This morning I was thinking about how is it that I am happy all the time. I was thinking: was it A Course in miracles that did it?
When exactly was the moment when I stopped being depressed and sad all the time? Could I remember when the shift happened?
And what I remembered was that when I started turning my focus off my depression and started focusing more on other people and appreciation, that’s when my life began to change. I started making it MORE ABOUT THEM and LESS ABOUT ME.
MY SECRET TO HAPPINESS
I treat every moment as a holy encounter.
Wherever I go, this is my secret: whenever I meet anyone I make them feel they are the cause of my happiness.
Now, I know this is not “spiritually correct” – that really I AM THE CAUSE OF MY OWN HAPPINESS but what I do is make other people believe they are the cause of my joy.
Whenever I meet anyone, I remember it is a holy encounter.
“When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter. As you see him, you will see yourself. As you treat him, you will treat yourself. As you think of him, you will think of yourself. Never forget this, for in him you will find yourself or lose sight of yourself. Whenever two Sons of God meet they are given another chance at Salvation. Do not leave anyone without giving love and blessing TO him and receiving it yourself. For I am always there WITH you, in remembrance of YOU.” -A Course in Miracles
When I started living in this way, my whole life changed.
Give it a try. Your life will be completely transformed.
The other day a good friend of mine told me she has started tithing 10 percent of her income to people who inspire her, and she is AMAZED and BLOWN AWAY by the reactions. She says people are actually CRYING in joy when she gives to them. This is the secret. SEEING your brothers and acknowledging them as the source of your happiness.
Have a great day.
Good Morning! I know I keep talking about this book The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity, but it’s off-the-charts amazing.
Anyone who knows me knows that when I find something I love, I shout it from the mountain tops because I want everyone to have a chance to experience it for themselves.
And right now, it is this book.
I was in a restaurant up in Maine yesterday with my mom and Bill and
I took the book out (because it makes for such great table
conversation) and I read a sentence from
the Forgiveness chapter: “I am through feeling guilty about
_____________”
And the waitress was behind me serving food to another table, but I
didn’t know it, and she heard what I read and came
running over, all excited, and said: OH MY GOD!! what is this book
you are reading??? I have to buy it. ?
All I read was that one sentence,but that was all she needed to hear ?
I really feel that many people on the planet are ready to move beyond guilt, blame and waiting for life to start. Everyone wants to feel alive, with a purpose.
I really feel that a lot of people are wondering: Okay, now what? What do I do?
And you know me, I love practical. I love simple. And right now, my advice is: buy this book:
I also got a great letter from a friend of mine yesterday who really loves
my posts, and when I stopped posting for two weeks (which by the way, I didn’t
even notice that I hadn’t sent a message out in that long), he went
through some resistance because he’d come to rely on these messages
- here is what he wrote:
Love you Lisa…important question for ya’…as you know I’ve been
on my way out of Egypt (my reference for no longer being a slave to
time and space and old habits) for awhile and all of a sudden it stopped…no lessons for two
weeks…huge resistance..like something trying to reject what had
become a guiding light to me…unreal as I know it is the ego
or personal self seems to be putting up one hell of a fight for
itself…I suppose just noticing and accepting the is-ness of the
situation is fine but I’d like to be proactive…I feel like I need to do
something when the course says I need do nothing…any advice on how to get
back on track ? some where I know it’s the I that needs to do something
and get back on track that’s the problem…I’m fine..
I LOVE THIS MESSAGE!!! Because this is really where a change of
consciousness occurs, where we have done the work, laid the
foundation, no longer spending our time and energy on conflict, and
are seeing things differently – and now we are asking: OKAY, NOW WHAT???
And then comes the recognition it
is time to stand on our own two God-feet and do something
“proactive”.
Jesus says: “The real members of my party are active workers”
And my suggestion: BUY THIS BOOK by Edwene Gaines.
It’s all about action and finding Divine Purpose, and living it.
Actively being a bright light in this world, serving God, helping
our brothers.
