Spiritual Art Blog - *Ed P

The Wayshower

I’ve been working on the ‘crowds’ who are looking towards the Wayshower for the direction to go to. At the moment they are all a bit naked. The next phase is dressing them. Hopefully they won’t be too fussy about their cloths.
The crowd is in a particular shape. Can you guess what the shape is? Click on 'Comments' below and give me your best guess.

Our Journey through Life

Thought for the week

Our journey through life is our education. We are learning how to live, how to survive and be responsible for ourselves. We are learning how to work with the other Souls we come across throughout the course of our lives. These Souls are in our family, at school, at work, in our neighbourhood, and interacting with us on a regular basis. These Souls are also on their journey to discover themselves.

When we go on a journey it is usually to a particular destination but as far our true happy selves, Soul, is concerned we are here now, at our destination. Where we are now is the destination we aimed towards a few hours, days, weeks, months or years ago. We are here now. When we connect with our higher selves, Soul, we are in the moment. From Soul’s viewpoint we are at our destination.

How do we make our journey easier?
We need to be aware that this life is temporary, our physical body will die at some time. We are more than our physical body. We have our thoughts, emotions, memories, intuitive selves and Soul, our everlasting happy selves.

Saying or reading these things is fine but how do we actually get them to be part of us so that they can help us deal with life? These concepts or truths take time to be realised and accepted by our consciousness. While reading them we may agree with them and go along with the logic but living life with these principles does take time. We have to engage with life with these ideas in mind.

For example, the next time we hear of someone dying our thoughts around them could be:
Where are they now?
As Soul they still live and have now moved into the heavenly worlds within.
Will I see them in my dreams?
If we are close to a person who has died, they will often come to us in a dream to say goodbye or reassure us that they are in a happier place.
Have they met their friends who have died before them?
Life does continue within. The places we go to in our dreams and imagination are part of our new reality when we die.

As another example, when we get into a disagreement with another person, our thinking could be:
While this is a problem now, it will be forgotten in a week, a month or a year’s time.
This problem is a way of connecting with this Soul and we both can learn something.
What can this difficulty teach me?
How can I learn form this? Life presents us with challenges so we can learn from them. Our difficulties are not punishment, they are education.

Soul only sees this moment, now. It, or us, is happy now, with the position we are in regardless of whether that position is pleasant or difficult. Our physical world is just for us to gain experiences and learn about being Soul. The main reason we are here in the physical world is to realise that we are Soul. We are a higher being, a lot more than just our physical or mental abilities.

Soul has its being in an environment of love. It sees things with love. One of the ways of making life easier for ourselves is to let love flow through our lives. By looking for love in our lives we begin to see the benefits of the challenges we face.

Contemplation
As Soul we are wise and insightful. As a physical being we are lost and confused. By making a connection with Soul on a regular basis through contemplation we begin to tap into Souls wisdom. It has the map of our journey and can help us find our way through life. If we can spend some time each day in contemplation we will begin to gain insights into the situations and circumstances of our lives. Contemplation gives us the chance to connect with our inner self Soul. After a while we begin to catch glimpses of Soul’s view of our lives. From Its view it can see the whole picture of our lives and our journey. Making this connection with Soul will help make our lives a little easier.

Wishing you a journey of insight and love.

*Ed Parkinson

If you’d like to explore more articles about your journey through life, visit the Spiritual Writings page by clicking here.

Arty Party next Weekend!

The Arty Party will take place on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th December. That’s this coming weekend, so put it in your diary now. 
3rd & 4th December
Saturday: noon too late, Reception at 8 pm.
Sunday: noon to 6pm.

Ed Parkinson
9 Churchtown Avenue
Dublin 14
Tel: 01 298 6484
Mobile: 086 828 7000
Email: EdP@EdP-Art.com
www.EdP-SpiritualArt.com

LUAS, Green Line, Windy Arbour Stop

There’s 10% discount on all prints and framed pictures over the weekend.

It’s an ideal opportunity to get some of your Christmas presents with greeting cards for just €2 and mini framed pictures at €10.

We’ll be open from noon until late on Saturday and the main reception will be held at 8 pm on Saturday
and we’re open noon until 6 pm on Sunday.

Come along at a time that suits you.

Here’s a Google map of our location whcih may help yuou find us.

