​Morning Thoughts: I wrote this article for an Inspirational Magazine some years ago. But it still is true for me today…
 
Inspiration, what does it mean to me?
 
Every day, in this earthly life, there are ups and downs, deep emotional valleys and steep mountains to overcome. We have not yet learned to travel the straight and narrow road of Understanding, the Allness of Good. We still coast and veer off the path we travel. A sudden change of attitude or a jump back into a dark habitual mood always deters us from moving toward the light. How much easier does it seem to reach back to the old and outgrown thought habits of the past?
 
But it is this light, or moment of ‘seeing with the mental eye’, that inspires me to keep moving forward and to get back on the road to a better state of mind, hopefulness, eternal bliss - again and again. This glimpse of the Truth that all is good, and all is mental, and that we are part of this Universal goodness with its wonderful effects, is what keeps me going. I instinctively know the Truth when I keep my mind open to all possibilities.
 
Inspiration comes in many forms. A wonderful reminder of a past experience, a certain smell reminding us of a pleasant encounter, the sound of a song that triggers loving feelings, looking at nature and its wondrous bounty, or the birth of a baby are just a few examples of new hope and a fresh want for living. A new desire for a better tomorrow is born every second and readily available to us.
 
Indeed, desire is the starting point of all achievement, but most of all it is the starting point of imagination and the active spark or beginning of all creation. Desire is a spark in our consciousness pressing for expression. Life is unfolding itself. Life always presses for manifestation and progress. It is an ever-changing ongoing process. Like water, life flows.
 
With this in mind I make sure that my motivation is pure and comes from within the chambers of my loving heart. The Universe with its vast ocean of pure possibilities is ready and willing to provide, and I draw from this unlimited Universal gift.
 
Knowing that God is close and ever-present is all the daily inspiration I need to keep moving forward. Seeing the sunrise in the early morning hours reminds me that I have another chance to change my course; and I will travel happily toward my ultimate goal, which is perfect Understanding of the Allness of Good.

We see a lot of ego all over the world these days. The aggrandizement of an individual’s own perception of self. Not the true self, but the imaginary reflection of an insecure, puffed up, boasting mind.

From the day we are born we are cloaked in this make-belief, egotistical perception of what’s important. Big ego, it seems, is necessary to achieve dreams and worldly success. But is it?

According to Buddhism, the ego is the erroneous conception of the ‘self’ as an entity that exists by itself.

Ego measures the success and failure of our lives. Ego feeds our greed, it tells us we must be better, richer, more powerful – it is an endless stream of subconscious whisper, always ending in dissatisfaction and disappointment.

These last many years, and still now, I think of myself as a humble person. Many years ago, I proudly announced that I left my ego behind when I departed my entertainment job in Hollywood, but every so often a little glitch of my ego-self still appears. A small sting when not being recognized when I feel I deserve it, a slight ouch when I’m spoken to in a manner that I find condescending. Just small examples, but what’s left of my ego rears its ugly head on occasions, showing me that more work needs to be done.

In contrast, humility, is a word so very misunderstood. Humility is not weakness, it is strength. Real strength.
I’ve researched and learned that Humility translates into “grounded and from the earth”. What a wonderful character trait. We must be humble in our dealings with the Universe, grounded in understanding, and we must embrace the earth with love.

At this stage in my life, I’m mostly detached from things. Yes, I like my nice house, my car, the ability to purchase what I want, but I could lose it all and recreate without emotional attachment. I’ve detached from the want of having more and more, there is no more need for more, no feeling of lack. It is peaceful.

What is really important in this life, at least in my view? We must focus on our spiritual unfoldment and our all-inclusive attitude. We are vessels of this God-Consciousness, here to fulfill a purpose. We are pieces of the cosmic puzzle. Our true purpose of upward progress, when achieved, will free us from this self-inflicted, karmic bondage of the ego and suffering.