A Course in Miracles says: “now that the darkness in you has been
brought to light, carry this light back to darkness”
and that to me is where I find myself right now – with an active
willingness and enthusiasm to carry this light and joy and love and
knowledge to others that they experience something brand new. That
I no longer want to sit around quoting “I need do nothing” but I
want to actively carry the message of Jesus to my brothers, the
same way certain brothers carried the message to me.
I love you.
In gratitude and excitement as this Plan unfolds,
Lisa
PS: Let me know if you buy the book, and also when it arrives.
I am currently working through it informally with some friends, as well as taking a 5-week class at Unity on Wednesday night – and if there is interest, I will offer another class to another group in June. It will be free, and I will facilitate it if there is interest. That’s how much I love this book.
PS PS: To download the free 31-page printable workbook, click this link: 31-page Free Printable Workbook – The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity
Today’s lesson 136 from A Course in Miracles is so powerful!!! wow. wow. wow. Did you read it? Oh my goodness, it’s a DOOZY, with the power to heal all ideas of sickness today. It includes two quiet moments of 15 minutes today to invite the truth to come to you. Here is what came for me – which is huge because I have a lifelong habit of trying to improve and change my body. Today’s lesson healed me of all of that. I am whole and perfect now, a channel of His Perfect Love and Joy … right now!
I accept the truth of what I am.
I lay all defenses aside, all meaningless attempts to fix or change or improve the body. The strength of God is enough to serve all truly useful purposes. The body’s health is fully guaranteed because it is not limited by time, weather, fatigue, food or drink or any of the laws I made to serve it before. YEA BABY!!!! The body needs no complicated structures of defense, no health-inducing medicine, no care and no concern at all.
The “self ” that needs protection is not real. The body, valueless and hardly worth the least defense, need merely be perceived as quite apart from you, and it becomes a healthy, serviceable instrument through which the mind can operate until its usefulness is over. Who would want to keep it when its usefulness is done?
Healed of insane ideas, the body becomes a healthy serviceable instrument through which God can be made manifest in this world. I need do nothing now, for sickness has become impossible.
Yet this protection needs to be preserved by careful watching. If I let your mind harbor attack thoughts, yield to judgment or make plans against uncertainties to come, I have again misplaced yourself, and made a bodily identity which will attack the body, for the mind is sick.
Something powerful to think about by Catherine Ponder:
Whatever you’re noticing, you’re inviting into your life.
Whatever you talk about, you’re inviting into your life.
Whatever you think about, you’re inviting into your life.
Whatever you give your attention to, you’re inviting into your life.
Open your mind to receive by noticing, giving attention to, and talking about whatever you want to bring into your life – and only that and nothing else.
Open your mind to telling God what you want instead of constantly telling people.
God is your Source and Supply – not other people – so tell God, not people.
This is a great practice to begin to learn to talk to God, to put Him in charge and to trust in Him with everything.
In love and gratitude.
Abraham-Hicks says it this way: “Whatever you’re thinking about is literally like planning a future event. When you’re worrying, you are planning. When you’re appreciating you are planning…What are you planning?”
This is the best description of forgiveness I have ever seen!!! It goes beyond forgiveness – (“Forgiveness recognizes what you thought your brother did to you has not occurred.” -A Course in Miracles) – to actively blessing and seeing someone as successful, prosperous and happy, extending love to them.
From Edwene Gaines book The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity:
At least once a year, but usually more often, I do a complete forgiveness inventory of my life. I set aside a day and find a quiet place to face myself and my past. Alone and uninterrupted, I mentally go through my whole life as far back as I can remember, double checking my feelings and memories to see if I’ve overlooked or forgotten or neglected to forgive someone. I review my early childhood, my parents, my friends, classmates, teachers – and then I go up through the teenage years, to college and then to bosses, work colleagues, etc. etc. If I am doing the exercises properly, it can take quite a while.
Several years ago while taking my own inventory, when I recalled an experienced with my ex-husband who had struggled with substance abuse, I had some unexpected negative feelings. I felt hurt, blame, and judgment as I remembered old feelings of betrayal and humiliation. It felt terrible to me to re-experience this and I was ashamed at my lack of forgiveness. I thought that I had forgiven us both for everything.