View Arty Party in a larger map

Affordable Christmas Fair

11 December • 10:00 - 17:00
The Royal Marine Hotel Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, Ireland.
FREE ADMISSION

The Affordable CHRISTMAS Gift Fair is a one-stop fair for all your Christmas needs. Avoid the stress of last minute shopping or time consuming searching as the Affordable Gift fair will host a huge range of gift ideas to suit every member of your family and all types of friends, including Ed Parkinson’s spiritual art.
...See you there.

WWW.GIFTFAIRIRELAND.COM

Journey Quotes

“Journey of Soul; The life cycles of man, nations and planets through which Soul must pass in order to perfect Itself and return to Its heavenly home.”
Harold Klemp

“I think that wherever your journey takes you, there are new gods waiting there, with divine patience - and laughter.”

Susan M. Watkins

“The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours - it is an amazing journey - and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.”
Bob Moawad

“I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within.”
Lillian Smith

“Life is its own journey, presupposes its own change and movement, and one tries to arrest them at one's eternal peril.”
Laurens van der Post

“A journey of a thousand sites begins with a single click.”
Anon

“The longest journey begins with a single step, not with a turn of the ignition key.”
Edward Abbey

“Consider a man riding a bicycle. Whoever he is, we can say three things about him. We know he got on the bicycle and started to move. We know that at some point he will stop and get off. Most important of all, we know that if at any point between the beginning and the end of his journey he stops moving and does not get off the bicycle he will fall off it. That is a metaphor for the journey through life of any living thing, and I think of any society of living things.”
William Golding

“We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.”
Kenji Miyazawa

“He who is outside his door has the hardest part of his journey behind him.”
Dutch Proverb

“Before you begin on the journey of revenge, dig two graves.”
Proverb

“The feeling remains that God is on the journey, too.”
Teresa of Avila

“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.”
Don Williams, Jr.

“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”
Greg Anderson

“Let your mind start a journey thru a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be...Close your eyes let your spirit start to soar, and you'll live as you've never lived before.”
Erich Fromm

“To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping.”
Chinese Proverbs

“Success is not a place at which one arrives but rather the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey.”
Alex Noble

“A journey is best measured in friends rather than miles.”
Tim Cahill

“When you have completed 95 percent of your journey, you are only halfway there.”
Japanese Proverb

“Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.”
  Matsuo Basho

“You are not the child of the people you call mother and father, but their fellow-adventurer on a bright journey to understand the things that are.”
Richard Bach

“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.”
John Steinbeck



For more words of wisdom on the journey of life, click here to visit our Spiritual Inspirations page.

The Wayshower

This is the basis of the final picture. Last weeks sketch is what I’ll be using as base for the final picture. I’m now working on a high resolution file so that when it is enlarged the quality of the image will be excellent. Now it’s time to get into the hard work of creating the picture.

 

How to see the good things in the problems in life

Thought for the week

Why things happen the way they do

Have you ever wondered how to see the good things in the problems in life or why things happen the way the do? Why don’t things go the way we would like them to? How come some times things get in the way and other things help us get to our goal? I suppose our basic question is: Why do things happen the way they do?

If we see life as a way of learning about ourselves, the Souls around us and how life works, we’ll have a positive view and be able to see the good things in our lives. However not every one can see things this way and we often have to go through some difficulties before we can see the benefit of them.

See the good things
Sometimes it is hard to see the positive side of the problems in life. Illness or sickness can be challenging to accept as positive. A friend who recently went through about six months of illness was able to see the benefit of it after she had come through it. While she was dealing with the illness, she had a very difficult time, ending up in hospital a number of times, loosing her memory and coming close to death at times. On her recovery she was able to appreciate her life and the gift that it is. She sees that life offers her chances to do things and explore situations.

The illness also gave her an insight into some of the challenges her parents faced in their lives. She could now appreciate why they brought her up they way they did. She realised that they were doing the best they could with the facilities and skills they had. She could see that they suffered their own sicknesses but still did their best to give her a good life. If she hadn’t had the illness she wouldn’t have been able to appreciate her parent’s situation. After it all, she was a happier and healthier Soul. She was able to see the good things in the problems in life.

Change our attitude
If we look at life as a constant battle it may be time to change our attitude. If we can begin to look at the events in our lives as good things and ways for us to learn something or to grow a little, we’ll begin to gain a little more happiness with our problems in life. This will happen to us all eventually. As we go through our many experiences we gain some knowledge and understanding of the problems in life, what they mean, what they have to teach us and why they happen to us.