I remind myself often: life is good - that's the bottom line. If I doubt this Truth at any time, I must remember that it is up to me to bring this Goodness into existence.

It’s time to heal the wounds of grievance and ego perception. It’s time to grow spiritually. It’s time to acknowledge the one-ness of all people, not divisiveness and hatred.  It’s time to Love.
​ULRIKE

This morning I was contemplating about how we each solve our individual personal problems. We all have our challenges may they be health related or relationship issues, money troubles or worries about the job, some big some small, but all are looming right in front of us.

When confronted with an unpleasant, unkind, or even horrible, painful experience, do we acknowledge it truthfully, reason it out, handle the issue, or do we just hide whatever it is under the rug?

Is it healthy to ignore the signs and hope that it all will work out at the end? Or is it better to confront the encounter once and for all with faith and courage?

Many times, what we see in this world, especially in our immediate surroundings, is not to our liking. We would do things differently, we say, but are our observations and opinions the correct ones?
We can observe and criticize and complain - or we can look at it and do something about it. A problem is only a challenge waiting to be solved.

But then, of course, there are situation that we cannot do anything about, or so it seems. What then?
I concluded that I must listen to myself carefully. How is my inner chatter? Is it hopeful and confident, filled with faith and cheerful expectations? Or is it tending toward the darkness of my imagination?

I decided that I must choose the words I speak and think wisely. Thinking is causative, and my thoughts and feelings will create my reality, good or bad.

Any situation can be handled if I am willing to take the time and carefully apply right and positive thought. In a matter of fact, it takes a lot of energy to stay negative. So why not turn it around and transform each challenge into an opportunity to grow and evolve? Negative events can turn into positive events when we see them as learning tools.
I must keep the faith, faith in the Allness of Good, faith that all will work out perfectly and I must forgive not only the ones I think have hurt me, but I must forgive myself. My little, brittle ego so easily hurt; forgive myself for the mistakes I’ve made over the years and love myself for the daily effort to correct them.

When we forgive (for+give), give from ourselves - and forget (for+get), we will get back our peace of mind. Only then will we return to our natural state, called harmony. Forgiveness is the generosity of the heart. Love is the answer.
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And so, the journey continues: Being good, acting good, doing good, and being a factor in this Universal awareness that is growing and blossoming.

I will start with my own little world and this active loving goodness will spread throughout the Universe little by little. It will prove to me that the Allness of Good (God) exists, now and forever and has always been present. I just need to open my heart and my eyes – and act on it.

I was thinking this morning about ‘lifting’ my perception of self. How do I truly see myself? I find that when we’re genuinely honest with oneself we must admit that we constantly put ourselves down.

‘I’m not smart enough to manage this new technology’, I’m not good enough or I’m not capable to learn a new thing, but mostly in this stage of our lives: ‘I’m too old for this or that’ or ‘you know what happens when you get older’… always something that looks down on our self and isn’t in conformity with the Truth.

Sadly, we believe it and thinking is causative. What we are convinced of will become reality. At least this earthly reality, this deception, this trickery we are born into.

Yes! It seems difficult to awaken from this power of illusion, or cosmic hypnosis, that our earthly life presents to us. It seems so real, so tangible. And so, every time we accept that this movie of life is our true life, with all our pains, sorrows, and miseries, we let God down. We are part of this Almighty Power and our work must consist of finding the Truth, God’s Truth.

The fact is, we are created perfect and good, in his image and likeness, and it is our duty to live up to this standard. It is not always easy, but we can make a concerted effort to live our lives to the best of our ability. To enjoy, love and spread goodness to all. 

In the end, our only responsibility is to ourselves and our spiritual unfoldment. When this sense of conscientiousness and reliability to our own spirit is in balance, we will naturally do the right thing for others, because once we understand life to be “one”, we will spread nothing but goodness and love.