I then knew that I had some work to do. I began with earnestness to change my feelings by praying and affirming good for him. I began to speak aloud positive statements about him, as a form of prayer treatment.
“I see you happy, healthy and whole completely forgiven for all mistakes of the past.
“I see you successful and prosperous, creative, making a contribution to your world.
“I see you in satisfying relationships, enjoying your life supported and nurtured in every way.
“I see you in a wonderful home, traveling, beautifully clothed, driving a magnificent car, doing all you’ve ever dreamed of doing.
“I see you peaceful and joyous in all ways” And so on.
I had not seen this man in many years and didn’t know where he was or what he was doing, so I was astonished to receive a letter from him the very next week. He had tracked me down, found my address, and had taken the time to write me a precious and priceless letter:
Dear Edwene,
You have been on my mind a lot lately. I wanted to touch base with you to let you know how wonderful my life is these days. My business is now extremely successful. I am happily married, and we have a beautiful new home. My kids have graduated from college and are doing well. We get to travel a lot. Our health is good and life is sweet.
I’m writing you this note because I want to thank you for the contributions you have made to my life. I remember with joy the fun times we had and the laughter we shared and I recall with bittersweet poignancy some of the difficult lessons we had to learn together.
My point here is to let you know that however sweet my life is now, I know that your life must be even better.
I was so touched and grateful for this letter. He also included a check for $3,000 to make good on a debt that I had given up on long ago.
Needless to say, I now pray for this man every week!
To buy the book, click this link:
To download the free 31-page printable workbook, click this link: 31-page Free Printable Workbook – The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity
Here is the audio recording of a one-hour talk I gave with Bill yesterday on ACIM Gather Radio. I talk about Florence Scovel Shinn and THE POWER OF WORDS and also about “the power of decision” to choose how you feel in every moment. You’re not a victim of circumstances – you get to choose every single minute and every second the thoughts you want to think – and this determines your life.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4621838/LisaBill050312.mp3
Also, I talk about a 5-week prosperity Course that Bill and I are taking at our Unity church about inviting the Holy Spirit into your life, and putting God in charge of your life and finances. Doing so is “a dynamic act of courage” and so far I am loving it. Everything Jesus talks about in A Course in Miracles is about active faith, and finding out who you are, finding out what your Divine Purpose and calling is, and then living it. No more waiting.
To listen, click this link: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4621838/LisaBill050312.mp3
Love to you!
Lisa
“God is our companion as we walk this world a little while.” -A Course in Miracles
Yesterday morning David Fishman who runs ACIM Gather Radio asked me at the last minute if I’d be available to give a one-hour talk, and it so happened I had nothing going on for that hour. So yes, the answer was YES.
I love being flexible to God’s Plan. WHAT DOES GOD HAVE PLANNED FOR ME TODAY? It’s fun to live this way – to always be alert and available for a change in direction and routine.
In this audio, I talk about getting above the battleground and how to not react to people when they say things that are hurtful. Would you react to figures in a dream you knew you were dreaming? NO, you would not. Also, I talk about Osho about the necessity to be daring to “go through the fire” to go from a chaotic being to a crystallized being. Some lovely stuff. A diamond is nothing more than coal that which withstood the fire and the strong forces of nature, and that is often how it is in transformation. You just keep standing still, allowing the fire to burn off all that is heavy and not you, and suddenly you are a diamond, light and clear and beautiful.
Here is the audio:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/ 4621838/LisaNatoli042712.mp3
ENJOY!!
I’ll see if I can get it in an mp3 so you can download/upload to iTunes – and if so, I’ll post that on the TV/Audio link
All my love.
Lisa
Here is the audio recording from Wednesday April 25th show STOP PLANNING. LET YOURSELF BE SURPRISED. The Max & Lisa Show/A Course in Miracles at http://tobtr.com/s/3177399
ENJOY!
It’s such a great reminder – stop all your planning and allow God’s Plan to be revealed. We were talking about Lesson 135 which is soooooo good!! I read it twice last night. The body will be strong and healthy if you see it as quite apart from you. The “self” you think is real needs no protection. The body, valueless and worth no thought at all, need merely be perceived as quite apart from you and it becomes a healthy serviceable instrument through which God can work.
