December 26, 2023

Dear Friends,

For those who celebrate Christmas, the day after is a time to relax and enjoy gifts, and family. The time up until Christmas is hectic with the hustle bustle of gift buying, food and guest preparation, parties and get togethers. One hardly has time to think, unless you are one of those people who plan ahead and can cruise through the holiday period.

Here we are between Christmas and New Years. Some of you may be saying, ‘OK got to get in gear for New Years and do those crazy preparations all over again. ‘The “have to’s” start appearing in mind. I have to do this,

I have to do that. I have to Vision, I have to get a New Years list ready, I have to think about….. and the list goes on.

What if you didn’t!?

What if you gave your brain a rest? We often talk about how to stay healthy in body, mind and spirit and we focus more on the body. What if we focused on our brain? It too needs a rest. Thank God for sleep. We have a few hours a day to stop thinking. However our brains never truly stops, there are dreams that help us decode our day.

I just started reading a book, my daughter gave to me called Bored and Brilliant, by Manuosh Zomorodi, a TV host and editor of “Note to Self, the tech show about being human, from WNYC. She outlines the premise with facts how important it is to give your brain a rest. With all the stimulation from phones, computers, constant planning and going, the brain just stops being creative.

Manuosh says, ” There is a connection between a lack of stimulation -boredom- and a flourishing of creativity and drive. When our minds wander, we activate something called the ‘default mode,’ the mental place where we solve problems and generate our best ideas. When we let ourselves space out and our minds wander, we do our most original thinking and problem solving. Creativity no matter how you define or apply it, needs a push and boredom, which allows new and different connections to form in our brain. This is a most effect muse.”

For me, when I start thinking about writing a message for this newsletter, most of the time I have no idea what I am going to write. I say to God, “Ok God what shall I write? What do people need to hear?” That is when I sit in my meditation chair. Sometimes I put my feet up and lay prone quietly. I rest my mind by looking out at the sunrise and the beautiful hills and palm trees. Sometimes I get an idea right away, other times I feel the call to look in a certain book or spiritual writing. Sometimes ideas come while I am walking. The more I turn away “from the question,” and just relax, the faster ideas pour through me.

Allow your GOD MIND time to give you answers. Allow GOD to come in rather than squeezing IT out with a million thoughts. Remember Emmet Fox saying, “Turn Away From the Problem and Think About God.” Thinking about God is that meditative Alpha state where all is calm, quiet with No thought. That is the place where God resides waiting for the mind to have a blank screen so IT can bring forth something NEW and Wonderful.

This week STOP being so concerned with: What am I going to do in 2024?                      What ‘should” I do? (Please stop ‘shoulding’ yourself.)

Give it a rest…

SPACE OUT with:

Looking out your window to a tree or hill.
Sitting by a tree.
Smelling a beautiful flower.
Walking without thinking.
No computer for half a day or more.
No phone for half a day or more.
Laughter
Happiness
Gratitude
Just BEING You.

Spacing out,

Abigail and Steve