The direction of our Consciousness must always be upward, intentionally seeking a better understanding of Truth. Therefore, I must not coast and be mentally lazy or I will reap the unpleasant rewards of staying in the same daily rut and experiencing the same pains and discomforts. The only way out is to clear my mind of this mental clutter and lift my thoughts to where they belong. What about you? 
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Lately anxiety has been my constant companion. I never knew this debilitating sense of fear, this tightening of the chest, the ringing in the ears and the uncontrollable nervousness expressing itself in shaky hands and a racing heart.

I’ve heard many people talking about their anxieties, but I felt I was a reasonable being, not fearful, very focused and balanced, nothing could shake me up that bad - so I thought. Life has its own way of testing us.

We are living through times of heighten fears with Covid-19 starring into our faces. The violent pictures of people fighting and killing each other over their ideology, instead of communicating and making peace. Not to mention the daily personal challenges with family, children, and spouses. The inevitable health encounters as we age, always relating and being heavily influenced by our own mental state.

I’m asking myself, when was the last time that I felt perfectly calm and at peace? Nothing was troubling to me, nothing bothered my conscience, no worries creeping up in the midst of the night, no hesitation about a project I worked on, a task to be finished. Just blissful content.

And now, in this less than calm state of mind I observe this hectic world of ours and I must ask myself, what would make me less frantic and what would lessen my anxieties? I write in my diary, the good and the bad. The reasonable and the unreasonable. Right or wrong. I think, I ponder, there must be an answer to all of this.

I question myself: I have great faith in the Allness of Good. So what makes me think that there could be anything but the good? Why go to negative expectations instead of having faith in the positive?

Again, I ask: Why do I talk about my problems rather than what’s working well? Does saying it out loud help me to destress? Do I need confirmation that I’m doing the right thing? What does hearing myself speak out loud do to my thought habits? Does it intensify the feeling of being right? Or am I reaching out for help?

I know full well that focusing on the negative is an addictive and destructive habit. Instead, I must talk about what is good in my life, the joys, and upsides rather than the daily frustrations. No more banging my head on the wall. No more feeling the ‘end is near’, rather looking at the light and knowing that ‘a new beginning is awaiting’ with God’s grace.

I cannot fix the outside, my perception of what I see; it’s my inside, my innermost thoughts and feelings, that need attention. I cannot fix the ‘other’, not even a spouse or a child. The law of Individuality is always at work. Intelligence works its perfect way, it is for me to become aware of this fact and fully understand it.
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Practice the Art of Calmness. Letting go of worries and fears - easier said than done, you say? Yes, I know…but only practice makes perfect. We have thought wrongly and negatively for so long, now we’ll have to change our long-held thought habits and turn them into a ray of light. We can do it, I know I’ll surely do the best I can! 

Money, money, money—have you ever thought about what money represents in the mental realm? It is a convenient ‘means of exchange’. Nothing more, nothing less.

Our abundance and wealth do not depend on money; it depends on our understanding of Truth and the meaning of both, a firm grasp of what true Abundance and Wealth Consciousness denotes.
 
The difference between Abundance and Wealth Consciousness?

Abundance is having what we need, a comfortable home and enough money to pay the bills, a decent job, and a loving family. Wealth Consciousness, however, provides above and beyond the needs. It is a set state of mind—not a wish to be provided for, but a knowing, a demand to the Universe that we get what we are entitled to. It is the knowledge that we are Wealth itself and therefore deserve all the wealth there is. However, it depends on how much we can imagine and believe to be true.

Let us start with getting the sense of being abundantly provided for. Step by step. We must not forget, appreciation is the starting point of abundance, which includes money.

We must start being grateful for what we have now, and deeply feel this sense of thankfulness. This appreciation is the foundation to a more abundant life. When we start seeing that this sense of ‘having’ is mental not material, we will experience abundance flowing into our lives more easily.

