Chronicling the MKMMA Journey
Is today your last day? You probably don’t like to think about that, but you simply don’t know. This month, we’re focusing on living our lives as if each day is our last day. And if it isn’t? I shall fall to my knees and give thanks.
To live life to the fullest, you want to know what matters most to you. What matters most to me? Harmony, True Health, Writing, Cats, Travel, and Prioritization. These are the areas where I spend my time.
Last year, I transferred the phrase, “Nature knows not defeat” forward. This year, I’m transferring, “I was conceived in love and brought forth with a purpose.” I was liking, “I’ve been given eyes to see and a mind to think and now I know a great secret of life for I perceive, at last, that all my problems, discouragements, and heartaches are, in truth, great opportunities in disguise.” I still love that, because, isn’t it the truth? Everything that’s happened in my life up to now has prepared me for whatever is waiting around the next bend in life. I love that phrase.
I almost transferred it forward, but I decided I want to focus on being conceived in love and my life having a purpose. Honestly, I’m not completely sure what that purpose is. I trust God knows. The Universal Mind knows. I trust.
This week seems like a good time to remind ourselves we each need to concentrate on what you want. Eradicate the thinking about what we don’t want. As MasterKeys Lesson 17 says, ” If you wish to eliminate fear, concentrate on courage. If you wish to eliminate lack, concentrate on abundance. If you wish to eliminate sickness, concentrate on health.”
Always concentrate on the idea as an already existing fact. Using this, we need to consider our country is a united, peaceful nation, filled with love and caring. We need to look for and delight in those examples as we find them. There are plenty of examples. Flood the internet with them as they are discovered.
I had an appointment with my surgeon last Friday. I needed to check on a loud crack I’d heard from my knee (both my knees have been replaced) the previous Saturday. Before going, I applied a few drops of Clarity essential oil behind my ears. I wanted clarity in whatever he was going to diagnose, so the oil helped with that. That crack I heard was my kneecap cracking. I’m in an immobilizer brace for the next few weeks at least to allow the kneecap to heal. Can’t get much more clarity than that. I’m focusing on True Health, and it’s all coming together, slowly but surely. This does slow down my yoga participation, though. Grin.
I noticed this when I read this lesson last year. I thought about it, but it didn’t resonate with me the way it does this year. I’m 56 going on 57, so I’m in my 8th Cycle of Sevens for my life. I have a comfortableness with where I am. I’m a work in progress, but I’m okay with where I’m at. I’m at peace with the journey for now.
I’m reminded there are people who think the world is entering it’s Seventh Period, so there is much adjustment, reconstruction, and harmony. We are certainly in a period of adjustment — that’s been going on for probably the last sixteen to twenty years if not longer. Perhaps our world’s blueprint is changing. As witnessed, change is challenging, but imagine how much more challenging it is when millions of people are trying to hammer out a DMP for the world?
But it comes down to our personal lives, getting ourselves settled with the Universal Mind, and the rest will come together in due time. My Mastermind Partner and I continue to work together, supporting one another. We’re each tailoring what we’ve learned (and continue to learn) to fit our lives and our DMPs. We each seem them manifesting, sometimes deliberately, and sometimes inexplicably, but it’s all toward an future us we’ve envisioned. It’s exciting, satisfying, and mystifying.
We’re beginning the Franklin Makeover this week. This exercise is wonderful for proving that in all situations I see what I look for. The easiest example of this is cars. After I get a new car, I find myself noticing other cars like mine on the road. Those cars were always there, but I never noticed them until I got one, and it occupied a greater place in my attention. (Possible exception: Lamborghinis outside of the LA area — I know if I got one, I would not see more of them on the road in my little Central Texas town — but I would notice them more when they were there.)
In today’s world, this is more important than ever. Do I think there’s more division and strife in the world? It’s easy to find. Especially when I believe it’s there. But guess what? There’s a whole lot of good in the world, too. Look for it. Seek it. Comment on it when I see it. People say kids are up to no good, but if I go looking for all the good, hard-working kids out there playing by the rules doing what they should do, they’re there, too. Look for them. Notice them. Remark on how many great young people there are in the world today.
