Everyone who lives long enough can attest to the following: Life can deliver a multitude of challenges. They come in all shapes and sizes. They can be long term or short term, major or minor, critical or relatively trivial. We know this, too: When such challenges appear, it can be all too easy to slip into a victim mentality in which we believe that life is against us. This attitude must be avoided. Why? Because it not only disempowers us but also makes us dependent on circumstances which–by their very nature–are always changing. When approached with the right attitude, however, challenges provide opportunity for growth and greater awareness. What, though, is the key to living this way?

PRESENCE. By staying calm, aware, and alert; by remaining anchored in the here and now; by being with the very challenge that we instinctively want to deny. When we remain present, we stay connected to an Intelligence–Source–which is much greater than our own. The opposite–to allow our mind to be driven by old reactive thinking–actually prevents us from receiving inspiration that will help us solve our challenges. To be present is to be with Source. An example may help:

Our car is making strange noises, and we take it to be repaired. At the car dealership, we’re told that the problem doesn’t sound too severe, and that the repair shouldn’t take very long. We’re given an estimate of the cost, and we leave the car overnight. The following morning, the Service Manager calls and informs us that the mechanic has discovered several other problems, some of which relate to safety concerns. The cost of the repairs has increased by several hundred dollars, and the car will have to be left another full day. When we get off the phone, we realize that reactive thinking is running through our awareness. “How can this be!” we think. “They just want my money! What a rip off! I need my car now!”

Here is where seeking the right actually serves our greater good! The sooner that we seek and find the right in any situation, the sooner we reclaim our power! A few questions related to the example may help us understand this more clearly: Is it not better that the safety concerns were discovered? Are we not fortunate that the problems can be fixed? Is safe driving not worth the price involved in the repair? Is it realistic to expect that our car should never require such maintenance? Would it truly be better if the problems went undetected? Or, can we seek the right and rest easy–and grateful–that the problems are being repaired?

Although the example may seem oversimplified, or even unrealistic, the benefit of training our mind to seek the right should not be discounted. Right mental action has tremendous value that can be applied in countless situations! Are we dissatisfied with our career, our relationship, our health, or finances?  A change of attitude–which is really a change in thinking–may help us find what’s positive right here, right now!

Life ultimately comes down to us, and our attitude toward it. To expect that the world will always unfold as we might expect, demand, or prefer is to be delusional. Our true power lies within. A scripture from Luke: 11: 5-13 may help us understand this teaching:  Ask and it will be given; seek and ye shall find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Does this mean that a deity in the sky will deliver what we desire? No. And the scripture has nothing to do with being holy or deserving. It means that through right government of our mind, we may discover an improved state of consciousness. When we find the right within, we’re going to experience right in the world without. This change, as always, involves an inner transformation.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2020 – R. Arthur Russell

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones–released September 8, 2020), press here. May it help you in your spiritual journey. 🙏🙏

“Thank You” & “Note to Publishers”