Finding the Good

This is one of my favorite articles and it mentions one of my favorite movies....sometimes I feel like I live the groundhog's day movie...over and over until I get it right and can move on. Hope you like this article too!!!-Michele


FINDING THE GOOD - YOUR CHALLENGE TO ATTAIN JOY

by Takara


I watched Groundhog Day with Bill Murray the other day. What a truly delightful film. And what a wonderful message. Our lives are no different than the man who keeps repeating the same day - Groundhog Day - over and over. That is all we are doing day in and day out - life in and life out. We are repeating situations, making choices, deciding what feels good and what feels bad. Making new choices and evolving.


The story begins with Bill's character hating it. All he wants to do is get out of the situation. Much like many of you feel about being here on this planet. Yes? Dealing with the people you have to deal with. Having numerous issues that keep you from your joy. Just as he did, you have to learn to move beyond this stage.


But while you are there, life can be a bit depressing.


From the moment you were born, your life has been filled with critics. You have food critics, movie critics, and book critics. You discover early that you are constantly being criticized. "Don't ___. That isn't right. No. No. No." Your parents are often quick to point out when they are displeased and that you aren't perfect.


You are graded for our performance at school and at work. And that quickly ties to money. If you don't do well in school then you can't get into the college of your choice. If you don't get a good education with a great grade point average then you won't get a good job at a high pay. And once you get a job, you are constantly being criticized - by your boss, your co-workers, and those you supervise.


Even those closest to you - your spouse, your kids, and your siblings - can be horribly critical.
Despite all these outside critics, by far the very worst critic you have to deal with is yourself. No one can make you feel as unhappy and inadequate as you can.


You end up with a million shoulds. You feel guilty about how you should act, who you should be, and what you should have done. Of course you have those same thoughts about the people around you. You have been trained well to criticize yourself and others.


ENOUGH ALREADY.


I'll give you a big tip. There is nothing wrong with you. In God's eyes, you are perfect. In fact, you are delightful.


God doesn't care what you did 10 years ago or even yesterday.


Really.


God is an energy - like electricity. You can be in alignment with the flow of that loving, all powerful energy. Or you can shut yourself off from it by feeling separate, unworthy, guilty, or unlovable. But God has no opinion about right and wrong. Only people do.


Sin is nothing more than wrong thinking. Thinking you are separete. Thinking you are unworthy. Thinking you are an aweful person. Thinking you should have done more. Judging others and yourself.


Stop agonizing about what should have been or what could have been. Or how aweful something was or how bad someone mistreated you.


It is the past. So, let it go.


It is time to see yourself through God's eyes. What a delightful set of dramas you have created for yourself. What an interesting world you live in. What diverse people you have surrounded yourself with. Notice that I did not use any words that denote good or bad, right or wrong.


Notice I did not say what a horrible, aweful, nasty, scary world or what aweful people. I said interesting. Aweful is an opinion about right and wrong. People choose to make it right or wrong. People are in duality. God, the Universe, is not.


Everything in your world is a mirror. If you judge something. It is something about yourself - buried very deep - that you are actually judging. Everything is about self. It's time to deal with it. It is time to heal. Avoidance isn't really an option any more.


Back to our story. Soon the Bill Murray character begins seeing how much he can get away with since every day is a repetition and there are no consequences to his actions. Because by tomorrow what he did today has no effect whatsoever. It is as if it never happened. He can be mean. He can run from the police. He can have meaningless sexual encounters. And tomorrow it makes no difference. The people don't remember. Only he does. (Oh, if you could just let go of your past as easily as that! How much happier you would be.) There is nothing to forgive. Your dramas seem just a bit longer than a day, and you give them so much more importance. But in the grand scheme of things, after reincarnating a bazillion times, each life is just a tiny blip on the Universal clock.


Hopefully you have already evolved out of hating it here. And hopefully you are beyond trying to manipulate and control others.


Soon our character gets bored with being mean and seeing what he can get away with. He begins turning within and growing personally. He studies piano and literature and ice sculpting. He begins creating beauty and enjoys cultivating skills that he is good at.


