Again this article has been inspired by the book, You Can Have It All, by Arnold Patent. Last month we shared the first four universal principles. The fifth universal principle is Cause and Effect. This principle raises more questions and has more built-in resistance to its acceptance than any other.

There is an effect for every cause. Personal cause and effect is called karma. Karma means “to come back.” As a little girl I heard “what goes around comes around.”

Arnold says, “Contrary to what we have been taught, we are not at the effect of the circumstances in our lives. We are the creators of these circumstances and we create these circumstances with great purposefulness.” You are not at the effect of the circumstances in your life. If you don’t like how your life is, the good news is, you can change your life. How? You must begin within and you must begin with your thoughts and feelings. Arnold says “stay in the high joy vibration!”

When we are in the joy and gratitude vibration, we are connected to Source.

If you are not at peace, you will not be able to draw into your experience peaceful experiences. If you don’t love yourself you won’t be able to receive the love you desire from others.

I know that some of your life circumstances are very intense and challenging. Some of you may be struggling just to survive from day to day. You are not a victim, dear one. Arnold says, “Our willingness to go beyond our beliefs in victims and perpetrators, then our hearts open and we can reclaim the power we had vested in people and circumstances outside of us.”

Right now you can turn within and ask Source for guidance. Your very essence is Infinite Intelligence or Source. The seat of wisdom is within. Listen. It speaks often in your own voice. It communicates in the form of a thought. It’s not an audible voice although some people say they have heard an audible voice and I have too, yet for me mostly it’s a thought that also carries with it, peace.

This is where you begin each day. Everyday we have to remember what and who we really are. The Creator has a plan for your life and as you practice forgiving yourself and all others and surrendering to the Creator’s plan, you will become more peaceful. The more peaceful you become the divine flow of God’s plan will supercede the plan you enacted. In time, The Creator’s plan will override your plan.

Are you dealing with a serious health challenge? Whenever our thinking minds override Infinite Intelligence and create out of our beliefs, we receive a signal in the form of discomfort. The signal of discomfort tells us that we are out of the natural alignment of God. It is a reminder that by accepting a belief, we have vested our power in someone or something outside of us.

From A Course in Miracles, “Sickness is a decision. It is not a thing that happens to you quite unsought, which makes you weak and brings you suffering.” ACIM says that sickness is lack of love. When we haven’t discovered the importance of living a life that is balanced, we suffer. The Creator doesn’t punish us, we punish ourselves. When we don’t take the time to buy and prepare the foods that will enrich our bodies, we aren’t loving ourselves. When you are tired and you keep pushing yourself, you aren’t loving yourself and your body is impacted in a negative way.

Holding on to unforgiveness is a major cause of illness. This week I worked at the voting polls. A woman standing next to me was venting and raging about her mate. Another gentleman was saying to her that she needed to release the anger. She said, “Oh no, I am going to take this to the grave!” So badly I wanted to say, “Yes and you are going to get there quicker than you think being such a carrier of that type of rage.” Spirit said to me just move, don’t try to fix her… just move your body away from those toxins. And I did.

When we haven’t discovered our right and ability to say “no,” the illness says no for us. People pleasing is a disease. No matter how hard you try, you will not be able to please everybody. Stop trying. If people are only going to like you because you “do” things for them, then they don’t really like you so let them go. Say “No thank you” or just “No.”

When I worked with a wholistic doctor in the 80s providing spiritual meditation and prayer, she said “All of these folks who I treat have very passive personalities and they overwork and put entirely too much on their plate.” You must establish boundaries. Choose you. Without your peace of mind you won’t be healthy and without your health being on this planet is not going to be enjoyable.

Too many relationships are abusive. Living inside of an abusive relationship can be “a cause” for an effect called disease. It’s like exposing yourself daily to toxic fumes. Abuse shows up in many different forms. The silent treatment can be abusive. It’s surely more than someone physically hitting you. Abuse becomes our experience when we abuse ourselves first. That’s the primary cause. When we experience abandonment, it’s because we have abandoned ourselves first. Usually we have put the significant other and their needs before our own and as natural as that sounds, it is totally unnatural. God lives inside of you. The golden rule says “Love God, love yourself then love others... loving your neighbor as yourself!” Get it? Please get it.

Again, lack of self-love permits us to put up with people, behaviors and situations that erode our self-esteem and health. No more. ACIM teaches us that the Holy Spirit will help us with any and everything if we but ask. Surrender it all to the Holy Spirit or the Higher Power or whatever you want to call your God.

I have witnessed so many miracles in my life and in the lives of thousands who have practiced the art of forgiveness and also who practice turning it over to “the Higher Power.”

You can have it all and it does require your participation. Since there is the law of cause and effect, create some delicious effects. Delicious effects are birthed out of peace, love and joy. Nothing is more important than you being happy. Don’t worry, be happy.

Rev. Shaheerah Stephens is author of The Wealth of a Spiritual Woman and the Spiritual Leader at Transforming Love Community. She is a sought-after keynote speaker and workshop facilitator.
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