Service.

Service is prayer in action, and the key that allows us to keep the spirit foremost in our lives. I start each day with a prayer or two, and to that I add a list of things for which I'm grateful. This sets the stage. For in this very moment I am calm and in a state I would like to retain throughout the day. But that never happens. Daily meetings, the rush of traffic, all these distractions take me away from the calmness of the spirit-the calmness of the morning. So a dedicated time – five minutes will do, to turn off the media and breathe. Ten breaths . In and out. Then a simple prayer. "Whatever you have in mind G_d is quite all right by me. Guide me through the day."

Now service. Help someone else. No matter how insignificant the task might seem, every day help someone else. Pick up a first responder's meal. Nursing homes are always a place of opportunity. Your church can guide you. And keep track. Give yourself a Kudo, write it down, do  something for someone else every day. Yeah, and spouses count.

I know your life is busy. 20 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes after lunch, help someone, somehow every day. Write it down. Make this a daily habit. You'll find, over time, a  sense of calmness will ensue. And this will make you more attractive. More able to attract. 

More about that next month.

Money Won't Bring You Happiness, But Happiness May Bring You Money.

Bill Wilson in his book Alcoholics Anonymous once wrote "...you must walk day by day in the path of spiritual progress. If you persist,  remarkable things will happen. When we look back, we realize that the things that came to us when we put ourselves in G-ds hands were better than anything we could've planned."

Let's dissect that sentence.

1."You must walk day by day in the path of spiritual progress."

I take this to mean that we must place spiritual service and spirituality at the base of our life. If we seek spirituality first then over time remarkable things will follow.

The second part of the sentence suggests that things will come to us. That is, we may receive more than we can achieve if we place the spirit first; as we seek to align our will with G-ds will we may find all that what we received is far greater than anything we could've achieved in a self will driven manner.

I believe the spiritual  pursuit creates emotional well-being, and emotional balance is happiness. Emotional balance is contentment. And contentment and joy are magnets for material well-being.

And just how you might ask will all of this be done?

More in October's blog.

I'll be Happy When…

Let's suppose, for a minute, that life is like a triangle. Most important on the bottom, least important on the top. Let's arrange the triangle like this: (bottom Up)

1. Material

2. Mental

3. Physical 

4. Emotional

5. Spiritual

Our happiness will arrive when the blocks are all complete.

So we attend to the material; I'll be happy when I get enough stuff.

I'll be happy when I finish my schooling,

I'll be happy when I drop all this weight.

Then we discover, (usually late in life), that having wealth, being thin, and all that schooling leaves us unfulfilled.

So now what?

Next blog

White Privilege. White, Red, and Blue that is…

In 1968 my guitar playing, flower power, banner waving life came to an abrupt halt.

Like a drill sergeant's bark "Platoon HALT!"  

I returned from Vietnam having been gravely wounded on the inside.

Best way to stop the demons of anxiety? 

I took to pills, booze, and toke. Lots of pills, booze, and toke.

My white red and blue privilege included this right: the right to fail completely. 

By 1974 I had broken sacred vows, and wrought havoc on an unsuspecting family. I had become a complete, no I mean complete, failure. 100% disability income checks my only source of income. 

I stood at the cross roads.The red white and blue cross roads that is: take permanent disability and a guaranteed stipend or take on the permanent risk of the musical entrepreneur and have a chance for stardom or complete failure.

I chose the latter. Rather than  lean on a known power that guaranteed mediocrity and discouraged entrepreneurial risk, I chose to lean on some unknown power that guaranteed nothing and allowed for complete failure.  

For the last 48 years I've taken  the privilege of failure, the privilege of study, the privilege of prayer and meditation, and yes the white red and blue privilege of unimaginable rewards. Rewards beyond my wildest dreams. God bless the Red White and Blue.

Calm at All Costs

I talked last blog about spiritual persistence. The discipline of creating spiritual harmony in the morning. At one with God. A moment spent seeking to attain gratitude and a glimpse of an inspiration that brings me awe. This spiritual space is a platform of perfection for me. The way I'd like to be. An emotional state of calm.