“What could you not accept, if you but knew that everything which happens, all events, past, present and to come, are gently planned by One Whose only purpose is your good? ? Your present trust in God is the defense which promises a future undisturbed, without a trace of sorrow, and with joy which constantly increases as this life becomes a holy instant, set in time, but heeding only immortality. For fifteen minutes twice today we rest from senseless planning, and from every thought which blocks the truth from entering our minds. Today we will receive instead of plan, that we may give instead of organize. Nothing but that. If there are plans to make, you will be told of them.” -A Course in Miracles
To listen, click this link:http://tobtr.com/s/3177399
Max and I are doing an impromptu unscheduled 30-minute show today at 6pm EST.
Tune in to listen here:
Or call in at 347-677-1827 to listen from your cellphone.
The topic is: LET YOURSELF BE SURPRISED.
A lot of people have the habit of trying to figure out what they want, asking for it, planning for it, praying for it, and trying to figure out the avenues the thing will be achieved. How will it arrive? How can I get it? What can I do? There is a lot of thinking involved in this way. But A Course in Miracles has a different “plan” – STAY OPEN AND ALERT and LET YOURSELF BE SURPRISED.
God has a plan for each and everyone of us, but while we try and put forth our own plan and agenda, His Plan can’t be revealed.
So that’s today at 6pm EST. Hope you can make it.
Love, Lisa
Also, if you have a question you want me and Max to answer on the show (we don’t use names! so don’t worry!) please let us know.
I saw this little cartoon this morning. I LOVE IT! I printed it and put it on the wall in my office as a reminder just how powerful words and thoughts are.
I need these kinds of reminders to remember that I can switch the gears in my brain any time, and stop waiting for something to happen. I AM THE MIRACLE. I AM THE MOVEMENT. God is speaking to me all through the day – Am I listening? Am I following through with the ideas/inspiration I receive?
I love the stage of “I want to do it” is the stand-up stage, and then “How do I do it?” is the movement stage where you turn your direction and start moving. So great.
It prints nice – it’s purple and blue and pink. And of course, the message is just what I need each day.
So today’s show is about REMEMBERING WHO YOU ARE AND RECLAIMING YOUR PURPOSE AND ALIVENESS AND PASSION AND PLAYFULNESS.
If you have questions you’d like to see answered on the show, please send them to me at:
Okay, wow – carrying on with the theme of acknowledging Jesus as being with me on this journey, no longer thinking that I am Jesus, but really acknowledging His presence in my life in every single thing I do, to turn to His Guidance in everything big and small and let him show me what to do … today’s lesson – Lesson 107 – makes me so happy!!
“Begin by asking Him who goes with you upon this undertaking that He be in your awareness as you go with Him.”
“Speak to Him today, and make your pledge to let His function be fulfilled through you. To share His function is to share His joy.”
YES.
I pledge to you Jesus to let your function be fulfilled through me!
“Then LET HIM LEAD YOU gently to the truth, which will envelop you and give you peace so deep and tranquil that you will return to the familiar world reluctantly. AND YET, you will be glad to look again upon this world. For you will bring THE PROMISE of the changes which the truth that goes with you will carry with you.”
YES. I pledge to you Jesus – to let your function be fulfilled through me. I let you lead me.
AMEN.
Jesus – I trust in you!
Exclamation Point!
I abide in you Jesus and your word abides in me.
“Do not forget your function for today.” -A Course in Miracles
Jesus, you’re in charge and I’m really happy about your presence in my life. Thank you so much!
Love, Lisa
By Emmet Fox – from the book “Around the Year with Emmet Fox: A Book of Daily Readings”:
To me, the butterfly teaches the most important lesson that we human beings ever have to learn. You all know the story. He lived what seemed to him a very long time as a worm – what we call the humble caterpillar. Now the life of a caterpillar could be taken as the very type and symbol of restriction. He lives on a green leaf in the forest, and that is about all he knows.
