We have all heard the advice that "accepting" whatever situation you are in will lead to a positive result. This is basically the same  as "say yes to it" or "stop resisting it."

My reaction to hearing this sort of generalized self-help guidance is: whatever.

It's good advice, but very glib. When you are actually IN an undesirable situation, you don't want to hear anyone say "just accept it." At least I don't! I'm looking for practical solutions and I want them NOW.

My emotional reaction is usually something like this: "excuse me, but the situation is NOT acceptable! If I accept a bad situation I am just rolling over and giving up. How can you get a positive outcome by accepting something negative? It doesn't make sense!"

Well, it turns out that accepting the situation IS the key to a positive outcome. But you have to do it a certain way.

I am going to share two examples from real life to illustrate this idea, from Amanda Goldston, my co-host on the Interview With Spirit show. Amanda's examples are compelling because they are serious, real-life situations that were solved, almost magically, by the fundamental idea of acceptance.

Amanda is involved in a serious dispute with a mortgage company that is trying to take away her home. She has been battling this situation for over two years now.

After writing the mortgage company for 2 years, sending them reams of data about their payment history, going to court, and basically bitching up a storm and getting really angry at the system for its perceived injustices, she and her husband sat down and decided to look at the situation without prejudice, because they were in real danger of losing their house and having to move in with relatives. She and her husband Greg learned acceptance from this ongoing situation, and in court they got a favorable ruling. Acceptance also helped her her deal with her utilities company. It was their contention that they owed the company no money other  than the normal monthly payments. The utilties company asserted that the homeowners owed several hundred pounds in late fees and other charges.

Amanda and Greg went through all of the documents and looked at the entire history of their dealings with the utilities company. After a totally honest and direct look at the facts – something that was difficult to do because of the emotions surrounding the events – Amanda and Greg concluded that yes, maybe they really might owe the company some money.

Then something interesting happened. A short while after their sit-down, Amanda found herself at the  computer, writing a letter to the company. She told me that she hardly knew what she was typing; it was as if someone else was dictating and she was just hitting the keyboard. Eight pages later, she had finished. She then enclosed a bill for 500 pounds,  along with the letter, to the company for "wasting our time." The company immediately sent a form letter back, once again demanding payment of fees and charges, so Amanda re-sent the letter with another $500 pound "wasting my time" invoice. The invoice was a little joke from her to the utilities company.

Amazingly, after a delay of several weeks, the utilities company sent her a letter back with a "valued customer appreciation" check, and ended the letter by saying that the matter was now concluded. No fees owed!

The check wasn't for 500 pounds. A lot less, but Amanda was amazed, because the situation had resolved itself in their favor with almost no effort!

Amanda explained it to me by saying that they had done two things:

1) Fully and completely looked at the situation with hundreds of pounds involved --  without prejudice, rancor, or resistance. They just laid it all out and observed every aspect of it.

2) They accepted the situation for what it was, and felt good about whatever might happen.

 

After that Amanda was inspired to write the letter that resolved the confrontation.

Amanda was first inspired by an acceptance meditation. She was able to release a little of her resistance and anger toward the utilties company before the sit-down with Greg, which then allowed her to take a detailed look at all of the documentation relating to it. Very often when you are stuck in something uncomfortable, looking at it is the very last thing you want to do. It's too difficult!

The laws of the universe respond when you actually change your vibration. If you don't really change, you keep getting the same old stuff, with a little different twist each time, but nothing gets resolved. That's what had happened for two years as Amanda went round and round with the mortgage company. The dominant vibration in Amanda was one of anger, which led to confrontation.

Accepting the situation for exactly what it was allowed Amanda to actually change her vibe. She told me the key moment was when she and Greg acknowledged that they might in fact actually owe the company some money. Both she and Greg were able to step back, out of their limited viewpoint, and actually see the situation from the company's side as well. That led to an acceptance which then blew out all of their resistance and allowed them to accelerate up the emotional/vibrational scale. Then she felt that action was appropriate, and she acted.  Amanda was very insistent on acting, rather than just meditating. "It's really important to get into action, not just sit around and hope something will happen," she said. "I wanted to let the universe take care of it, because we didn't know what to do, but when I felt inspired to write that letter and send it off, I did."

"Changing your vibration" is the sort of thing Esther Hicks talks about all the time in her lectures, but it goes over the head of a lot of people. When people first hear about the Law of Attraction, they want to say an affirmation or do a visualization and have everything immediately resolve. But that's not how it works! To change your vibe you have to first accept where you are before you can make any progress. Amanda found that out with truly amazing results.

If you want to hear the interview with Amanda, you can go to the Interview With Spirit show and listen to show for August 18, 2010. Here's the link: https://www.blogtalkradio.com/interviewwithspirit

Confronting something for what it is requires integrity. Integrity is wholeness, which is precisely what "looking at the unwanted situation for what it really is" means! You are looking at the WHOLE situation, not just holding your viewpoint and insisting upon it. When Amanda was able to step out of the situation to see BOTH sides (even the perspective of the evil mortgage company), she was able to honestly look at it, and then accept it.

I once heard a statement from Carolyn Myss, a medical intuitive, to the effect that she didn't really run her life; she simply followed the hunches and inspiration from her Higher Self. I understand what that means now, and so does Amanda. She told me that a "higher" power wrote the letter for her. Apparently, fully accepting the situation with the mortgage company lowered all resistance and she was able to hear her Higher Self and act.

