ASK SANDY

ASK SANDY

An Ask Sandy Question:

Rob writes:

Hi Sandy, I have been on a truth quest for about a year now. I have read the book and watched the video "The Secret" many, many times. I am really trying to focus on the positive of life. However, that negative seems to creep into my mind on a daily basis. I have not had much positive change happen for me. In fact, I seem more frustrated now than ever before. What advise could you give me at this point in time? Any words of wisdom would be appreciated. Thank you rob

Sandy Writes:

Dear Rob,

The Law of Attraction has been so in the forefront that we have, as a collective, tended to ignore the Law of Resistance.  Technically, of course, they are not laws at all, but extraordinary principles which, when applied with conscious intent, can alter the course of our lives. 

The first thing for you to know is that when a negative thought or feeling comes up, it does not mean you are doing something wrong.  If you resist the feeling, you will only intensify it, for that which you resist you will attract.

So, put the negative feeling on the table - right out there in front of God and everybody.  Do not attach a story - that will only drag you into the sludge pot of the past.   For instance, perhaps a negative feeling you have is I'm not enough, or nobody really likes me, or I never get noticed.  Acknowledge that feeling, but make it a simple, complete statement with a period.  Don't say, "Joey hasn't called me back for three days and after all that I've done for him and look how many times I've been there for him and he's got a lot of nerve... and on and on.  "I feel unimportant and that's an old feeling" - is all that you have to acknowledge. 

Once you have taken your judgment and story off the feeling, then you can say to yourself, "This feeling, this chemical reaction that I am having in my body, is not who I am.  It is just a feeling.  It's a feeling which my brain is cross-referencing with an old wound or insecurity.  Having the feeling come up does not make me wrong.  It does, however, give me an opportunity to experience the power of choice.  I get to choose whether or not this chemical reaction we call a feeling is a statement about me or not.  I get to choose a greater truth."

Then reach for a statement of truth greater than the illusion of doubt and separation.  What if you really are one with a Goodness that has no opposite?  What if your experiences do not define you, unless you say so?  What if the Light within you is so much greater than the challenging places through which you have journeyed?

You have the ability to reach out to you with compassion and kindness.  You have the ability to practice and practice until, whether you agree with yourself and your position or not, you always look at yourself through the eyes of love.  But please remember, the celebration of you does not come through the suppression of a feeling.  It comes through the recognition that the feeling simply gives you information about an old idea you are holding on to.  You have the power to redefine yourself in context of any place that you have been and to know the greatness and wonderful potential of you in the now.

Camus wrote one of my favorite quotes.  He said, "In the midst of winter I have found within me an invincible summer."  On your most challenging day, the light within you shines.  Remember it, even on the days when you can't feel it.

Blessings to you -- with love and a light heart,

Sandy

www.pursuitoflight.com

Find A Finger, Try Not to Point It

                                                        Sandy Brewer, 4-15-08

In this current 24/7 political news-cycle world of “he said, she said” it’s amazing that we haven’t all gone mad.  But it is a perfect snapshot of a dysfunctional family/relationship, and how to abdicate personal responsibility.

Republican or Democrat, Libertarian or Independent, how we live our personal lives will reflect in our public ones.  We don’t have to be featured on MSNBC or CNN, our even any of the morning shows to have established our true values and to take personal responsibility for our choices.

If I want a relationship, I have to take responsibility – not blame – for the ways in which I have used relationships to reflect my doubts, self-esteem that is too low, arrogance that is too high, desperation which automatically disempowers.  I could always blame the other guy for my current situations; I could continue to be upset about every jerk I’ve ever dated (it couldn’t have been me, could it?); or I could go all pundit clone and relentlessly play the irritating and irresponsible “he said/she said” card.

Here are the real facts.  If you want your future to be different than your past, you have to be willing to change the way you respond to situations and circumstances in the now.  If you’ve been dating – or marrying – jerks, you have to be willing to comprehend how your choices are a mirror of your own doubts, judgments, and self-esteem.  We all have the power to choose, and we all have the power to change.

Or we could just run for political office and practice our finger pointing.

Sandy Brewer, Author, Pursuit of Light, an Extraordinary Journey

www.PursuitOfLight.com 

Inspirational Thought..

My sojourn, and I invite you to consider it for yourself, is to remember that the darkness is a part of the light, but it can never fully obscure it.  To search out that light every day--and if I don't find it today, to be doubly determined to discover it tomorrow.  To let the wisdom of the laughing Buddha have voice in me.

With blessings of love and light,

Sandy Brewer

www.pursuitoflight.com

Inside Job

Dear Friends,

  When you think in terms of going inside yourself, where's inside? Is it in you head, your heart, your soul, the universe? The true "inside" is in the realm of the nonphysical. A realm not limited to time and space. It's the field of energy or frequency from which all form ultimately emerges. It's the sensation of pulsing with the invisible, with the source of life that is the source of you and of me, that "non-place place" that contains the metaphoric embryonic fluid from which all life manifests. It is the truest field of dreams. Going inside means to remove our focus from the external. We shift our attention from the situation or perceived problem, and we connect with the dream of the possible. Not by looking into our physical world first, but by becoming congruent with the feeling/vibration of our potential. It's all right there – right in the middle of nowhere. Right in the middle of now here.