The Force
In our lives we have our physical world, our inner world with our thoughts, insights, knowledge and intuition. We also have a force, a power or energy which holds our worlds together so that we can interact with the other Souls around us. Some call this the Life Force, the Holy Spirit, the Eck, or the Force as mentioned in the Star Wars movies.

This Force interacts with our memories of this life and other lives to see what we have learned previously and what we have yet to discover. Some call this our destiny. The method of selecting the tasks to be learned in life is often referred to as karma. Our karma, or the things we need to learn, is what decides the events in our lives. Our karma is the basis of all the good things and the problems in life. It is like our personal training plan. We still have our free will and we can sometimes avoid or deal with the problems in life as the appear.

Before we are born, our major lessons are decided upon and the approximate time they will arrive into our lives. If we are good at learning the lessons we have been given, we may move on to other challenges. If we avoid them or make a mess of them, they will come up again until we understand how to deal with them. We could say that the problems in life will stay with us until they become the good things in life.

The best thing in life
Let’s look at these lessons as a way to gain insight into our lives and ourselves. One of the key ways of developing a good attitude to our lessons or karma is to approach them with a feeling of love in our hearts. If we can bring love into everything that we do, we will begin to see how life is a wonderful opportunity to interact with and learn from the many Souls, events and circumstances in our life. Love is one of the good things in life, its probably the best thing in life! An attitude of love will release us from the drudgery of what we may have seen as problems in life. We will begin to see the positive side of events and obstacles.

An angry attitude or one where we see ourselves as a victim of life shuts off the flow of love and insight. Anger blinds us and confines us to a dark prison within ourselves. Anger limits our focus to the problems in life. Love is the key to being released from karma. It allows us to see the good things in life.

Ask ourselves questions
If we can see how there is love in every situation we come across in life, we’ll begin to open ourselves to the good thins in life. One of the ways of doing this is to ask ourselves questions like:
Why is this happening FOR me?
What can I learn from this?
Is this something I’ve been avoiding?
Where is the love in this?

We can also be aware of the good things which can out of the problems in life by thoughts such as:
If I get through this I’ll be better able to deal with it the next time it appears.
I may not know why I’m in this situation but time will tell me.
What I’m facing into now will help me in the future.
I can be positive or negative towards this situation, which will I choose?

Hopefully there are a few ideas here which you can use to help you see the good things in the problems in life.

Wishing you love in your life.

*Ed Parkinson

If you’d like to read about more good things in life, click here to go to our Spiritual Writings page.

Arty Party

The Arty Party will take place on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th December. That’s less than two weeks away, so put it in your diary now. 
3rd & 4th December
Saturday: noon to late, Reception at 8 pm.
Sunday: noon to 6pm.

Ed Parkinson
9 Churchtown Avenue
Dublin 14
Tel: 01 298 6484
Mobile: 086 828 7000
Email: EdP@EdP-Art.com
www.EdP-SpiritualArt.com

LUAS, Green Line, Windy Arbour Stop

There’s 10% discount on all prints and framed pictures over the weekend.

It’s an ideal opportunity to get some of your Christmas presents.

We’ll be open from noon until late on Saturday and the main reception will be held at 8 pm on Saturday
and we’re open noon until 6 pm on Sunday.

Come along at a time that suits you.

Here’s a photo of the postal invitation. If you’d like one click on the Comments link below and let me know your address or email me at EdP@EdP-Art.com

View Arty Party in a larger map

Affordable Gift Fair

I was showing and selling my prints and pictures at the Affordable Gift Fair in the Royal Marine Heel, Dun Laoghaire, Ireland on Sunday last, 20th December 2011. There was a good turn out of visitors and stand holders. There was an excellent range of gifts there including, Christmas logs with candles, scarves, candles, jewellery, art, hand bags, cosmetics, pottery, cup cakes, soaps, jigsaws, photography, slate mirrors, bean bags, ceramics, copper pieces, crochet, glass, knitting, soap and some crafts. 
It will be taking place again on the 11th December, in the same place between 10 am and 5 pm. See you there.

