Divine Obligation
“Change
your thanking, change your life.”-Douglas Holzmeier
Did
you have to read that one twice? Change your thanking – change your life. In You
Are God’s Best Idea! I wrote a chapter called Divine Appreciations. This
was my “gratitude” chapter. For today’s Life Coach Lesson – I thought it would
be good to remind us of the Power that is in the emotions and feelings of
gratitude and appreciation – not just for past and present blessings – but for
what is to come.
"We
know love as we reveal Love."
This
is my favorite new epigram. We know love as we reveal Love. You can substitute
all of the Divine Attributes for the word love. We know peace as we reveal Peace.
We know harmony as we reveal Harmony. We know light as we reveal Light. We know
beauty as we reveal Beauty. We know power as we reveal Power. We know wisdom as
we reveal Wisdom. We know abundance as we reveal Abundance. And what is the best
way to reveal these attributes of Spirit? Know who you inherently are. You Are
God’s Best Idea! And this – in and of Itself (capitalized on purpose) – is a
divine reason to be thankful. Consciousness and free-will afford us the
opportunity to exercise gratitude or ingratitude. In the movies from the 1930s and 1940s that I
watched as a child – just about the worst thing that a kid could be called was an
ingrate. Whether it was coming from
a priest, a shopkeeper, a grandmother or corner cop - you knew being an ingrate was bad - even if you really
didn’t know exactly what the word meant.
An
ingrate is an ungrateful person – a thankless soul. Ingrate is also defined as
a bounder – another old term that
means reprehensible, a cad or a lout. It may just be me – but some of these old
words need to make a comeback. If someone calls you a lout or ingrate – you get
the idea that it is your BEHAVIOR they are commenting on – a behavior you can
change!
(On
a side note – I wrote this article on Saturday night. I was thinking out loud –
and noted above how we have lost the use of perfectly good words and exchanged
them for far more incendiary language which adds to human discourse. On Sunday,
when I returned to this piece to edit and clean it up a bit – the lead article on
Dictionary.com is: Words Are Dying Right
Now. Are You Helping to Kill Them? The interesting reason why words are fading
is that your spell-checker is more interested in the “fit” of correctly spelled
words than incorrectly spelled ones. New words come through innovation and
evolution. Sometimes I write a word that I think exists – and it is a perfect
word for I’m trying to say. But the word doesn’t exist to the spell-checker.
Most people will succumb to the urge to get rid of the red line that is
underscoring their “mistake”. It takes a
confident writer (person) to stick with the word they created. By erasing the
new words that better describe our new ideas – we may inadvertently delete the
idea – or at least the best way to articulate it. We are losing synonyms, too.
It is why I always have the Thesaurus open on my desktop. In a 2000 word essay
about gratitude – I need at least a few other ways to express appreciation. And
for this – I am thankful.)
When
I was starting out in the corporate world, a company wouldn’t dare skipping giving
Christmas bonuses. My father always gave turkeys to his employees at
Thanksgiving and Christmas in addition to cash. I got a Baby Swiss Cheese Wheel
and $25 from a radio station I worked for in 1985 - and I thought it was just
grand. I can’t remember the last time I got a Christmas bonus. A Christmas (or
Seasonal) bonus was the way EVERY company – large or small – would say thank you. Companies are not saying
“Thank You” to their most important assets anymore – and frankly – it is why
more and more Americans are branching out on their own and becoming less
dependent and more self-reliant. It was never the dollar amount that mattered –
it was the thought. And that is why
your thoughts of thankfulness matter!
I
can’t remember who said it but – when you are thankful for what life has given
you, life gives you more to be thankful for. A consciousness of thankfulness
unfolds and attracts the higher vibrations of Divinity. Recently I was having a
conversation with a fellow radio friend who is also a fan of metaphysics. He
was laid off from the business and is now writing about his experiences – many
of which are how he has attracted and manifested a plethora of blessings in his
life and career. He was asking my advice regarding publishing his book, among
other things. A week later I received a $75 check in the mail from him. This
was unsolicited – yet very welcomed. I was just happy to be of service. His
appreciation and acknowledgement of my time and expertise was congruent with
our collective consciousness. This is how life works.