I was in an elevator with my mom a few years ago. The elevator had two posters. One with a little kid, and one with a puppy. My mom oohed and ahhed over the little kid. I melted for the puppy. I’m wired differently. I see a family together in the park, and even though I grew up in a family, I cannot fathom being in a household with all those people raising kids and doing what you have to do to help them become the responsible next generation for this world. I’m a little better at it now than I was ten years ago. You won’t believe how I got that way. Six and a half years ago, we fostered a stray cat who turned out to be pregnant. We kept her in the house. We made sure she got good food, clean water, and veterinary care. We did what we could to help her have healthy kittens. I was there when she gave birth to those four kittens. At that point, I began to get just an inkling of what human moms might feel for their human babies, but I have to do it through the filter of those kittens.
I have to get better though, because the Blueprint Builder, paragraph five says I must “develop a love for all humanity, because I know a negative attitude toward others can never bring me success.” Paragraph five has some challenging areas, and, for me, this is one. I’m getting better. I have a long way to go. I need to actively look for what I’m seeking. It’s there.
I added a line to my POA card a couple weeks ago. I think I mentioned it in comments. “I skip afternoon snacks and feel victorious!” I can’t begin to tell you how huge this is for me. I am not the least bit hungry, yet I’m in the 3:00 hour, and I feel the mental pull to snack. On something. Anything. I remain VICTORIOUS.
Last year, my journey to health began to feel possible when I implemented “I eat before 8 pm.” It didn’t take long, but that pull to snack after 8 pm and the associated hunger pangs were gently dispensed with by reminding Subby that we eat before 8 pm. I searched for many months for the next step in this journey, and I believe I’ve found it with “I skip afternoon snacks and feel victorious!” (The exclamation point is important.)
In the past, I’ve always felt a need to snack at this time — including hunger pangs. Last summer Young Living released a new product called CitraSlim. I tried a box. I didn’t lose weight, but I noticed I didn’t feel hungry in the afternoon (something I’d already identified as a challenge for me). I stopped taking the product, because it was out of stock, and I noticed I felt hungry in the afternoon. I’m taking this product, and the hunger pangs are just not there. I do remind myself to make sure I eat lunch between 11 and 1:30. Now, I have no mid-afternoon hunger pangs, and it’s all mental. I remind Subby, “I skip afternoon snacks and feel victorious!” This is working. One more step as I manifest my True Health.
We’re edging into Week 14, so I’ll take a moment to catch up and talk about Acceptance as I acknowledge my delay in posting. I can’t blame Christmas preparations for my tardiness because we’re very low-key for the holidays. I could mention heating unit troubles at both houses. One minor, but the other will require a system replacement. The replacement was thoroughly expected, but the timing was less than optimal. Thankfully, San Antonio temperatures are expected to be mild for the next few weeks until the January 10th replacement. We’ll be cozy in Central Texas, where a new breaker is soon to be installed, hopefully rendering our downstairs system more capable of handling extreme cold weather.
What does that have to do with thought being a spiritual activity? Perhaps not much, but it has a lot to do with Acceptance. And thoughts are a big part of Acceptance. Whether dealing with heating unit failures on slightly below freezing days (it sounds worse than it was — we have a few small gas heaters we can fire up as needed to maintain comfort) or declining health of loved ones, Acceptance is the first step in not drawing the power of creative thought away from achieving what is desired.
To keep the Law of Growth in play, one must remember that what one think about grows, and what one forgets atrophies. Without exception. This doesn’t mean I deny the need to replace my HVAC system. It means I accept the situation and take responsibility for fixing it and moving on. I focus my attention on positive things (we no longer have to wonder if we have to call the service people each time we enter the house after being away; this is one step in preparing the house for sale; the system is certain to be more efficient; thankful my checkbook is in a positive place to handle this untimely expense, etc).
