Our society has not always openly supported the idea of living holistically; however, thanks to those like author Theresa Cloud Eagle Nelson, a third-generation practitioner of restoration, this total way of life is something that has been proven to reach and provide resolutions for the restoration of many core issues we face in life. The practice of conscious living, which she shares in these pages, is a part of who she is. Here, she shares many of the tools she has developed to help people find the fundamentals of effective living. These are tools she habitually uses every day of her life, and she doesn't know any other way to live. It is how the divine desires us to live, she teaches, in a full understanding that when we do, we will have heaven right here on Earth. This is nothing new; it's been around for millennia.
Tools for Effective Living
Guide for a Purpose-Filled LifeBy Theresa Cloud Eagle NelsoniUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2011 Theresa Cloud Eagle Nelson
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4620-0343-3Contents
Preface.....................................................xiIntroduction................................................xvLife-Giving Thoughts........................................1Affirmations—The Language of God......................17Words of Compassion.........................................31Forgiveness Is Love.........................................43Prayer—A Living Seed..................................57Meditation..................................................69Part One Empowerment Through Meditation.....................70Part Two The Process of Meditation..........................82Establishing Ideals and Making Goals........................99Bring Your Dreams into Reality..............................117Conclusion..................................................131Bibliography................................................133
Chapter One
TOOL ONE Life-Giving Thoughts
Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes, And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills, Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills:—He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass: Environment is but his looking-glass.
—As a Man Thinketh James Allen
Your thoughts create your world, but your heart plays a big role throughout this creation. An often quoted phrase captures this process—"as a man thinketh in his heart so is he. This statement not only embraces the whole of your being, but it is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of your life," says James Allen in his book "As a Man Thinketh."
Your desires rest in your heart. What you speak "from the heart" is what you want to happen.
When you look in the mirror, you see your image, a reflection of what is there. And by seeing what is there, you can correct what's not in place. Similarly, your life reflects what you have put your attention on, using your thoughts and words. Your thoughts impact and portray the image you have of yourself, projecting that image into your world or environment.
What you put your focus on, whether it is a thought or a spoken word, is what is created in your physical world. You do not realize that your thoughts, which become verbal expressions and manifestations (– words), have power. Ideas begin as thoughts, and thoughts become words. Once "a thing" is given "a name" it has even more power. The more you speak "the name" the more power you give "the thing." This, in turn, allows it to manifest more quickly into the seen world.
In the book of Genesis, God gave Adam the assignment to name every living creation God made appear on the earth. Whether you believe this story or not, it depicts the power we have by giving "names" to our creations, just as God gave Adam. Through your belief, you know that when you name something, it is exactly what you have named it—a song you have composed, a child you have birthed, a book you have penned, or a piece of art you have painted.
Thoughts take expressions as the spoken word. Words are creative energy, alive and moving. Once you name something it has power. Every word you speak holds power, no matter how minuscule you think it is. To help us understand this point I like the way H. Emily Cady states it, "there is in the formed conscious man, a point of concentration for this word." As we concentrate on what we are creating in our mind, a word is put with it. You want your words to be living words, words of life for prosperous creation. Words have the power to restore and make whole. And words have the power to tear down and destroy.
Think of thoughts as seeds planted by the heart. The fruit is the desire of the heart manifested or harvested (i.e., what is reaped). What are you planting through your thoughts and words?
The following is a story concerning my little sister cousin, Rhonda, and her life changing experience. This was so powerful that I asked her to share it, because the outcome resulted from her thoughts and subsequently her words being manifested:
Yes, I will recount those moments and why I truly believe in the power of the tongue and the importance of being careful of what you speak out of your mouth, for you just might "will" it into your life.
One of my best friends and I were just sitting around one afternoon talking about life in general when she said, "Oh, I'll probably get cancer and die."
My remark in reply was, "I'll probably get something that they don't have a cure for." We were both in our twenties and not thinking much about it. This is sort of painful because I still remember it so clearly.
Years went by, and by the time I was in my thirties, I became real sick and went to the hospital. First, they couldn't find anything. But there was a young, new doctor who continued to do tests and finally figured out, from the results that I had lupus, which was fairly new to the medical field. He said, "I have some good news and bad news for you. Bad news is you have lupus. The good news is you can live with it, but there is no cure for it." As always your mind begins to entertain negative thoughts. But I had faith, and I knew God would bring me through it.
After my episode, my best friend was doing a self-examination when she found a lump in her breast. She went to see about it and found out that she had breast cancer. She went through all of the treatments, but at the early age of thirty-five, she passed away.
With this personal experience, I unequivocally believe in being careful of what you speak. I have learned the power of words and am living more consciously aware of what I say and think.
Another young woman I know admired the parenting and wife skills of her much loved aunt and said she wanted to be like her. She married, had children and began emulating the wonderful parenting skills of her aunt with her family. Later in life she came to the conclusion that she no longer wanted the life she had built and decided to choose another way of living. She more than likely forgot what she had said and desired earlier in her life, which brought her to this unwanted lifestyle. She is still learning, but she is coming into her own through this great learning experience.
For the most part, no one remembers or is conscious of the many factors that go into making the choices we make. Many of us are like these two women, but without realizing the power of our thoughts and words, we find ourselves in difficult and unwanted learning situations.
What you see reflecting back at you as your life is the result of what you have planted and are now harvesting. It is easy to blame someone else for what you imagine is seemingly happening, because then you don't have to really look at yourself. The responsibility however is yours—and yours alone—to change, seeing a positive outcome in the situation or as the saying goes, "making lemonade out of lemons." You don't want to become stuck in your thinking as a result of what happened in the past. This train of thought keeps you bound in the victim...
