Do You Experience Life As A Burden Or As A Sacred Privilege?

By Margaret Paul, PhD

PETER experiences life as a burden – a sentence to get through that is filled with suffering. Peter trudges through his life, experiencing little joy.

He works hard, makes enough money to feel financially secure enough to take care of his family, and spends little time in connection with others.  

Is YOUR life a burden or a privilege? (Pic by freedigitalphotos.net)

 To Peter, life has no real purpose other than to make money and do the best he can to feel safe.

Peter has no connection with anything greater than himself. He does not believe in God, Spirit or a Higher Power. He believes that when he dies, he disappears forever.

He has no perspective of anything beyond this life. Life, therefore, has little meaning to Peter.

To Todd, life is a sacred privilege.

Todd experiences life as a great journey of the soul. Todd knows that his soul is immortal and is on a never-ending journey to evolve in love.

Todd believes that he chose to come here to this challenging planet to grow in his ability to love in the face of adversity.

To Todd, the purpose of life is to heal any barriers in the way of being loving to himself and with others, and to fully manifest his gifts.

Todd experiences much joy on this journey. He experiences joy in taking care of his body, the house of his soul.

He experiences joy in discovering and loving his soul and in expressing the gifts of his soul. He experiences joy in sharing his love with others and helping others in many different ways.

He experiences deep joy in sharing love with his family.

Todd has the same challenges as Peter. He needs to earn a living and take care of his family. He has the same challenges regarding disappointments and losses.

But, because Todd experiences a greater purpose in his life, he embraces adversity as part of his soul’s journey.

We each have the choice in any given moment to see life as a burden or a sacred privilege. Without a greater spiritual perspective, life is just a burden.

Practicing Inner Bonding on a daily basis, even if you don’t have a strong spiritual connection to begin with, will eventually give you a first-hand experience of the Presence of Spirit.

You don’t have to “believe” to practice Inner Bonding. In fact, I don’t believe in belief!

What each of us needs is personal experience in the Presence of Spirit so that we don't have to rely on belief – we know.

When you know Spirit rather than believe in Spirit, then you know that your soul is immortal and that you are on a soul’s journey.

The wounded self will always try to discredit your direct experiences of Spirit, telling you that you are just making it all up.

The wounded part of all of us is the part that is disconnected from Spirit, even if this part believes in God in the religious sense.

Believing in God and having a direct experience of God are two very different things.

Because the wounded self is always devoted to control rather than to surrender to Spirit, it cannot experience a direct connection with Spirit.

A direct connection occurs only when there is a true intent to learn about loving oneself and others.

You will experience life as a sacred privilege rather than as a burden when you choose to place your loving adult in charge rather than indulge the wounded self with its devotion to control.

With your spiritually-connected loving adult in charge, it’s easier to remember that you are not alone, that you are being guided each moment in your highest good.

And that it is a great privilege to be here on ‘schoolhouse’ Earth and have the opportunity to evolve your soul in love.

Next time you face a challenge, notice how you perceive it and how you feel as a result of your perception.

Notice that if you perceive the difficulty as a victim – “Why is this happening to me?” – you will likely feel angry, depressed or anxious.

If you perceive the difficulty as an opportunity to learn more about loving yourself and others, you will feel grateful and empowered.

Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is the best-selling author and co-author of eight books, including “Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You?” and “Healing Your Aloneness”.

She is the co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding® healing process. Learn Inner Bonding now!

Visit her web site for a FREE Inner Bonding course: http://www.innerbonding.com or email her at margaret@innerbonding.com. Phone sessions available.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8943068

Do You Have The Courage To Do The Things You Are Afraid Of?

By relationship expert Margaret Paul, Ph.D.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” – Nelson Mandela

“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” – Muhammad Ali

“Success is never final and failure never fatal. It's courage that counts.” – George F. Tilton

THE WORD ‘courage’ always makes me think of the cowardly lion in The Wizard of Oz. I love that he does whatever he needs to do to free Dorothy.

His love for her is so strong that it overcomes his fear, and in taking brave actions on her behalf, he finds his courage.  

Do you have the courage you need to overcome your fears?

 Many years ago I worked with a man who been in the armed service as a parachute jumper. As part of his job, he would courageously jump into enemy territory.

Yet, when it came to feeling his feelings, he had no courage at all.

He was so terrified of his feelings that he lived his life numbed out, which made it impossible for his wife to connect with him.

He was working with me because his wife had said she would divorce him unless he opened his heart to her.

But, since love and pain are in the same place in the heart, to open to his love for her, he also had to open to his pain. And he was very scared to do that.

He said early in our work together that he would rather risk his life in enemy territory than risk getting emotionally hurt.

It took great courage for him to open to the deep pain that had been buried in him since he was a child.