Then one day the little caterpillar finds certain strange stirrings going on within himself. The old green leaf, for some reason, no longer seems sufficient. he becomes moody and discontent but – and this is the vital point – it is A DIVINE DISCONTENT. He feels the need for a bigger, finer, more interesting life. His instincts tell him that where there is true desire there must be fulfillment.
And so the wonderful thing happens: the butterfly emerges beautiful, graceful, now endowed with wings, and instead of crawling about on a restricted leaf, he soars above the trees, the forest itself, free, unrestricted, his own True Self.
“Eye have not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Corinithians 2:9)
Here we are, the week after the resurrection when Jesus disappeared from the tomb and appeared on the road to Emmaus.
No one recognized him at first – because “the sight of their eyes was holden, so that they could not recognize him.”
Holden is an aramaic word – the past participle of hold, which to me says their attention was fixed “held” on the world.
It wasn’t until he spoke that people recognized him.
They will know you by your words and by the sound of your voice and actions.
And so it is now, with you and me and anyone else who has allowed their life and bodies to be used by God that the Son of God make a re-appearance here.
People might not recognize you, they probably won’t. They will think you are just like them, human, with all the dramas and problems that go along with it.
But when you speak they will know you. They will recognize Who you are by your joy, love, infinite patience and compassion. And when they recognize you, they will remember who they are. It’s a miracle.
I love the sentence in the Teachers Manual “What is the Resurrection?”
I’ll be on ACIM Gather Radio today at 12pm EST talking about the resurrection, especially from Jean Houston’s book Godseed book.
http://www.acimgatherradio.org
Or Paltalk.com or Paltalkexpress.com – the room is ACIM GATHER
See you there.
By some stroke of a miracle, I got put on a mailing list that sends out Joel Goldsmith transcripts from his talks in the 1950s. This one is amazing from 1959: The Meaning of Prayer. How to Pray pdf by Joel Goldsmith
These were the newsletters that used to get sent out. I highly suggest printing it because it’s a 3-column 8 page document and not so easy to read on the computer, but it’s soooooo good!!!!! I absolutely love the way Joel teaches – his style is so “cut to the chase” and no frills. Plus I learn a lot about the bible from Joel, so I am happy to receive this transcript. “Grace only comes when you are no longer trying to get God to do something, to something, for some reason.” Amen.
Enjoy. Click on this link to read and print:
How to Pray pdf by Joel Goldsmith
“Jesus said to the crippled man “What did hinder you? Pick up your bed and walk.” He never said, ‘I will heal you.” He never said, “I’ll pray to God for you.” He never even said “God will heal you.” Merely, What did hinder you? Pick up your bed and walk. He was glorifying God by acknowledging that God was the only power, and paralysis wasn’t power.” -Joel Goldsmith
If this was now, Jesus would sound a lot like Bob Newhart saying STOP IT. “My therapy is 5 minutes and costs $5.” Get up and walk. Stop being a baby. Stop being a victim. Get up. Get over yourself. Stop it. What does hinder you? Arise and walk.
Lisa Natoli shared on OPEN MINDS RADIO from ACIM Gather: Joel Goldsmith & “How Healing is Accomplished”. God does the work. 1 hour Audio ? EnJOY Thank You Lisa, www.GorgeousForGod.com
Click this link to listen:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4621838/Lisa030112.mp3
ENJOY!
If you have questions you’d like to see answered on the show, please send them to me at:
lisanatoli@yahoo.com
HAPPY EASTER!
Easter Weekend!
All my love to you.
One of my friends has a great idea – to have “a last supper” tonight and let it be a time to let go of her Inner Critic.
I love this idea.
That is what the Last Supper is all about – a gesture of the old ending and the new beginning – and it is done in such a way that it is memorable. It signifies the end of a life.
When Jesus went to the cross, he couldn’t take anything with him, and so it is with us – today and this weekend is an opportunity to go to the cross and not take anything with us. We allow our doubts, stories, limitation, and identity to “die on the cross” so that Christ in us can rise.
And we can do this with our own last supper – to allow it to be a time of meditation, contemplation, a looking back at our life – the good, the bad, the beautiful and the painful – and making a conscious decision to leave it all behind.
So, what’s for supper??