Good Thoughts Quotes

“Opposition and problems are part of life. They compel the traveller to develop randomity and common sense along the footpath to spiritual liberation.”
Harold Klemp

“The person who sends out positive thoughts activates the world around him positively and draws back to himself positive results.”
Norman Vincent Peale

“A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.”
Herm Albright

“Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.”
Anthony J. D'Angelo

“If you don't get everything you want, think of the things you don't get that you don't want.”
Oscar Wilde

"These then are my last words to you. Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact" which is a reminder to me that the good life starts with a decision. It doesn't just happen that life becomes great. The more you cultivate the belief that life is an adventure, the more you'll experience it this way.”
William James

“I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet.”
Persian Proverb

“If you don't think every day is a good day, just try missing one.”
Cavett Robert

“It's so hard when I have to, and so easy when I want to.”
Annie Gottlier

“Oh, my friend, it's not what they take away from you that counts. It's what you do with what you have left.”
Hubert Humphrey

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”
Winston Churchill

"When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn".
Harriet Beecher

“Every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day.”
Anon

“There are exactly as many special occasions in life as we choose to celebrate.”
Robert Brault

“The sun shines and warms and lights us and we have no curiosity to know why this is so; but we ask the reason of all evil, of pain, and hunger, and mosquitoes and silly people.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

“A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”
Roald Dahl

“To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.”
George Santayana

“Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same.”
Francesca Reigler

“If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it.”
Mary Engelbreit

“So often time it happens, we all live our life in chains, and we never even know we have the key.”
The Eagles

“I've decided that the stuff falling through the cracks is confetti and I'm having a party!”
Betsy Cañas Garmon

“The only people who find what they are looking for in life are the fault finders.”
Foster's Law

“Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures.”
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

“Every thought is a seed. If you plant crab apples, don't count on harvesting Golden Delicious.”
Bill Meyer

If you enjoyed these Good Thoughts Quotes you’ll find more positive words of wisdom on our Spiritual Inspirations page by clicking here.

The Wayshower

This picture has brightened up a little with the yellow sky having now been added. The crowds of people who make up the land masses of the Earth are all striving to go in the direction being shown by the Wayshower. There is still a bit of work before this gets to a satisfactory sketch but we’re getting there.

What is inner peace and how do we get it?

Thought for the week

Inner peace is something we are constantly searching for whether we know it or not. We have an inbuilt desire to seek happiness or peace within ourselves. Many of us go to great lengths to achieve this state. There are lots of us who have gone into the mountains, back to nature or into religious orders. More of us seek it in drink or drugs where we can get an escape into the seemingly happier world they promise, even if it is only for a few hours. We can also find a little peace by involving ourselves completely in eating, sex or work. All of these activities can bring a measure of inner peace for a while but there is generally a major price to pay such as isolation, hangovers, depression, health problems and relationship issues.

Our inner make up
Let’s look at our inner make up to see if we can get a better understanding of our dilemma. We are complex creatures with the following elements:
A physical body
A complete range of emotions
A memory of events from this life and beyond
A mind which helps us survive with its logical reasoning
A subtle intuition or subconscious
Soul, the soft, loving voice deep within us.

Our physical Body is all about action. It is doing something all the time except when we are asleep or resting. The body is a tool we use to get things done, have experiences with it and interact with our world and the other Souls by using it.

Our mind is all about thinking, analysis and making choices. It acts on our emotions and memories. It takes the information it remembers about a situation along with the emotions attached to it, analyses it all and makes a choice as to what action we should take. It is the driver of the physical body. The body responds to whatever choices the mind makes.

Soul, our true self, is being here and now, is knowing and seeing. Soul lives in the now, in this moment. It is not available in the past or the future. We can only be Soul now. Soul knows things now. When It is presented with a situation the solutions necessary become available. We as Soul know the right course of action for us. As Soul we are observers of our experiences and lives in the worlds of time and space. While it offers its abundant knowledge and Its higher vision to us, it is often defeated by the mind as illogical and impossible.

The challenge
The mind has difficulty grasping the subtle presence of Soul and involving it in its logical analysis and decision making. Because Soul’s wisdom is presented in the moment, unless it is accepted by our mind in that moment, we loose it. It usually happens like this: We come across a situation in our lives which needs a solution. Soul presents us with Its wisdom. This usually arrives as an intuition, a vision or a feeling to do something. The mind takes this idea, analyses it, compares it to previous solutions, looks at the options, makes its choice and puts the body into action.

