Be transformed by the renewing of your mind!

January 3, 2018

Romans 12:2 "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind..."

What a powerful piece of scripture.  I am constantly trying to conform to the world, how about you?  Its not a bad thing, but often times it pulls me off my own mark, my own wants, wishes, desires and intentions.  Just yesterday a colleague brought back a coffee they got for free from a coffee shop around the corner.  Usually I take cream in my coffee and he was gracious enough to put a little in and offer it to me.  I accepted and then felt I "had" to drink it.  The only thing is on the #whole30 there is no dairy of any kind welcomed into the eating plan.  I still took two sips out of "guilt" I was pushing on myself, then I said to myself, "wait a minute!  Darrell you said you were doing the #whole30 which means no dairy, not even a splash in your coffee.  If you want to experience the full benefit of this program then you need to stay with the program, regardless of what others say, do or offer."

My mind was transformed in that moment, by not conforming to the world.  Nothing bad was happening, nothing was even right or wrong, but I was leaving my intentions and goals to the way side...I do that way too often.

I am enough, to stick to my #whole30 intentions.  I appreciate who I am and the conviction I have.  It IS enough!

We are 3 days into the New Year.  How easy it is to "fall off" or away from our New Year intentions, but all that is required is to get right back on track!

I encourage you to stay the course, and keep returning to it, regardless of what the world around you does or says!

Love, Light & Laughter,

Rev. D

Gratitude, making peace, getting present and welcoming vision

January 2, 2018

I am enough.  I appreciate who I am.

Today was my first day back to work and to “regular life” time after a week off.  Today is a day of gratitude.  Still basking in the transition of the year past and all that awaits, I am grateful, grateful for all of it the good, bad, the ugly, the know the unknown and uncertain.  I was reminded of one of my personal favorite and most inspirational quotes on gratitude written by Melody Beattie:

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.  It turns what we have into enough, and more.  It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.  Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

Looking on the last year, I let gratitude release any shame, blame or self doubt and realize all that I learned from life challenges.  Today I let gratitude for simply being present to the now moment bring peace to the choice and possibility available to me…now.  I let gratitude release and sooth any doubts, worries or concerns of tomorrow as to how things will come to pass and relish in the vision of possibility that awaits.

Until tomorrow.

Love, Light & Laughter,

Darrell

I am enough. I appreciate who I am.

January 1, 2018

My intention for this year is Possibility.  I have come into the awareness the last few months of 2017 how much I don't live in the land of possibility.  I am not so much a pessimist with no faith in life, but I have come to see how much of my internal dialogue for and about myself comes from a place of not thinking I am enough.  You may or may not resonate with that internal chatter, but let me tell you living and choosing from an internal belief of not being enough is painful.  I realize how many decisions I have made from that place and it just makes me a bit sad.  I am someone who coaches others on their spiritual path and here I still have this huge, sometimes looming personality challenge of "not enough-ness".  But this challenge isn't necessarily something that ends, its just part of my journey and if I relate to it consciously it can be a catalyst for amazing growth and opportunity.  That is what I declare on this first day of 2018!

This year, enough is enough....no really enough IS enough, it has to be.  Whatever is here for me, you, all of us, is all that can be in this moment and it has to be enough.  If I continue to work, eat, choose and love et cetera from now not being enough then I am not being present and that is all I want to be....present.  In the present moment IS where possibility lives and to stay in the present moment...it has to be enough...I have to be enough.

My  affirmation/mantra personal boot strap puller-upper phrase this year is "I am enough.  I appreciate who I am."

The first decision of this year from this place is re-engaging my daily meditation & prayer practice along side doing the Whole30.  If you haven't heard of the Whole30 read this.  It is basically an elimination diet that can reset or reboot your system, eating habits and health.  What better time to do that than at the beginning of the year.  My wife Dr. Cari Jacobson and I are starting this journey together tomorrow and will be recording and sharing our journey along the way.

I am enough to try something completely new to better my health. 

You are enough to do whatever you need to do this year to have the life you want.

What will it be for you?  Whatever it is, lets support one another.  I am using this blog as accountability support, but hope it is inspiring to you as well.

Happy New Year!

Love, Light & Laughter,

Rev. D

Returning the thank you

September 9 Affirmation - My heart is filled with gratitude, knowing there is always more coming my way.

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more." ~Melody Beattie

"Life has enough of everything to spare." ~Ernest Holmes

Rev. Norm wrote "The fact is, it doesn't make any difference to God whether you give thanks or not, but it makes a lot of difference to you...gratitude is not for God. Giving thanks is an important state of your consciousness that keeps you in an awareness of oneness with the divine flow. The grateful heart actually opens the way to the flow and becomes an attractive force to draw even greater things to itself."

This morning I sat for 10 minutes in the quiet, and simply started scrolling through my mind of all the things I am grateful for. I found myself land on the "easy" gratitudes, my parents, my fiancée, the food in my fridge, my job, my co-workers, those I manage and support with my work, friends, teachers, leaders et cetera...and then I found myself turning to the areas, people and organizations that I find personally challenging...I didn't necessarily know why or what I was grateful for initially, but I just kept going. "I am grateful for XXX, I am grateful for YYY" and things softened inside me. I didn't hold them so tightly, I didn't hold myself so tightly. I actually in that loosening and space received some guidance from within on some words I could share to foster connection again with a colleague where there has been some challenge. Gratitude as Melody Beattie wrote, unlocks the fullness of life. Even in the midst of an area of challenge for me, in the process of saying thank you and I am grateful, something opened up.

Let us follow the words of Meister Eckhart (a medieval monk) today. "If the only prayer you say in your entire life (today) is thank you, it will be enough."

Let us thank ALL of life today and open ourselves to a life that thrives!

July 8th Soul Gym Wednesday Evening Meditation Call - Video

Joel Goldsmith "As long as we are clinging to a God who can give us anything--even good--we have not arrived at an understanding of the true nature of God. God has nothing to give us. Everything that God is, we already are; all that God has, is already ours....We must understand the nature of God as fulfillment. That precludes the possibility of thinking of God as that from which we are going to get something. God is fulfillment."

Tonight's meditation was all about remember who we are through affirmations.

https://youtu.be/oENgiYJ_hJk

Affirmations:

I am a living vessel for the good of the universe.

I am a champion for love, peace, wholeness an joy.

Within me now is all the possibility of life.

Enjoy! ~Darrell

Cleaning the violence within ourselves. Thoughts post Charleston

Tonight I facilitated the weekly meditation call I  usually do and brought into the mix the Charleston, SC shootings that took place just a week ago.  I was inspired by some words shared with me of Robert F. Kennedy of a speech he gave shortly after the killing of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
What stuck with me was the idea of cleaning ourselves of violence.  While we cannot stop all the violence in the world, we can begin by become of how we are violent and the violence we engage with on a daily basis that we say is "okay" (think some of your favorite tv shows or movies).  Any who here are the words of Robert Kennedy and a video and audio recording of tonight's meditation call. ~ Lots of love, Darrell

And here is the audio recording if you wish an mp3 https://youtu.be/gn7fHxk28wI

Journeying Within, Message from May 17th @ the Bodhi Spiritual Center

It is my pleasure to share the talk I was honored to give this past Sunday at the Bodhi Spiritual Center
https://soundcloud.com/bodhichicago/may-17-2015-journeying-within-by-rev-darrell-jones