"I
am most ignorant of my limitations and plan on remaining
that
way, thank you very much."
The
above epigram is offered tongue-in-cheek; but I hope you get what I mean. I’ve
been tinkering with my screenplay in the last couple of weeks. Since 1982 I
have had the thought in my mind that I am going to compose a screenplay about
my first two years in radio. I remember standing next to and looking at the historic
sign post at the edge of this particular town and saying: “I’m going to make
you into a movie.” Not a month has gone by over the past 32 years that I
haven’t revisited this idea. I’ve been jotting down situations and characters
on file documents since 2009. Now – I’ve taken them out and have begun the
process. I will add Screenwriter to
my Twitter profile – affirming to the Universe what my desire; intention and
purpose is – while adding a genuine feeling of knowingness and gratefulness NOW
– for what is transpiring as the Universe conspires to fulfill my long-held dream.
The combinations of belief, action and gratitude for the Universal Laws that
make it so – make it so!
"When
you get your hat handed to you, thank your opponent
for
the complimentary class in humility, and hold your head high."
What
is harder to do – but must be done – is have an appreciation for when things
don’t go well or as you have planned. You are still in a perpetual state of
blessing. God is present. I have had a pull
to return to day-to-day radio broadcasting in recent months. How much of this
urge is financially motivated or me just missing one of the great loves of my
life – I have not figured out completely. I do know that by staying in a higher
consciousness and blessing ALL OF IT – I probably have avoided taking a job well
below the goals and dreams I’ve set. In the past I would have latched on to the
first “kind of okay” job that came along. By believing and knowing that there
is a Divine Plan in the works – one which I trust and have faith in – I am
centered in well-being and peace, while using this “extra” time to continue to
write my second book and the screenplay.
"Be
thankful for what they've got, for it is proof of an abundant
Universe
which awaits your acceptation."
In
the first week of every new month I post the latest employment numbers for
America. For 24 consecutive months (as of February 2012) there had been two
straight years of positive private sector job news. Four million of us have
gone back to work after this country suffered the worst economic recession
since the Great Depression. I post this positive news and congratulate the
200,000+ newly employed and I affirm that soon it will be my turn. In reality –
I never stopped working. I began writing YAGBI just one week after my layoff in
September, 2010. I have been promoting the book and my message ever since. I
have radio interviews in April scheduled on two of the most listened to
metaphysical radio shows on the Internet. I write these essays several times a
week which are doubling as chapters for the follow-up book. I stay in a state
of gratitude. I have so much to be thankful for – for what has been – is – and
will be. And so do you!
Write
down what you are thankful about. Start with the big and obvious and continue
until you reveal the once hidden - yet just as miraculous. Jack Canfield – one of the two forces (along with Mark Victor Hansen) behind the
ridiculously successful Chicken Soup for
the Soul series of books says that gratitude and appreciation are a very
important part of his success. Some years ago he began writing a Blessings or Gratitude list and he was still filling up lines in his journal
many days later. If nothing else – this exercise will focus and shift your
attention on good things and raise
your vibration while the not so good
circumstances take a back seat. In time – as you keep your spirits and
consciousness raised high – you find solutions to the old problems or they just
fade away like the morning fog in the noon day sun.
"Be
grateful for the gifts you have been given to give."
I
discovered something that on the surface seems counter-intuitive. I post my new
epigrams and thoughts on Twitter and Facebook on a near daily basis. I always
appreciate the feedback. When I posted a recent update about getting my first
Life Coaching paycheck – I received the most “Likes” and comments that I have
ever had. The overwhelming love and support was touching. The lesson I learned
is that although we put a great deal of emphasis on serving others – one way to
serve is to allow people an opportunity to support YOU! I guess this shouldn’t
be as shocking and surprising as it was – because this is how God works. Yes –
God wants you to serve with love – but we ought not to forget that the Universe
gets a kick out of supporting (loving) US! So while you are doing all of your
good works – let God work for, with, and through you, too. God appreciates it!
