Reflections

January 2008

Flourishing in All Aspects of Life

Flourishing in All Aspects of Life

By Rev. LeRoy E. Zemke
Pastor, Temple of the Living God

“ When by discrimination and right action Man “roasts” all the seeds of evil tendencies stored in his mind, each microscopic brain cell becomes a throne for a brilliant king of wisdom, inspiration, and health, who sings and preaches the glory of God to the intelligent body cells. Men who have attained this state are really free. Such liberated beings are untouched by karma in future incarnations, and reincarnate only in order to wipe away the tears of the karma-bound. These liberated masters are haloed in invisible healing light.”
Paramahansa Yogananda

“ Time is the inexplicable raw material of everything. With it, all is possible; without it, nothing. You wake up in the morning, and lo! your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of unmanufactured tissue of the universe of your life! It is yours. It is the most precious of possessions.”
Arnold Bennett

Imagine that all we dared to dream or desire could and did come to pass. How would our life be different? In this imaginative setting, I include worthy, long sought personal, educational, professional and spiritual goals, harmonious relationships with our families, siblings, spouses, and children as well as other beings (all manner of professional and personal) and abundant income (financial resources) to meet all our legitimate needs (health, housing, living expenses, etc.). To contemplate such a possibility floods the mind with many hitherto unrecognized possibilities, opportunities and options! One could easily become overwhelmed by the outpouring such a cornucopia of life’s bounty or gifts might offer.

Yet, the implicit promise of all major spiritual teachings is that we might have life more fully, more abundantly. Jesus is reputed to have said that! Within his teachings, he suggests that we might have a more abundant life (St. John 10:10).

Let’s consider what it might mean to flourish in all aspects of our life. In other words, how that might be possible.

Flourish, to prosper, to thrive, to grow vigorously and thus experience or achieve successfully worthy goals in all aspects of one’s life. Flourishing implies that we have already found the secret - how to make it happen - in our lives! So what is the learning, discovery or lesson that reveals the process leading to a flourishing experience of our lives?

Attitude is a key ingredient. Whatever our personal circumstances may be, our attitude about them influences and affects outcome in every arena and area in our lives. Since the advent of modern psychology, writers such as Fritz Perls, William Adler, William James, Carl G. Jung, Wayne W. Dyer and a literal host of other writers and researchers into human motivation and psychology overwhelmingly speak of the power of our internal attitude to positively or negatively influence and support results in our life. Attitude simply stated is the degree of emotional/mental psychological receptivity (or not) we have to what occurs in our life. It may also be called openness of mind, or openness of heart to what goes on in our lives.

If we react to everything that occurs with a positive response, we experience a kind of connection (energetically speaking). If we react negatively, we experience an internal resistance and sometimes called disconnection. When we say we connect to someone or something, we tend to move forward as in accomplishing a plan, a goal, a desired result. When we disconnect (energetically) we remain neutral; no movement occurs. And if we disconnect negatively, we tend to experience a resistance, a blocking. Again no internal movement is possible.

Some examples follow.

Learning a new skill: When we have a positive attitude it is easier to acquire, to master, to achieve. If we are negative, essentially we are stymied. Some learning may occur, but most often at great struggle. Also, research shows that such results do not last.

Mastering/achieving a desired goal: A receptive outlook, internal openness to desired end works wonders. We may encounter obstacles, but we see ourselves in the end as making it work, or certainly in a favorable outcome. A negative, fearful approach, “foot dragging” gains no measurable result, in essence, no results at all.

Overcoming a problem (any problem, physical, psychological, mental or emotional, with ourselves or with others) will be easier, more effective if we approach it from an internal space of being willing to be as positive as possible to a workable solution. While not every issue or conflict has a viable solution, or perhaps I might say, a solution we are willing to accept, how we internally approach the issue involved makes a huge difference in the results. A broken leg or job loss may be difficult indeed to accept positively. However we broke our leg or lost our job, how we deal with it (internally) makes a huge difference in the final outcome of moving on in our lives.