Look inside and see what you have not had the courage to do:

* Do you hold back following your passion out of fear of failure?

* Are you relationship avoidant out of fear of engulfment – of feeling trapped?

* Do you keep yourself isolated for fear of rejection?

* Do you resist learning to love yourself out of fear you can’t do it?

* Do you procrastinate out of fear of being controlled?

* Do you avoid trying new things for fear of making a fool of yourself?

* Do you stay focused in your head rather than in your body, or numb out with addictions out of fear of getting hurt?

* Do you stay stuck in a job you dislike out of fear of failure?

* Do you stay stuck in an unloving relationship out of the fear of being alone?

* Do you avoid personal growth out of fear of finding out something about yourself that you don't like?

* Do you avoid opening to a spiritual source of love and guidance for fear of finding out that nothing is there, or that nothing is there for you?

* Do you avoid speaking up for fear of being wrong and being rejected?

* Do you keep yourself limited for fear of making mistakes?

Other ______________________________________________________

There is no doubt that it takes courage to risk making mistakes, or failing, or getting hurt, or losing yourself.

It takes huge courage to risk opening your heart and loving. One of my favorite quotes is this one by C.S. Lewis from The Four Loves:

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.

“If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal.

“Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness.

“But in that casket – safe, dark, motionless, airless – it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.

“The alternative to tragedy – or at least to the risk of tragedy – is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.”

It doesn't take courage to do the easy stuff – the stuff that doesn't scare us. It takes courage to do what it is what we are afraid of, and that’s what brings joy to life.

Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is the best-selling author and co-author of eight books, including, “Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You?” and “Healing Your Aloneness”.

She is the co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding® healing process. Learn Inner Bonding now!

Visit her web site for a FREE Inner Bonding course: http://www.innerbonding.com or email her at margaret@innerbonding.com. Phone sessions available.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9036424

Are You The Person Your Dog Thinks You Are?

By Margaret Paul, PhD

MANY of us know how unconditionally loving most dogs naturally are - unless they have been abused.

Even if you don't have a dog, you've likely seen the joy they express when their person comes home after being gone for even a few minutes.

Is this how your pet sees you?

If you have a dog or another pet who loves you, what would your pet say about you if he or she could talk? Take a moment to imagine what your pet would say.

Would he or she say?

* You're the best - all loving, all wise. You love unconditionally. I adore you!

* You are omnipotent. You are God to me.

* Your presence makes me so happy.

* You're my wonderful person and I will never leave you.

* I love just being next to you. You're warm and cuddly.

* You're trustworthy.

* You're compassionate, kind and caring.

* I love it when you play with me! You're fun!

* Your petting and scratching feel so wonderful to me.

* I'm lonely when you are not here.

* I feel safe with you, and I always want to do whatever I can to keep you safe.

* You are so important that I would risk my life for you.

* Other______________________________________

When your pet looks at you with adoring eyes, or wags his tail and wiggles with joy, or snuggles next to you on the couch or bed, he is loving you because he believes you are deserving of love.

Do you see yourself this way? Do you see yourself as the person your pet thinks you are?

Your pet has the ability to bypass your wounded self and to see who you are in your essence.

Even when you lose your temper, or ignore her or forget to feed her on time, she will keep on loving you because she is connected with your essence.

Are you connected with your essence? Do you own the qualities your pet sees in you, or do you define yourself by your wounded self?

Look at the list of what your pet would say about you. Is there anything that is not true about you when you are connected with your essence and your Guidance?

Obviously, little on the above list is true when you are in your wounded self, but you are not your wounded self!

I hope you don't discount what your pet sees in you. I hope you don't tell yourself that your pet is just a dumb animal and doesn't know what a loser you are. That would be very sad.

Most animals are highly sensitive. Do you know that dogs can smell cancer in a person?

There is an incredible YouTube video about a dog who likely saved his person's life by smelling breast cancer, even though her mammogram was negative.

How about using what your pet thinks of you as a role model for how to be a loving person in the world? What if you actually owned up to and became the person your pet thinks you are?

Your inner child will very much appreciate it if you use what your pet thinks you are as a role model for how to treat yourself and others.

And the more you pattern your behavior after what your pet sees in you, the more natural it will feel to you, because you are, in your essence, who your pet thinks you are.

While your wounded self might think of you as a fraud, there is no way that your true Self, your Divine essence is a fraud.

How can it be? It is created in the image of God, which is who your pet thinks you are - and your pet knows!

Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is the best-selling author and co-author of eight books, including "Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You?" and "Healing Your Aloneness."

She is the co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding® healing process. Learn Inner Bonding now!

Visit her web site for a FREE Inner Bonding course: http://www.innerbonding.com or email her at margaret@innerbonding.com. Phone sessions available.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8620044