Compared to loved ones’ declining health, HVAC replacement is a cinch. Yet, the loved ones in concern have both achieved health improvements this year, and I’m thankful. To me, these health situations, to a certain extent, required Acceptance. The universe is as it should be. I can’t change it. I must accept it. I take Responsibility for my situation. I don’t blame anyone, and I seek the opportunity the situation presents. Then, I must remain Defenseless. This is challenging for me, yet the power of spiritual thought is key. With practice, one can tap into the Universal Mind, and discover the opportunity present in any situation. With practice, one can learn to tap into the power of the Universal Mind to capitalize on the opportunity one discovers.
I’m feeling my way cautiously here. I experience much trial and error, but I persist until I succeed. Inexplicable things are beginning to happen in my life, so I know applying these principles we learn is paying off. I persist until I succeed.
As I prepare for 2017, I’m working through the questions in my Tools4Wisdom planner. They start with the Big Picture — “Where am I now?”, “Where do I want to be?”, and “How do I get there?”. I know certain things, but I can attest that knowledge does not apply itself. If it did, I’d be healthy, wealthy, and wise, right?
I’m passable in all those areas — better than I ever expected in some of them, but I have room for improvement everywhere. That’s why I’m looking over what I want to do, where I want to be, and am deciding how I’m going to get there. Because, as we know, it’s very important to be specific with Subby. I hit a home run with “I eat before 8 pm” last year. That was a great start. Snacking after 9 pm accounted for a lot of extra calories. They say if you cut 500 calories a day, you’ll lose a pound a week. But “cutting” calories is a negative, and we want Subby to experience positive language, right? “I eat before 8 pm.” has been incredibly positive. Since I added that to my POA card, I have done well with that goal. It’s easy. It was challenging to apply that knowledge for the first couple of months, but since then, I gently remind myself that “I eat before 8pm” and my mind and body say, “Oh. Yeah. That’s right. Never mind.”
I’m looking for equally positive ways to implement other plans to lessen food’s place in my life. I’m toying with “500 calories to spare” on my LoseIt! daily tracker. If I eat 500 calories less than LoseIt! says I should eat to achieve my goal, I should achieve it faster, right? On the other hand, I could set the program to achieve the goal I want and stick to it, right? You see, it’s not just knowledge but the right kind of knowledge I’m working to apply.
The same is true for my fiction revision project. It’s sitting on the table behind me, avoiding being worked on. I’ve let the project intimidate me. I’m doing a lot of Sits on this, visualizing me completing the project with confidence and skill. But visualizing only goes so far. I have to do the work.
M. R. Kopmeyer is solidly the second member of my Council. Thoughts to Build On is such a valuable supplement to this course. Each chapter is short and pertinent to everything we’re studying. The terminology is even consistent. One of my readings this week was titled, “Forget It.”
The lesson? When something annoys you, don’t dwell on it. Forget it right away. The theory behind this is, you’re going to forget it eventually, why not do it now? Don’t spend even a moment of your precious time dwelling on something that needs to be forgotten and let go.
You’ve heard the tagline for the disaster clean up people, right? “Like it Never Even Happened.” That’s why we need to make annoyances that we’re going to eventually forget about anyway disappear (even if you think you won’t, you will, so Do. It. Now.). The sooner the better.
Don’t escalate the irritation. Don’t dwell on it. Ignore it and forget it immediately. Don’t even acknowledge it. Think about something else (where have we heard that before?).
I confess, this still takes practice for me, but we’ve already been practicing with our Mental Diet. Keep that diet going.
Note: Kopmeyer’s Thoughts to Build On is out of print. A search revealed you can get an electronic copy in several formats on the Internet Archives Site (consider donating to help keep their site freely accessible, whether you agree with their politics or not). Numerous notable online used bookstores also seem to have copies. Prices vary widely.
We began Scroll Three this week — I persist until I succeed. Last year, I struggled with “I greet this day with love in my heart.” We’ve just finished Scroll Two, and you know it’s all about love in our hearts. I’m pleased to report that persistence on greeting each day with love in my heart is paying off. I have improved in this area. The journey continues, but progress is in the right direction.
Persisting is one of my strong points. Good thing, too, because I have so many areas where I fail in nearly every category except persistence. I persist until I succeed.