: my illusion and my control. Do I actually believe that I am in control of all that goes on here called my life? I think of the many goal-setting workshops I gave in the 80’s, so clear that there was a process that could regulate my behavior. Even then, I only paid it lip service in my own life because it did not seem right. Now, I laugh when I think of it. Intuitively, I think I knew that all my planning was simply time-consuming behavior the outcome of which I could not be attached to. But, it gave me the illusion of doing something, at least!

You might have had that experience, too. Please understand that I have no issue with myself or others having goals. I simply consider them to be what I think might be next or best. Not rules. Not formulae. Not “must-haves.” And, able to be let go of in an instant!

I’ve been in seminars and workshops where the supposed sage on the stage demanded that crystal clear goals be created with objectives, action plans and tasks, separated and at the ready as an arsenal for blasting through anything unlike achievement. In fact, it was suggested that you might just be choosing failure if that arsenal was not intact! Perhaps you have experienced something similar.

In our book, SOUL SOLITUDE: Taking Time for Our Souls to Catch Up, we say that surrender is one of the four most important steps in a soulwise life. That’s not a sometimes kind of surrender. It’s a bigtime, all-the-time kind of surrender. Are you willing to live surrendered in God? What do you understand by that question? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Many blessings,
Rhoberta

Rhoberta Shaler, PhD
Consultant. Coach. Counselor. Catalyst.
…leading you to align values, vision, beliefs & purpose to create the life you long for
www.SoulWiseWays.com
Find me on Facebook, Twitter & Linked in at RhobertaShaler

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© Rhoberta Shaler, PhD

When times get tense, many people become fearful.

What should I do?
What’s going to happen?
What’s going to happen to me?
Why now?
What if there isn’t enough?
Why did “they” do that?

So, many questions. They surface in the board room, the dining room and the bedroom…and everywhere there is quiet time to fall into anxiety, or conversation leading to shame and blame. When we wrote Soul Solitude: Taking Time for Our Souls to Catch Up, we talked about a generalized tendency in our culture, families and workplaces to engage in SBJJ and how destructive this is. When fear hits, SBJJ can become more than a tendency. It becomes the main topic of conversation, a way to try to make ourselves feel better.  And, it is a total waste of time, energy and relationships.

SBJJ?  Shame, blame, judge and justify! If I can just make it come out all right in my own mind or in my conversations, then, I’ll feel better.  It’s not so, is it? You don’t really feel better when you find someone to blame, shame or judge. And, when I’m dancing as fast as I can to justify my feelings, behaviors or choices, inside I know that it is a futile dance.

There are two other choices: focus and faith.  When I wrote What You Pay Attention to Expands a few years ago, before the Law of Attraction and The Secret became so popular, the very idea expressed in the title made an impression.  Where am I placing my attention?  If I’m looking for someone to SBJJ, I cannot be actively taking responsibility for my own life. And, if I take some time to reflect on my own thoughts and behavior, I might find that I am spending an inordinate amount of time worrying these days. If that’s the case, the worry will expand. My fear will expand. And, what’s the use of that?

I’ve learned that I am powerful, and I know you are, too. You can change the focus of your thoughts. If there is more month than money, focus on what you can do rather than on what you cannot. If someone is dancing on your last nerve, find something to love about them and express your appreciation.  No, no, now, this isn’t Pollyanna thinking. This is you and me taking charge of our thoughts and the fears and anxieties that can arise from them.  It’s your choice what you think about.

And, then there is faith. I’ll say this simply: if we believe in a God, a Higher Power, a Universal Life Force “whose good pleasure it is to give you the Kingdom”, that provides abundantly, freely and constantly, wouldn’t it be atheism to be afraid?

I’ll leave you with that last thought.  It might just set you thinking…which is the whole point of today’s post!  I hope  you’ll share your thoughts below.

Cheers,
Rhoberta

Rhoberta Shaler, PhD
Consultant. Coach. Counselor. Catalyst.
…leading you to the life, love & livelihood that fulfills you and serves the life of the world
www.SoulWiseWays.com
www.ForWomenEntrepreneurs.com

Host of  the hot new internet radio program for women entrepreneurs, Women on the Move with a Mission

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