"If
something comes along that isn't what you wanted, be
grateful
that it has come - to pass."
I
was thinking about what it must be like to be an airline pilot. I’m working on
a story that will comprise a future chapter that involves an airplane pilot who
was blamed for a flight crash in 1985 where 31 people died – including him. The
right engine disintegrated on take-off from Milwaukee yet the NTSB report
decided it was pilot error that brought the plane down. I have discovered through
some metaphysical circumstances and investigations that there is far more to
the story and I’ll share that in a future essay. Nevertheless – a pilots job is
often thankless and doesn’t pay nearly as well as one might think. I don’t know
about you – but I don’t like the idea of pilots making modest incomes. Just
seems to me someone with that kind of responsibility ought to be paid
handsomely. Most are not. But they love to fly. And when the weather is bad –
which it often is – they still fly. Does a pilot (or flight attendant) ever get
used to turbulence; lightning strikes; rain; hail; snow; ice; mechanical
problems; etc? Life comes with a degree of turbulence. It’s all energy.
Sometimes the wind is in your face and sometimes it is at your back. None of
life’s “bad” weather lasts for long. It comes and it passes and like our under-appreciated
pilot friends – it is important to remain composed; poised; seated and upright –
until the natural state of calm returns.
"Gratefulness
paves the path to blissfulness."
This
epigram has received a lot of ReTweets on Twitter. Our natural state is Bliss. Bliss is impossible to attain
while offering criticism; holding contempt or being disparaging. It’s easy to
realize bliss while centered in love and appreciation. LIVE YOUR BLISS!
"We
thirst for appreciation but fail to drink from the fount of
gratitude;
thus our propositions are parched."
I
have a friend who recently emailed me that she didn’t feel appreciated; wanted
or loved. I immediately replied to her email with some kind words and phoned
her the next day while leaving an encouraging message. It took more than a week
before she returned my call to let me know how she was doing. What you
appreciate – appreciates you. Notice I didn’t say kowtow; cave-in; cower; or pander to. Those people most
certainly will take you for granted. Those who you take for granted will
eventually grant you release. I’m glad my friend finally got around to acknowledging
my acknowledgement. But her delay
suggests that the reason she is experiencing abandonment and disconnection has
more to do with her behavior – than others.
"You
declare your appreciation for life with every breath you
take.
Breathe deeply."
Before
I begin a treatment for a client or myself – I begin by breathing deeply. We should breathe deeply and with great
gratitude more often – and from the diaphragm. We are shallow breathers. We take 20,000
breaths a day – and most of us don’t do it correctly. Breathing has been long considered essential
for maintaining Chi, the life-force
energy of Eastern cultural traditions. Americans are beginning to catch up and
catch on to the benefits of deep breathing.
Nancy
Zi, a Glendale, Calif.-based breathing expert and author of the book and video
set, The Art of Breathing, says; "Breathing
incorrectly can produce tension, exhaustion and vocal strain, interfere with
athletic activity and encourage aches and illnesses”. She adds that if you breathe correctly, you
can "melt away tension and stress, improve energy or simply relax and
unwind." Don’t take your breathing for granted!
I’m
grateful for the readers I have had; have – and will have. Each and everyone
motivated me to write; share and love. You have all been the bliss and blessings on
my path as a writer; teacher and coach.
Thank
you very much - in advance – for the best and rest of the journey.
You Are God's Best Idea!
~Douglas Holzmeier
Author of You Are
God's Best Idea! Divine Acceptations and Living the Undeniable Life! (Balboa
Press/Hay House)
If you are seeking a
Life Coach who can give you direction – inspiration - motivation and treat you
like the star you are – contact me at: www.YouAreGodsBestIdea.com
No comments:
Post a Comment