Willingness to do our part in our life is another major ingredient in the secret of thriving or flourishing. Very frequently, I hear people say, “If only he/she would change their approach, their attitude, my life would be different, indeed.” When we consistently blame others for their failure to change, we are, in essence, stuck. We expect them to change, but seldom can we see our part in the situation as a necessary part of the change we feel is important. While others may need to shift views, behaviors, etc., our work is to change ourselves so that we may be a positive influence, not a negative one.

One of the mottos of metaphysics is “Be the change you want to see.” And another, “If it (change) is to be, it is up to me.” Yet we often fault others, blame others and thereby excuse ourselves for the part we need to change within.

Doing our part implies carrying our weight in the world. If we are to thrive, in the arena of health, for example, we must exercise, eat appropriately and get plenty of sleep. Faulting a partner who is uncooperative, or not willing to assist us in such a goal achieves no result. If it is our goal, we must find time, energy, and the necessary internal support to make this happen. And in today’s world, especially in America, there are literally hundreds of thousands of people in all manner of helping professions that are available to support any worthy change we choose to make. The media, television, internet, books, CD’s offer a plethora of tools that are available for a nominal cost, or are sometimes free to support us. The big question remains, are we willing to do our part?

The final component of thriving/flourishing in our lives occurs when we openly, genuinely ask God, the Unlimited Presence for help.

When we feel that we are all alone, small or possibly insignificant, we are essentially not open to help from the Universe. What happens in that scenario is that we feel overwhelmed by outer circumstances such as crushing debt, heavy, on-going responsibilities of family, marriage, children, etc., or limited opportunities in work or job, business or vocation. In such settings we may be attempting to do our part, but seeing and experiencing positive results is most often limited at best. Thus we continue to feel overwhelmed and that nothing we do will produce a needed change.

When we ask for help, genuinely, prayerfully, our inner sense of connection to life shifts. A person we previously have seen as negative is discovered to be more positive and available to us; he/she offers some form of support. It may not be all the tangible help we seek or need, but it’s a start. It gets the sense of connection/flow started. At that moment we are not so disconnected and begin to feel … “Ah, maybe a door is opening for me.”

While we look for “miracles” in large and small ways, the real work, I suspect, is to remain open and receptive to our life and its many different patterns and energies. If a miracle occurs, or an experience we have is deemed miraculous, accept it with deep gratitude and thankfulness. If, however, we have a need that does not elicit a miraculous response, stay focused on the above-mentioned basics. What matters is that we do not close ourselves off to growth, change, healing, etc., however it may show up.

All spiritual teachers tell us we are each sons and daughters of God. That means no one is more or less a child of the universe or God than any other. When we see very famous men and women … or ordinary people … accomplishing great things in life, it is tempting to say that they are special, talented, favored and we are not. While the ideas of what may be genetically inherited (or karmically as well), may be relevant, our task is not to create an energetic, internal distance within ourselves that says, again, they are gifted, unique, more fortunate, more blessed than we are.

Our work is to accept at very deep internal levels that God has a plan for us, a task, a set of very particular life experiences that are ours to accomplish. If we keep thinking that life owes us special privileges or favors, or that we are entitled to the goods of life because of our heritage, our race, our color, or our creed, we are caught by our ego and our limiting views. When we do not follow through with the shifts necessary in our attitude or our willingness to do our part, the end result will be disappointment, frustration and a real sense of disconnection from Life itself.

Joel Osteen, called by many “America’s voice of hope,” pastor of America’s largest church - Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas writes in his latest book Become A Better You, “Those who wait upon the Lord will have their strength renewed. We will mount up with wings like the eagle. You will run and not get tired. You will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31. God has planted a vision in our hearts for us to flourish, to grow and do well. Stay on course. Our life does have purpose and when we remain faithful to what our God calls us to do within the heart of our lives, we shall find joy and peace, fulfillment and happiness. Indeed, we shall flourish in all areas of our life.

Copyright©2002 Temple of the Living God of St. Petersburg, Inc.