Expressing creativity is expressing divine gifts. It sends life force or Chi through you and into your life. It is critical that you do this. Follow his lead. Put time, energy, and passion into cultivating your gifts. Never stop learning. You will find great joy in it. Don't do it to impress others. Do it to bring joy to self.


Finally the guy in our story shifted his focus again. I wonder how very many days (lifetimes) had to pass before he finally arrived at this new level? He began being interested in those around him. He began helping others. He stopped being so self centered and he started bringing people coffee. He began doing those "acts of kindness" that are done for the shear pleasure of giving. He took the time to really listen and get to know those around him. And he began to really like each of them.


Remember the Golden Rule? Do unto others as you would have then do unto you. If you are tired of people being mean to you, then begin being nice to others. If you are tired of being criticized and judged, then you have to stop criticizing and judging yourself and others. That is the only way it will change.


So my challenge to you is this . . .


Find the Good.


In everything. In this moment. In this person. In this circumstance. In yourself.


When you hear yourself thinking or saying out loud something critical - STOP. And find the good. Find one good thing about the person, the situation, something. It will be there. It may require a bit of thinking. But that is good. It will get you out of criticism and into the positive. It is all about changing your focus.


Throughout the movie, the Bill Murray character liked a particular woman. He tried endlessly to gain her attention and approval. Well, that wasn't possible while he was hating being there, hating the situation and his life. It also wasn't possible while he was taking advantage of others and seeing what he could get away with. When he began cultivating his gifts and enjoying his creative expression, she began to be intrigued. She never came around to "loving" him until he had learned to be who he was, enjoying every moment - literally - of every day, and caring a great deal about others. You see she was a kind and caring person. He could not manifest someone like her being part of his world until he became that himself. It is no different for you, or me, or anyone else. You must first find joy within before your life will have the outward signs of what you truly desire.


In the end there is love. Love of self. Love of others. Love of life. Love of God. And you will finally experience love in return. There is no greater blessing.


These are chaotic times. Positivity, a sense of hope, and being centered are required in order to flow through each situation with ease and grace. If you feel your mission was to came here to make a positive difference, help other people, and usher this planet into a more evolved and loving place, how on earth are you going to truly be of service if you don't master this?


I challenge you to find the good - every day in every thing. You can't fulfill the rest of your mission if you don't master this part.


These are glorious times. This is why you have come here. But you have to get beyond your own illusions in order to thrive in the new energy.


Everyone in this world, including you, is doing the best they can. They are making the decisions they are making based on how they view life, their hopes, their fears, their distortions, their truths, and in their own personal level of evolution.


To radiate love, to walk in beauty and truth, to make a loving uplifting difference in the lives of others, you must first love yourself absolutely and unconditionally - just as God loves you.


Begin within.


Find your beauty.


Cultivate your gifts.



Forgive yourself for whatever you think you have done. God already has. You are the only one who is not forgiving self.


Once you can truly love and honor who you are, then you will be able to truly love and accept others. And then, finally, they will be able to truly love and accept you. It happens in that order.


The world changes one person at a time. You are the one who must change.


People often write or call wanting my book Manifesting Your Beloved. They hope that finding the love of their life will solve all their problems. Even if they read the book and follow the guidelines, if they don't learn to love self, of they have not evolved like the Bill Murray character evolved, they will never find another to love them the way they desire. It must begin within. You can not be happy if you do not love and honor you. Please forgive yourself. Please accept yourself for who you are with all your seeming imperfections. It is what makes you unique. It is what makes you human. It is what makes you interesting.


Every person on this planet is learning and becoming. No one has arrived. No one has mastered it all. Well I hear there are a few masters walking around, but they aren't typically the people you deal with every day.


When you go to the grocery store, take a look around, and realize that every person there is doing the best they can.


You are doing the best you can. Let that be enough.


Stop agonizing over the things from your past. You did the best you could with what you had to make decisions with at the time. It is over. It is done. You can only change your now.

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