Staying Positive In Challenging Times

Aloha,

I'm Reverend Cindy Palus and I want to talk about how to really check in with what's going on inside yourself on many levels.

This involves taking the time to sit and meditate and to delve very deeply into what's at the heart of the matter.

And then allow yourself to really face that issue,

Look at that issue,

Deal with that issue and find out how you can accept the issue that's going on in yourself and then turn it into something that's going to actually be something that's positive.

This is the old alchemical principle of turning lead into gold.

And if you're an advanced student of trying to live with the principles of the higher levels,

You know that you start to become very sensitive and you can pick up many levels of things going on.

Now,

If you're an empath,

As I am,

This may be happening to you.

Okay,

So there may be unseen levels of things going on that you need to discover,

Explore,

Be a detective and deal with for your peace of mind.

And then find out what the lesson is that you're supposed to discover in that situation.

Once you're very sensitive on the path,

And you've meditated for a while,

You're going to find that there's many other forces and higher levels of energy that can be directing you,

Especially if you try to turn your energy.

I'm going to say not try,

But when you turn yourself and make a point to turn yourself over to a higher will and God's will,

The creator's source,

And work as an instrument for that for good.

Now,

In a way,

Sometimes it's like walking through the valley of the shadow of death,

Because there may be a lot of other things going on around you that you have to hold onto that rod and that staff for comfort and fear no evil,

Because there is a lot of stuff going on in the world.

I always believe in staying positive,

But that does not mean that I am Pollyanna.

It means that fully anyone who faces challenges must get to some point where you accept what's happening,

Where you look at it,

You try to explore ways to deal with it,

And then you decide to find the good that is there.

I just ran into a friend,

And I don't think it was a mistake at all.

I've known her for a long time.

She's gone through so many challenges,

Lots of hard things in the last few years with the death of her husband,

Her son,

And her dog,

And it's really been tough.

I hadn't heard from her.

I'd done an interview with her on the radio.

She'd been planning this wonderful trip to Italy,

And I just bumped into her at the market.

I said,

Are you getting ready for your trip?

You leave in a few weeks.

She says,

Yeah,

If I can go.

I said,

Well,

What do you mean?

What's happening?

I found out I have stage 3 colon cancer.

I was shocked.

She looked fabulous.

She looked really good.

I hadn't seen anything posted about it or anything like that.

She told me the story of how she discovered it and what happened and the action she had to take for the surgery and how now she was still planning to go on the trip to Italy.

I was amazed.

I was like,

Wow.

She says,

Well,

Yeah,

And I'll depend.

When I come back,

Maybe I'll have to do chemo for six months.

I couldn't believe she was taking it so well.

She said to me,

When I went through the surgery,

My doctor told me afterwards,

I want you to remember to stay positive.

And she said he told her that three times.

And the last time he told her that was that you may or may not die from cancer,

But you can die from a negative state of mind.

I was blown away that a doctor would be that spiritually and powerfully aware of the power of positive thinking and how she had embraced that and accepted that and turned that into a way for her to deal with it and to get through it.

And I thought,

What a lesson.

I couldn't help but compare what would happen if I had gone through that and if I could have been that strong.

Yet,

I'm sure I ran into her.

It wasn't a mistake.

In fact,

After I talked to her,

I bumped into her in a rather large market three times more and then,

Without planning it,

At the checkout counter.

So and then again,

Actually outside when she was loading her car,

I'm sure I was guided on some level to connect with her and to learn a lesson from her and to be inspired by her.

So we know that staying positive is really important.

We know that meditating is really important.

We know there's many ways to use what you get in meditation and on top of that,

One of the most important keys is how you live with it,

How you put it into action in your life,

How you negotiate that in trying times when you're going through that valley and you know that you have things you have to deal with.

On level,

Sometimes you're not even aware of.

I wasn't aware of what she was going through.

I had thought of calling her actually.

How did I happen to bump into her?

Five times was it at the market.

There was something I was supposed to learn in that lesson and I have to say this is part of what happens to you.

There's so many things that are synchronistic that happen when you're on a spiritual path.

Have you ever noticed that?

I see it all the time.

Maybe it's certain numbers or maybe it's encounters or maybe it's lessons or you have to learn or people you need to see.

Something else takes over and to do all that,

You need to as an empath or anyone be open to the guidance that comes and be open to the response to the guidance that comes and to be able to use what you get in the guidance that comes and to use it in a positive way in your life.

We've been going through really challenging times for such a long time that I think a lot of people have been suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome or they call it a disorder,

PTSD.

So many people have gotten sick with COVID or have friends that have gone through really big challenging economic situations or have had to move or have loved ones who have passed on and we have to not ignore that.

We must accept that we have to embrace ourself enough and love ourself enough to recognize these things are going on within us and within others and to still be a positive force for good,

To still spread light and love,

To still express that light and love in any way that you can,

Whichever way is your particular field.

Should we go down some lists again that work to stay positive?

Well,

You know this one.

This one always is like one of the number one things,

Being grateful.

I noticed with my friend that she said she was grateful she found out at the time.

She did because it would have been very hard if it had been earlier and it would have been impossible if she was on a trip in Italy.

She was actually very grateful that it happened in the way that it did,

That she found out in the way that she did.

I thought,

Wow,

She's grateful that she found out she had third stage colon cancer.

I mean,

How amazing is that?

And you know what else?

She didn't post it anywhere on Facebook or anything because she didn't want people to add negative energy to the situation she was going through,

Which is actually a very smart thing because people start layering it with their images and their ideas and their visualizations and their energy.

So staying grateful,

Being grateful,

What a great gift that is.