Then comes the challenge. The challenge of remaining calm at all costs. Never ruffled, never angry, avoiding negativity every step of the way. The discipline looks like this. First I must recognize that I have a negative thought, a bout with anger, perhaps a little jealousy. Then I must decide against it. And finally I have to decide to return to that moment of calm that I grasped early in the day.

Sometimes the exercise is merely keeping a smile on my face even when I'm ruffled. Other times the exercise might call for me finding a place to be alone for a second so I can meditate and calm down.
If I'm angry it might call for an apology.
But the beginning of a positive emotional outlook must begin with the determination to be positive.
And it's helpful to remind oneself of the payoff for positivity. The payoff is this: positivity makes one an attractive personality, gradually attracting good fortune over time. Really? Yeah really.

Persist and You Will Win

Persistence is that asset that best defines me. I am unique that way. But how do I practice persistence in each area of my life? 

Follow me:

The core of my life starts with the spirit. I start each day with a prayer. Before I am awake, I am with God. 

I write a small gratitude list. Every day.

I visit my master mind book and gaze at my vision boards. Every day.

I started this practice in 2014 and have never skipped a day since.

About a half hour shapes my day and forms a platform of calm that I may return to throughout the day. A platform of gratitude. A place to start, and a vision of the world I intend to attract over time.

Next blog let's visit the power of emotional calm. Persistent, determined, calmness.

Stone

What makes me who I am?  I am very good at making new friends no matter where I'm at in the world.  I really enjoy learning new things. I'm not afraid to get hurt or take chances on my bike.  I knew at a very young age what i wanted to do as a career for the rest of my life.  Riding my bike is my favorite thing to do, and I will make a career out of it.  I like buying other peoples clothes that they do not want. I like clothes from thrift stores.  I enjoy trying to find vintage clothes that have been donated.  One of the reasons i like shopping at thrift stores is that you will always find something new. I love to catch animals, and then letting them go.  I love to snorkle in the ocean to look at fish. One fun fact about me, there has never been a day where I haven't  found a penny on the ground.  I like to write my gratitude list every day. I would write my goals down at a very young age. I love to laugh it makes me feel good. I like to try new foods. My favorite food is jalapeno poppers. i love watching movies. since I live really close to my cousins i get to hang out with them all the time. I love dogs and when i get older I'm going to get a pitbull a bassethound and a chiwini.   El Fin.  

Savannah

INTRO

- Savannah Kepler/ 15 / Born and raised in Austin,Texas

- Topic 1 Food 

- Topic 2 Music (how it makes me feel)

- Topic 3 My thoughts on clothes

- Conclusion  

Food

As I’ve gotten older I have noticed that I am more eager and open to trying out more foods especially healthy foods. And growing up with parents that live a healthy lifestyle, they have always told me that “Food is fuel” and “It all goes to the same place”

Music

Probably one of my favorite things to do is listen to music. 

When I am Sad/ Happy/ Mad/ Relaxed/ Sleeping/ Working-out/

Running/ Sitting/ Working/ Studying, basically anywhere, anytime. And I love when I find a new song to obsess over. (Great feeling BTW)  It really helps to Zone-out. 

And helps me control or release emotions.

Clothes

My style but with every single style I always feel Comfortable And Confident.

In what I have on. I have also come to the conclusion that close have no gender. (Same with colors) And I recently bought some swim trunks, (I found at Goodwill) 

I was brought to my attention that if you are a woman and you wear men’s clothes people will assume or label you as lesbian or dike. but when I looked at the clothes I bought all I said was pieces of fabric. And when I put them on I felt Comfortable and Confident and that’s all that mattered to me. 

Conclusion

So far life has been Good/ Crazy/ Relaxing/ Chaotic/ Frustrating, Over all a lot.  But am so grateful to be alive.

And that is a little bit about me.

-Savannah Kepler