  It's the birthplace of resolution. Going inside is getting quiet enough to immerse so thoroughly that the physical seems to fall way. Then, with a fresh canvas, we can create a new reality, a new potential for ourselves, our lives, and our world. Whether we're problem solving or simply reconnecting to the beauty of all that is, always engage the inside – the spiritual, non-physical side of ourselves - first, and bring that renewed and revitalized awareness into our external world.

 

  Remember it takes two for war and one for peace. Be at peace with yourself, bring that attitude into your world, and you will find all things so much easier, so much more peaceful, and definitely more fun.

 

  May this day be filled for you with the limitless bounty of the inner planes, manifested through you in your physical world!

Love,

Sandy

www.PursuitofLight.com

Forgiveness

Dear Friends,

  Forgiveness must come from the heart and not the head. When I can look at that part of my life and those that did me wrong and be able to say ‘between you and me there is peace now, because you no longer have the power over me to control my thoughts or my feelings or my life’.

  Many people perpetuate the negative feelings they have about their past. They are unable to forgive the ones that hurt them, choosing instead to remember the past. Not only do they blame their tormenters, but they blame themselves, as well.

  Forgiveness is the proactive force needed to find the peace you seek in your life. Without forgiveness, your life is locked in a dark place often leading to depression or drug dependency. Forgive the people who have hurt you. Make the choice to leave the past in the past. They no longer have control over what you do, how you think, or the choices you make. Your life is your own. Most importantly, forgive yourself. Throughout your life, you believed you were to blame for the torment you suffered. That is a common feeling for an abused child, but as an adult, you must realize you were not to blame. Discover your self-worth and know that you are deserving of love and fulfillment.

  Allow your heart to tell you it is okay, taking forgiveness to the next level. Help yourself grow beyond your past, be kind to yourself and do not judge.

Love,

Sandy

www.PursuitOfLight.com

Chioce: An Introduction from PURSUIT OF LIGHT

An Introduction Excerpt from the Best-selling Memoir, Pursuit of Light, An Extraordinary Journey. 

Dear Friends,

  "Life is about choice.

  "Victor Frankl lost his family and freedom in the Holocaust. Yet, in the midst of that horror, he discovered within himself an emotional perspective – an attitude or core awareness – that sustained him through his darkest hours. He chose that new attitude and managed to survive both physically and emotionally. He changed the way he viewed what was happening to him, and with that shift created a new emotional reality. He saw and experienced himself greater than his circumstance. So great was his internal change – the way he viewed his reality – that when he emerged from the hell of a concentration camp, he established a second family and founded the branch of psychiatry known today as existentialism. Now that’s an attitudinal shift!

  "Like Victor Frankl, we all must choose. Choice requires picking a point of view and understanding that one inherently has the capacity to do so. It is a birthright that we all need to claim. In fact, consciously choosing is imperative because once any individual changes a point of view, that person also changes his or her reality. Contrary to popular opinion, reality is not carved in stone. It’s based on personal opinion. That’s how three people can be in the same room at the same time, dialoguing on the same subject, and yet be experiencing three different realities all based on the exact same factual data. Simply put, personal reality – or how one experiences what we call reality – is not limited to a narrow definition of the facts, but rather the way one emotionally experiences them.

  "The secret to establishing a sense of joy, possibility and freedom is pretty basic: dissolve the attachment to pain and suffering.

  "No, the facts don’t have to change. But attitudes do.

  "Personal reality is created by personal attitude. Bottom line? Attitude – the way we frame the conversations in our head – is everything."  © 2007, Sandy Brewer, Pursuit of Light, An Extraordinary Journey.

Love,

Sandy

www.PursuitOfLight.com

Mary Margaret...I Loved Her

Pursuit of Light:  An Extrorodinary Journey

Mary Margaret was a light unto herself and to everyone in her world. I loved her. She was already dealing with cancer when we first met in 1980.  Here is an excerpt about her – and us – from my book, Pursuit of Light:  An Extraordinary Journey .

Love,

Sandy

It wasn't long before Mary Margaret got more bad news. The cancer had now spread to her liver. She cried and so did I. She asked me if I had any ideas that might help her remember that she lives past death.

"Tonight, go out and look at the night sky," I said. "Hone in on the most brilliant star you can see. Keep looking at it until it blurs out of sight. And when it does, focus on the space between the stars. That deep, dark, all-encompassing midnight blue. It is the womb of all that is – the glue that holds everything together. Every star, every galaxy and planet, every sunrise and sunset, every being that ever was or ever will be exists within the space between the stars.

"Mary Margaret, my dear, we can forget that it exists or we can remember it, but we can't actually fall out of the belly of God no matter how hard we try."  © 2007, Sandy Brewer, Pursuit f Light, An Extraordinary Journey

www.PursuitOfLight.com