The challenge for us, the whole being, including Soul, the mind and the body, is that the mind generally controls most of our decisions. It takes the wisdom from Soul and if it doesn’t make logical sense, discards it. By allowing our mind to run our lives like this we are loosing the wisdom of Soul. It is automatically eliminated by the mind.

Three challenges
We have three challenges to overcome in our search for inner peace.
1 - Soul’s messages and wisdom are presented to us in a soft loving voice which is easily drowned out by the noisy logical decisions of the mind.
2 - We need to educate the mind about Soul and its wisdom and how to avail of it.
3- We also have the challenge that the mind can perceive that it will loose its power to some extent if it has to take into consideration the illogical ideas coming from Soul.

A loving inner peace
If Soul can take control of the mind and the body It will bring a loving inner peace and understanding to our lives. Using this statement we can see logically how our life will be improved by Soul’s wisdom. But how do we uncover the enlightenment from Soul? It is quite simple but it does take time…

We need to spend time in contemplation on a regular basis so we can make contact with Soul and find ways of getting the mind to listen to Soul and accept its ideas and wisdom. Soul is happy and at peace with itself and if we can connect to Soul we will naturally gain some of that peace. Over time, by contemplating on a regular basis we build our connection between Soul and mind. Then our understanding, insights and wisdom will develop with the result of bringing inner peace into our world.

A simple way to contemplate
Here’s a simple way to contemplate. Sit or lie down in a comfortable position. With your eyes closed take a few deep breaths and relax. After three or four breaths begin singing the word HU on your outgoing breath. It’s pronounced like the word ‘hue’ meaning colour. As you are breathing and singing with your eyes closed, watch for lights on your inner screen. The may appear as glows, stars, sparkles, and sometimes as flashes. Just observe them.

At the same time we can listen to the sounds around us. They may be local or distant, but lets just listen to them individually and then move on to listening to the next. When we’ve listened to all the outer sounds we can turn our attention to any inner sounds we can hear. We may hear sounds which resemble running water, jet engines, electronic sounds, a flute, an orchestra or bees buzzing. Depending on where our attention is these sounds can change. We can all hear these inner sounds but it does take a little effort to listen for them.

As we listen to these sounds and watch the inner lights and sing HU, a scene may develop in our minds eye. If it is of interest and of a positive nature, go with it and observe it. If it is negative, return your focus to singing, watching the inner lights and listening to the inner sounds. This is how we begin to reconnect with our true self, Soul. The HU song is from the Soul level and will help us link up to it. The inner light and inner sound is how the Holy Spirit or Higher Power communicates with us. Using this combination during our contemplation exercises we will begin to open a connection with Soul and link into its natural inner peace.

It just takes time and our own discipline. A regular contemplation will help us find the inner peace we seek every day.

Wishing you love and inner peace.

*Ed Parkinson

For more wisdom on inner peace visit the Spiritual Writings page by clicking here.

Affordable Gift Fair, next Sunday!

...Free Admission

Royal Marine Hotel, DunLaoghaire, Co Dublin
Sunday 20th November 2011, 10am - 5pm

Over 60 stands of quality gift ideas, all at affordable prices!
Most stands will have special offers on the day.

I'll be there with my spiritual art, including greeting cards starting at just €2 each. Hope to see you there.

The Affordable Gift Fair is a one-stop fair for all your Christmas needs. Avoid the stress of last minute shopping or time consuming searching as the Affordable Gift fair will host a huge range of gift ideas to suit every member of your family and all types of Friends.

www.giftfairireland.com
Email: giftfairireland@gmail.com
Contact Karen Harper 086 888 5321 or
AnneLouise McDermott 086 3547499

Inner Peace Quotes

“No two people are alike. Each has an agreement with life that is unlike any other. Learn love, patience and grace, because they are the way to find harmony. Finding inner peace is a big part of your spiritual life.”
Harold Klemp

“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.”
St. Francis de Sales

“As human beings we all want to be happy and free from misery… we have learned that the key to happiness is inner peace. The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as anger, attachment, fear and suspicion, while love and compassion and a sense of universal responsibility are the sources of peace and happiness.”
Dalai Lama

“Never continue in a job you don't enjoy. If you're happy in what you're doing, you'll like yourself, you'll have inner peace. And if you have that, along with physical health, you'll have more success than you could possibly have imagined.”
Roger Caras