 

The second situation involved Amanda's dog, who developed a nasty tumor. To remove it would cost 200 pounds (about $350), and she didn't have the money. She wanted to go to the bank, but felt hopeless because her financial situation was not good, and banks are being very selective about who they lend to these days.

But the tumor kept getting bigger and bigger, and she realized she HAD to do something. So she decided, "what the hell, what's the worst thing that can happen? They'll say no and I won't be any worse off." Again, events forced her to the wall and she sucked it up and went to the bank. To her surprise, the loan officer smiled and said, "Sure, you can have the money."

Well, Amanda went home feeling pretty good about the situation, and herself, even though there would now be an extra bill. Two in a row! she thought. This acceptance thing seemed to be working pretty well!

Then an amazing thing happened. That day, the dog kept scratching the tumor and it opened up. Amanda opened the door to let the dog outside, and it bumped up against the door frame. A short time later Amanda looked out and saw the dog licking the area where the tumor had been. It was gone! All that was left was a tiny red spot.

Amanda took the dog back to the vet, who said that it was very unusual for such growths to cleanly fall off. The vet gave her some topical crème to put on the dog's skin and charged her 30 pounds for the visit.

So the universe came up with an even better solution, for now she didn't have to go to the bank!

These two events are a great example of the power of acceptance, because they are not trivial. In fact, both of them were quite serious. Simply confronting the situation and accepting it led to two magical solutions, one in which they received money and a resolution to the housing problem, and another in which a small amount of money needed to be paid.

I think that's pretty impressive. Well done Amanda!

 

 

 

This month we look at banking and finance, the underpinnings for any political system, and introduce a fascinating book that illustrates one man's personal awakening about the United States' role in the global economy.

 

1) Renaissance 2.0

From the Council on Spiritual, Psychological, and Economic Renewal. In this 6 part video course, discover how the banking system has evolved globally, and taken politics along with it, and what we can do to "brighten the future."
http://csper.org/renaissance-20.html

 

2) Andrew Gause analyzes the "Financial Reform" bill

Ever wonder what was in that gigantic financial reorganization bill Congress passed recently? It is over 2,300 pages! I can guarantee that no one in Congress has read the entire bill, yet it was voted on and passed anyway.

Well, noted currency historian Andrew Gause HAS read all 2,300+ pages of the bill, and he discusses it in this radio interview with an independent Austin, Texas radio station. This is important information for all Americans.

Part 1 of 9 ten minute You Tube videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owzPAEaZ0jw&feature=related

 

3) Confessions of an Economic Hit-Man  by John Perkins

Here is a personal story of what we have been discussing in 1) and 2).

Mr. Perkins wrote his book in 2004 after a career in an international consulting firm, covertly working for the National Security Agency. This memoir is well written, informative, and eye-opening.

Now an international best-seller, Perkins says about his book: "It is accomplishing an important objective in inspiring people to think and talk and to know that we can change the world."
http://www.economichitman.com/

 

 

Is the Love of Money the Root of All Evil?

My friend Angelo Campione has walked the walk. After several years as a successful, hard-driving accountant in the corporate world, Angelo's brother suddenly died in his 30s, leaving him wondering what he was doing in life. Angelo had a spiritual awakening and turned his life around. I really liked his article about money and I'm presenting it to you as a bonus in the newsletter this month.

Is the Love of Money the Root of all Evil?
--- By Angelo Campione

In society, money seems to be considered a necessary "evil" and religions have often used the phrase that "the love of money is the root of all evil". But why would something inanimate like money be the root of all evil?

It's got to do with how we as people, transfer our power to this medium of exchange. We're born with no real understanding of the abundant nature we are and so from the moment we arrive, we gather data to work out how we fit in with this world.

At some point, we work out that having money enables us to experience bigger and better things. And so the innate desire for expansion, desires more money to have that freedom to experience whatever is in the heart to experience.

But then we also gain an understanding that people have done bad things at times to get more money and so we grow up with this conflicted feeling within us.

On the one hand we want more money, but on the other, we may either need to take advantage of others in some way or be seen as a person with lower morals to get it.

This line of thinking is what happens unconsciously from a young age that then shapes the way we feel about money and those that have money as we become adults. But what's the truth?

1. Money is neutral, it's neither good or bad

2. People get lost In thinking that money will give them something more than it's actually designed for (like happiness for example)

3. People then place a higher value on money than the relationships with other people

4. The people close to the ones that are caught up in the money trap then think that money is the issue and that money is what's causing that person to behave in an evil or uncivil way

5. It's the thinking and interpretation of money that has led the person to take actions that may be less than compassionate towards other people.

In summary, the purpose of money is to be a mechanism where we can exchange one thing of value for another, in an easy to use form, it's not to make us happy or otherwise. The accumulation of money can be done in honorable ways or dishonorable ways, it all depends on your beliefs around it.

And finally, rather than the love of money being the root of all evil, I would say that to be ruled by money, or anything else for that matter, is the root of all pain. It's only when you realize your true nature and that you can have whatever is in your heart to experience in a way where not only you benefit, but everyone involved benefits, can you find the freedom to live a life that is truly joyous.

For a greater understanding of this see Angelo's Money Guide

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Angelo Campione is a writer and publisher of Mindfulness related articles. He has real life experience in dealing with emotional pain and now walks the path that has him live a life of Purpose, Joy and Freedom. He is passionate about helping to raise consciousness and runs an online Mindfulness Series Free of charge as well as a blog site at Student is Ready