It's like turning on that light bulb in a dark room,

Bringing that gratitude into your heart,

Into your soul,

Recognizing it every single day.

And not just as an exercise to go through,

But to really be aware of your blessings and how to count those blessings and how to stay positive.

I know for me,

What works is walking every day.

Taking a walk in nature is such a healing energy that comes.

I'm blessed to live on Maui and there's such beautiful energy present here.

And without fail,

When I take a walk,

I feel good.

Do you ask yourself sometimes?

Do you feel good?

Feeling good is one of the best ways to bring that positive energy into your recognition,

Into your sight,

Into your feelings,

To take the time to say,

I feel good.

And walking in nature does that.

Also doing yoga.

Yoga is such a wonderful exercise.

I do yoga every morning,

Stretching the body,

Breathing in deeply,

Taking the time to let yourself feel your body and merge with that expression of the union of spirit with your body,

The union of God with your body.

What a wonderful way to feel good.

I love doing yoga.

Also talking to a loved one,

Hey,

It might be talking to a friend or a family member.

Hey,

It could even be talking to a dog or a cat.

Just saying and releasing what's bottled up inside is a wonderful exercise in releasing what's on your mind and letting it go.

Here's another wonderful key to staying positive.

Let go,

Let go,

Let go.

Let go of any tension.

Let go of any stress.

Let go of any depression.

Let go and let God be in control.

Ah,

Doesn't it feel good to let go?

Again,

This is where we go back to meditation and just scan our mind and kind of watch what's going on and releasing the tension in your body and just seeing what's going on with your feelings and the way you're holding yourself and letting go,

Releasing that tension,

Releasing all worry,

Releasing any fears and let God be in control.

God can help out and do more for you than anything.

God is your life coach.

God is your guide.

That creative source is there to guide you and to help you.

And here's another wonderful tool.

Smile.

I remember I was in a talk at the Snow Mountain Zen Center,

Thich Nhat Hanh was speaking years ago.

And the whole group of people in the Zen Dao were meditating,

A fairly stringent practice,

You know,

As you sit correctly and breathe and just do your Zen practice.

And he said,

Now smile.

I had never been told,

And this was a while back obviously.

I think it was back about 1988.

I'd never been told to smile before while meditating.

I know the power of smiling.

But my gosh,

When I was told to smile while meditating and did it,

Wow,

What a difference.

My stomach loosened up.

My mind felt different.

You actually could feel the difference that a smile made in meditation.

And that same smile,

Sharing it in the world works wonders.

It's like an instant blast of sharing positive energy.

And breathe,

Breathe,

Breathe.

You know,

You can really tell what's going on in your mind and your body by the breaths you take and by the way you monitor your breaths.

You can change any attitude or negative situation or stress by just consciously breathing,

Being aware of the breath in and holding and being aware of the breath out and holding and by just watching the breath going in and the breath going out.

Breath sweeps mind.

That's what my teacher,

My Zen teacher,

Roshi Bill,

Well actually this one,

Bill Kwong Roshi.

Yes,

For a while I had Eiken Roshi when I was living here in O'ohe many a year ago.

He was a wonderful teacher as well.

His course passed on.

And another great way to stay positive is to read positive affirmations.

Just read positive affirmations.

Positive affirmations reset your mind.

And when you say them out loud with belief,

With that strong energy behind them,

They work wonders.

They help to change the way you're thinking.

They help you to have confidence in yourself.

And it really,

Really works.

I always like to surround myself in an armor of wonderful light,

Six feet up and maybe even higher.

All the way through my body and six feet out to the front of me,

To behind me,

To either side of me until I'm in a huge wonderful field of protective white light.

And when you're in that field,

You're helping,

Especially if you're an empath,

To keep the negative energy you may be encountering in the world from bombarding you.

And I love the practice of visualization.

If you're going through doubt or fear,

If you're starting your day,

If you're going through stuff,

Visualize what your goal is to make it a good day.

Start your day by being grateful for the chance to make this day a good day because it is a good day and it's yours to create and make and live as you want with a positive attitude,

With the intention to stay positive,

With the intention to be in that light.

And of course,

To call upon the love in your heart of hearts.

Love overcomes the fear.

Love overcomes the challenges.

Love is the greatest gift of all.

And remember to have compassion for yourself.

That love and compassion for yourself is so important.

Sometimes we are so hard on ourselves and we try so hard.

And if you're an empath and a sensitive person,

I know that's the case.

You're trying to do good.

You're trying hard every day.

And a lot of times you'll encounter these challenges.

Remember when you encounter challenges,

These are lessons that are a blessing.

Take these challenges back and review them.

At the end of the day,

See what lesson was there for you to use,

How it may have helped you,

How it may have been a lesson and a blessing.

And be grateful for that lesson and blessing because when we're on the spiritual path,

You're going to have more and more and more things revealed.

I remember sitting in the Zendo many times and over the course of long sitting,

So much stuff would come up.

And that's good because when it comes up,

You can see it.

You can accept it and you can love it and you can understand and release it and let it go,

Let it go,

Let it go.

Ah,

See the blessing in that.

So remember the lessons are a blessing and that you can choose to have a good day.

You can choose to stay positive.

You can choose to share the light and love of who you are fearlessly and with love.

And it's up to you to allow that to happen.

There are so many people out there that are there to help you on Insight Timer and other wonderful apps and things you can get online.

There are so many wonderful tools you can use to aid you.

You are not alone.

There's so many out there to help.

And I thank you so much for being here and for listening and to being open to allowing that positive energy of love and light to work through you so you can be a positive force for good in the world.

God bless you always.