What's the Truth here?

We all have areas in our lives where we experience what I call, "fruggle", a combination of frustration and struggle. It may be that we experience it in regard to money, work/career; with body issues, relationships or with balancing our emotions.

The most important inner work we can do is the work of bringing awareness to our thoughts, especially in those areas where we experience the most conflict. Until we become conscious of what's going on in our mind, we will not understand why we do the things we do.

There are 86,400 seconds in a day. We think many thoughts every second, so obviously, we think A LOT of thoughts in a day! Most of these thoughts we are totally unaware of, as they are a constant stream of commentary on everything we see in the world. Lately my Inner Teacher has been guiding me to the work of bringing awareness to the thoughts I listen to, believe and thus act on. That didn't make much sense to me at first: Bring awareness to those thoughts I "listen" to?

As we bring awareness to these thoughts, we find that our misery and unhappiness, our frustration and struggle, do not come from our circumstances, but from our thoughts.

Perhaps you have listened to thoughts of limitation and fear:

"I'm a failure."
"Nothing good ever happens to me."
"I'm not good enough."
"I can't do that."
"There's never enough."
"I'm too old, young, fat, thin, ugly, wrinkledÉ."
"I'll never find Mr./Mrs. Right."
"I want to eat that entire Pizza!"
"I never have enough money!"
"There aren't any jobs!"

Insert your own...

To listen is: " to pay attention to; to take advice". So when I listen to and thus believe one of those thoughts that tell me I'm not good enough, or that I will never have enoughÉ I am paying attention to, and taking advice from the part of my mind that is imprisoned. I then walk in the world and see what I believe to be true about myself. I see all the evidence that points to my thoughts of being "not good enough", "not having enough money", "not attractive enough", or victimized in some way. Listening to the voice of fear only guarantees that I will stay imprisoned by my own thoughts!

I've come to think of the "ego" as simply, the resistance to healing. Through paying attention to the thoughts I listen to in the areas where I experience frustration and struggle, I have come to realize that these thoughts are in fact, stemming from a resistance to healing, and keeping me stuck in fruggle!

There is an answer though. The Healing Voice of the Spirit within said to me, and now to you:

Together,
let us look at these thoughts
that you listen to,
so that you can bless them
and let them go,
instead of listening to them
and believing them.
If you let Me,
I will teach you the way to freedom
from your self.

With the Presence of Love in our mind, we can meet our thoughts of limitation, lack and fear with the Truth. Let's take the thought: "I'm not good enough."

Challenge this thought with:

What's the Truth here?
Does the thought, "I'm not good enough," tell the truth about me?
Does it affirm that I am a body at the effect of the things of this world, and deny that I am a spiritual being under no laws but God's?
Does this thought keep me stuck in fear and lack, or does it set me free?

We can learn to look at the thoughts we listen to, and meet them with thoughts of Truth:

I Am as God created me.
I Am Blessed as a Child of God.
Divine Love meets all my needs.

If you are a student of A Course in Miracles, then you know that the workbook is filled with 365 statements of Truth. Use one that appeals to you -- a thought that allows you to rest in Truth rather than be in conflict with it. Any thought of lack, limitation or fear is in conflict with the truth of your being.

Healing is the release from fear. Healing is a continual process of letting go of that which is not Truth. Once we decide not to listen to these thoughts of lack and limitation, we can then hear our real thoughts of truth, love, acceptance and forgiveness.

We have the proverbial "ears to hear" when we cease listening to the fearful song of the worldly sirens. As we allow the healing voice of Love to be heard beyond our own limiting thoughts, we become an instrument in which Divine Love can be extended to others.

My inner work of late has consisted of bringing awareness to the thoughts I listen to, and then meeting them with:

Let every voice but God's be still in me.
Let every voice but Truth be still in me.
Let every voice but Love be still in me.

As I let these thoughts replace my thoughts, I open the space to hear the voice that leads to peace and better choices. And to my utter amazement, I even observed myself making different food choices through meeting food and body thoughts with the thoughts of truth. Shut up the voice of the feast beast with the Voice for God! Ha!

When I am focused on myself as a body, at the effect of the things of this world, I am in effect living in conflict with the Truth. I then reap the consequences of lack, sickness, fear, etc.

When I live with the willingness to Trust in who I am as God created me; to trust that I am truly blessed as a child of Love, then, I am in harmony with the Truth of my being. I then reap the consequences of peace, abundance, love and acceptance.

Lately, I have had to meet my thoughts with: "Let every voice but God's be still in me" perhaps 50 times (or more!) a day. Spiritual work takes practice, patience and perseverance. The rewards are great.

We may not readily see how bringing awareness to our thoughts, and then being willing to challenge them with Truth can change anything. All I can say is, you don't have to believe me, simply be willing to practice it yourself.

This article is featured on Dr. Sheryl Valentine's blog. To read more of her blogs click here.

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