When the 4th of July came and went this year, our family all enjoyed the fireworks, family, and celebration of freedom.
Then, we got into the subject of what it must have been like to pursue this thing called freedom. At the time this country was forming, it was a new ideal never quite seen in the history of man! It was a culmination of thought, of dreams, of moving forward with a passion for more! When those last words were spoken, we all stopped and stared at each other. Wow! What a perfect example of finding fulfillment in life!
The 4th of July holiday represents a letting go of past obstacles, of realizing that we are not bound by the will, or perceptions of others. Our founders came here to get away from the old, from perceptions of lack and to move forward with their ideals! (Step one)
They arrived with little and that is where they started. Where else could they start but from where they were? (Step two) They had an idea of what they didn’t want and that’s why they left their old world in the first place. They sought to pursue what they did like.
So, what does this all have to do with the rest of us? I mean, its more than 200 years ago since our ancestors started on their path! The question is easily answered. Just as our forefathers sought a new life – something better, a passion for living and a feeling of fulfillment – many of us find ourselves in search of the same thing. Maybe not by founding a new country, but by finding a new, more exciting, creative and successful way of life.
If you are going through the same kind of growing pains, there is a process within the Science of Mind teaching that can help.
We begin this step, this search for happiness by trying to figure out what we love to do. We sat down and asked ourselves what it is that we (each individually) love to do! It starts with a question, “What would we do if we knew we could not fail?” For you, I would hope it to be something that you really love doing. Maybe you have not sought it out because of all the things that get in most peoples’ way: rent, mortgage, car payment, taking care of the family, work, inexperience, cost, etc., etc., etc.! But wouldn’t it be lovely if we did seek what we love to do?
Then we ask, “What would we do if money were not a consideration?” “If failure were not an option?” Once we started to identify the characteristics of “it,” we were able to narrow the search to a select one or two activities. We wrote “it” down. We discerned that, once we have “it” written down, we would keep “it” where we could see it. Keeping “it” in the forefront of the mind tends to make us want to start taking steps in that direction. Sure enough, when we all met again we found that not one of us was able to keep away from at least taking one step to that place our higher self told us we could find fulfillment.
So you ask, “What if I can’t figure out what ‘it’ is?” If you are one of those who has never given much thought to that burning sensation for excitement that you always mistook for indigestion, start by writing down things that you like to do, that you are good at, that people come to you for help with. These might give you some ideas. Regardless of our conscious recognition of such things, we tend to gravitate to those things we find enjoyable, so there is going to be some aspect of what you do that will lead you to the epiphany of your life’s desires.
Here’s an exercise for you: make a small kite (a diamond shaped piece of paper, with a string attached at the bottom for a tail), take some pieces of fabric and write your dreams on them and then tie them to the kite tail. Hang it up on the wall or from the ceiling and imagine your kite of dreams as it soars into the limitless sky. There is a universe of limitless possibilities waiting for you out there. You just have to choose one and take a step towards it.
Gerry Reiche, Practitioner Intern Granada Hills Center for Spiritual Living
Do you want to learn more about how the Science of Mind teachings can help you lead a more fulfilling life? Contact Gerry Reiche or another CSLGH practitioner today to get help with the process.
Photo from Flickr by Ludovick. Some Rights Reserved.