Resources for a Life of Faith

“Try this experiment:

For one day imagine what you have and what you are is enough. When you look in the mirror, decide to like what you see. When you connect with your friend, date, spouse, or boss, notice what you like about that person rather than what bugs you. When you go over your credit-card bill, instead of complaining about the high price of gas and groceries, thank all the people who brought your fuel to you and your food from seed to your table. When you go to work, celebrate the customers and accounts you have rather than wringing your hands over those you are missing.

If you do this experiment sincerely and continuously for even one day, your life will change. You will feel better, and things will start to work more in your favor. You will recognize that you have far more riches at your disposal than you realized. You will realize that you have not just enough, but plenty.”

How to Have More Mental and Physical Energy Throughout the Day?

“Your level of optimism is the very best predictor of how happy, healthy, wealthy, and long-lived you will be. The more optimistic and positive you are, the more energy and enthusiasm you will have. Your immune system will be stronger and more resistant to disease and infection. You will seldom be sick. You will get along with less sleep, and you will have more mental and physical energy throughout the day.”

What is your ultimate purpose and dream?

“Having faith in the human spirit is what drives us to survive and transcend. It makes life worth living, and it gives meaning to our life. Without such hope and optimism—synonyms for what I am calling faith—the mind can easily slip into depression or despair. Faith is embedded in our neurons and in our genes, and it is one of the most important principles to honor in our lives.

Some people put their faith in God, while others put it into science, relationships, or work. But wherever you choose to place your faith, you must still confront a deeper question: What is your ultimate purpose and dream? What do you truly desire in your life—not only for yourself, but for the world as well? And how will you begin to make that desire a reality? Having hope and faith are essential, but something more is needed: the skill and discipline to organize your brain in ways that will successfully motivate your life. Our meditation studies have provided a few basic tools that can help you achieve those goals, and if you apply them to your life, not only will you find a little more happiness, you’ll bring a little more peace into the world.”

~ Andrew Newberg, M.D. & Mark Robert Waldman from How God Changes Your Brain

Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist

“We must remove the word “impossible” from our vocabularies. As David Ben- Gurion once observed in another context, “Anyone who doesn’t believe in miracles is not a realist.” Moreover, when we see how terms like “spontaneous remission” or “miracle” mislead and confuse us, then we will learn. Such terms imply that
the patient must be lucky to be cured, but these healings occur through hard
work. They are not acts of God. Remember that one generation’s miracle may be another’s scientific fact. Do not close your eyes to acts or events that are not always measurable. They happen by means of an inner energy available to all of us. That’s why I prefer terms like “creative” or “self-induced” healing, which emphasize
the patient’s active role. Let me show you how exceptional patients work to heal themselves.”

THE GOAL: PEACE OF MIND

“William James wrote, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.” Years of experience have taught me that cancer and indeed nearly all diseases are psychosomatic. This may sound strange to people accustomed to thinking that psychosomatic ailments are not truly “real,” but, believe me, they are. The new concept is not a cop-out, but rather a source of tremendous hope. David Bohm, the physicist, suggests the word “soma-significance” as a better way of thinking of the relationship. The body knows only what the mind tells it. To accept some of the responsibility for disease, to realize that one has participated, is actually a very positive step. If one has taken part in getting sick, one can also take part in getting well.

However, as I’ll discuss in more detail later, getting well isn’t the main objective. That can set you up for failure. If you set a physical goal, then you may fail, but if you make peace of mind your goal, you can achieve it. My message is peace of mind, not curing cancer, blindness, or paraplegia. In achieving peace of mind, cancer may be healed, sight may be restored, and paralysis may disappear. All of these things may occur through peace of mind, which creates a healing environment in the body. Anyone who is willing to work at it can achieve it, and the first step is understanding—realistically, without guilt or self-pity—how the mind has contributed

to the body’s ills. This understanding can show you how you must change to be at peace with yourself.”

~ Bernie Siegel, M.D. from Love, Medicine and Miracles

LET LIFE FLOW!

“The Law of Life operates upon the images of your thought. If your thought is restricted and unhappy, you will be causing It to create restricting and unhappy circumstances. Only a two inch stream of water can flow through a two inch pipe. A gallon measure will hold but four quarts. This would be true even if you dipped your measure into the ocean. You are not limiting the ocean nor causing it to be evil because you dip up four quarts instead of a barrel. The ocean has no desire to limit you. In a personal sense, it can only give you what you take, for your taking is its givingness in the form of you taking. This is one of the greatest lessons of life. “It is done unto you as you believe.””

The Art of Life

DO YOUR WORK

“If you find yourself getting depressed and down at the mouth, as we all get once in a while, you might want to remember this quotation by Dean Briggs. He said, “Do your work. Not just your work and no more, but a little more for the lavishing sake, that little more which is worth all the rest. And if you suffer as you must and you doubt as you must, do your work. Put your heart into it and the sky will clear. And then out of your very doubt and suffering will be born the supreme joy of life. Believe it or not, in an age where we’ve come to nearly deify leisure time, we have virtually lost sight of the fact that nearly all our satisfactions and rewards will come, not from our leisure, but from our work.”

Julia Parsell is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor with an emphasis on the intersection of science and the sacred. She writes from experiences and transformative understandings that have led her to an authentic and peaceful life. She goes by these names: wife, grandmother, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, niece, cousin, and friend. As home educator of her three children, she also developed/ran cafes, and maintained various leadership roles within her community. Her greatest desire is to encourage others to live life fully. Her passions are family, writing, and trail blazing. She is happily married in Western North Carolina. Please visit her blog here.