“My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far today, I have finished 2 bags of M&M's and a chocolate cake. I feel better already.”
Dave Barry

“Whatever we are waiting for - peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance - it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart.”
Sarah Ban Breathnach

“Eternal Inner Peace has to be cultivated daily.”
Delphine-Gay de Girardin

“World peace will never be stable until enough of us find inner peace to stabilize it”
Peace Pilgrim

“One of the secrets of inner peace is the practice of compassion.”
Tenzin Gyatso

“Inner peace can be reached only when we practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past, and is therefore the means for correcting our misperceptions.”
Gerald Jampolsky

“People are born for different tasks, but in order to survive every one requires the same nourishment; inner peace.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba

“Develop the inner vision and the habit of listening to the inner Voice; and you are assured of unshakable Peace and infinite Joy.”
Atharva Veda

“No one can get inner peace by pouncing on it.”
Harry Emerson Fosdick

“If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will have complete peace.”
Ajahn Chan

"For peace of mind, we need to resign as general manager of the universe."
Larry Eisenberg

"Acceptance of others, their looks, their behaviors, their beliefs, bring you an inner peace and tranquillity -- instead of anger and resentment."
Anon

"He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe."
Marcus Aurelius

"Possession of material riches, without inner peace, is like dying of thirst while bathing in a lake."
Paramahansa Yogananda


If you are looking for mor quotes to bring you some inner peace, click here to visit the Spiritual Inspirations page.

The Wayshower

The Wayshower continues to develop. With this sketch I’ve gone off on a different tangent. What do you think?

Positive Difficulties

Thought for the week

Seeing difficulties in a positive light can be a challenge, especially when we are in the middle of them. Being able to see the positive side of a problem can take time and the ability to be able to look at it from a distance, where we are not so emotionally involved.

Two opposite views
When we look at an event one way, it can seem positive but from another viewpoint it can seem negative. Let’s take going to school as an example. As a teenage child, school can seem to be an annoyance or intrusion into our lives. We have more important things to do, like trying things out with our friends, developing relationships and exploring our world. As a more mature person in our twenties, we can see how our basic education taught us the skills we now use in our work. This allows us to earn a reasonable wage so we can pay for the things we need and want in our lives. There we have two opposite views of a period in the life of the same person.

Is it possible that we have something similar going on in our lives at the moment where we consider our current circumstances as negative or difficult? Will we look back on this in a few years and see the positive side of the situation and the benefits we have received from it? What benefits or skills can we gain from our present difficulties? It might be worthwhile to stop reading this for a moment and think about that. “What positive outcomes can come from my present difficulties?” Let’s think about that.

Difficulties or growth
If we look back on our lives, what do we see? Is it a life of difficulties or a life of growth from one situation to another? The answer depends on our attitude and how we are feeling at the moment. If we are going through difficulties we may only see that our life has been difficult. If we are in a positive frame of mind, we may see the benefits of all the events in our life and how they have helped us.

How can we get to see our lives from a balanced or neutral point of view, a view where we can see our life and situation from an objective, unbiased viewpoint? When we look at our life from a neutral point of view, how does it look? The key to achieving this point of view is our attitude. If we look at the events of our lives as problems and challenges, that is all we will be able to see. However, if we look at our lives as a process of learning with the understanding that our difficulties will teach us something, we have a better chance of turning the problems into positives.

Difficulties as development
Here’s a simple exercise we can try and over time it can help change our attitude about our lives to the point where we can see the difficulties as a development of a positive aspect in our lives. Let’s get into a comfortable position. Take a few deep breaths. Within ourselves, ask the question “Please show me the reason or lessons in the difficulties in my life.” Ask this of whatever or whoever you feel can provide your answer. It could be the Universe, the Higher Power, your inner guide, an angel, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, Mohammad, Krishna, Buddha, etc. On your outgoing breath sing Hu as a long drawn out word.

Do this for about fifteen to twenty minutes. This will probably take practice to work. It may produce results the first time but if we do it on a daily basis it will help us get a better understanding of the events in our life. This can help make life a little easier as we gains insights from our inner vision about our outer problems.

Wishing you the skill of seeing your difficulties as a positive part of your life.

*Ed Parkinson

If you’d like to read more about turning you difficulties into positives, click here to go to the Spiritual Writings page.