How can we change our mind-set from negative expectation to the anticipation of positive things to come?
The answer is: by continues repetition of good, right, abundant, and loving thoughts – the expectancy that everything is alright. Therefore, again, we must stop the negative notions of lack and financial stress at the door of our Consciousness and replace them with positive affirmations as described above.
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Our minds are sponges that absorb all impressions, good or bad, so we must stay on the right side no matter how long it might take. We will be better off for it.

In a world that seems in so much turmoil and pain, let us not forget to give thanks. Thanks for the blessings we have received and for the blessings that are coming our way today and every day.

Saying ‘thank you’ to the Universe, God, with sincere appreciation puts us instantly into a positive frame of mind. Gratitude will catapult us to a higher frequency and will trigger loving thoughts naturally.

What we see right now, are mere appearances of manmade wrongs, pain and despair, and even though we see these erroneous effects, we must keep the faith in the Allness of Good – yes, we must have faith.

We are made of Universal substance, which is Wisdom, Goodness, and Intelligence. Remember when you are down that our true nature is mental in origin, and each of us is inherently perfect and good. Let’s live by example.

Choices, choices, choices. We constantly make choices. Most every thought requires a choice: “What am I going to eat? Do I want to return this phone call? Should I talk to a doctor?” – You get my drift. Day to day choices, not just the larger, important ones – are choices, nevertheless.

But many times we say, ‘I don’t know what to do or say, what choice to make.’ But even doing nothing, or not acting on something we should be doing, is a choice.

Feeling good is a choice. Being miserable is a choice. Frustration is also a choice, even though it feels more like an accumulation of situations that trigger frustration. In the end the choices we make during this specific process result in frustration, which easily turns into anger if we don’t deal with the circumstances immediately.

Therefore, we must not hold the disturbance in our hearts and minds, we must not let it fester. We must address the cause and see what needs correction in our attitude and habitual demeanor. A quick outburst of annoyance, a slight sense of disappointment, or easily irritated thoughts become a habit; and habitual thoughts becomes our reality.
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Many times, we fool ourselves by thinking that we can get away with lesser thoughts, and then we act surprised when unpleasant action follows. “Poor me,” we say, wondering why and where we’ve gone astray. Remember, negative thoughts are like weeds. They spread quickly if we do not tend to them. We must remove all weeds in our minds, especially fear, doubt, and anger. 

We can safely say that our life experience adheres to laws. Not worldly, manmade laws, but Universal Laws. These Universal Laws govern the invisible, the mental realm, and our individual Consciousness is an ever-expanding awareness of the already existing Truth, knowingly or not.

Therefore, it is our responsibility to stay open-minded and allow this process to take its genuine course, instead of fighting against the natural flow of unfoldment and stubbornly holding on the believes and myths of this physical world.

One of the laws, the ‘Law of Individuality’ is a Universal Law that is broken by all of us most of the time. It states that we are individuals and need to be able to express ourselves individually. It demands that each of us lives our lives to the best of our abilities. We are responsible for our good and bad experiences befalling us every day of our lives. A tough one to swallow at times.

No one should demand, control, or plan for us. And in turn, we should not demand, control, or attempt to plan for others. No one should judge our actions, not even our loved ones. And in turn, we should never judge the actions of others, and yes, not even the actions of our loved ones. We are not the judge and the jury. We can only observe ourselves and live accordingly. Live and let live.

When we work on ourselves, it is not about changing who we are: it is about bringing the best out of us. The truth is, we are already good by nature; we just must acknowledge this fact, trust our instincts, be the best we can be, and make better life choices as we travel through this process.

It is our Soul that does the living not our body. The body is the visible expression of our Soul, only a reflection of our thoughts and feelings. Once we understand this enormous fact, we must be grateful for the body we have and treat it with respect and kindness. But our focus should always be on the development of our understanding of Truth, the substance of our Soul, not the physical body.
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Let’s listen to ourselves carefully and choose the words we think and speak wisely. Always remember, thinking is causative, and our thoughts will create our reality. It’s a daily work-out and it will help to associate with joyful minds who share our vision.