Honestly, with the current situation of Covid-19 and the effects it has on the so-called older population, I’ve been thinking more often about ‘aging’ and how our mental attitude affects ‘getting old quickly’ or on the other hand helps us to keep a young spirit and a keen, alert mind as we go through this process of maturing.

One thing we all have in common: We are in this together. We are born into a so-called material world with its expression of birth – youth – adulthood, and then, old age. There is seemingly no way out.

What is aging?

We have been told and believe it is the deterioration of the body. At a certain stage in life our physical form will be falling into pieces and we assume that our organs can only work for so long.

However, in the metaphysical sense, the experience of aging only reflects our wrong sense of the ‘passing of time’. How can we slow this process down?

Instead of fearing the inevitable, we need to focus on mature, yet youthful, thinking - now. We must replace the ‘old’ outgrown thoughts with fresh, vivacious, and inspired ones. We must be interested in Life itself. It has been proven by science that the bodily organs renew themselves automatically on a regular basis. I’ve done some research on this subject and it’s quite fascinating, if you’re interested look it up.

Remember, healthy thoughts are natural, unhealthy and sick thoughts are unnatural. The good news is, we are wiser and more capable now than we were in our younger years. We are useful, strong, and in our prime. We are vital members of our communities. Even in our older years we can be of great value if we only use our given talents to enrich someone else’s life and enjoy everything that comes our way daily.

Living in the now, thinking in the now, and knowing that we are looking at a fulfilled and mature state of mind (rather than an old person) when looking at ourselves is the key. We must feel this truth deep down in our hearts, so we can manifest a healthy and rich life. Let us remember how blessed we are!
WIth Love, ULRIKE
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​“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” This adage has been credited to Mahatma Gandhi, however while the meaning of this saying appears to align with Gandhi’s philosophy, it has not been proven that it originated from him. Nevertheless, Gandhi, who was well known in India and the world by many people, believed in peaceful change. He promoted that it was more important to do the mental and physical work and not simply wishing or visualizing the world to change by itself or through some magical power.

Metaphysically speaking, it is the nature of each and every Soul to move forward and upward and therefore our experiences will sometimes reflect greater challenges, obstacles, and tests to keep us in upward motion. Not all experiences are positive as you well know. We might encounter unpleasantness, suffering and pain if we are stagnant, but we will be shoved forward through those distressing challenges. It might not look like it at the time, but we can be sure the spiritual Law of Progress works for all of us.

If we are active and grow through our own doing, learning our lessons along the way, the challenges will lessen and we will live a calmer, happier, more peaceful life. By doing so, we are naturally flowing and working with the Universal current; we are not fighting against ourselves and blocking goodness from entering our being.
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We must not sit idle and expect things to change by themselves or expect others to do the work. Unless we start right now by changing our part of the world, it will continue to appear the same to us. Yes, we must be the change we want our mental mirror reflecting back to us. All it takes is the courage for change!

With Love, ULRIKE

​Out of curiosity I looked up the word ‘harmony’ in the dictionary, researched Wikipedia, and on-line blogs, to see if other people wrote articles about ’harmony’. The only mention I could find was this: Webster-Merriam describes the word harmony as ‘internal calm: tranquility’, which unfortunately was the only description that can be used to explain the mental sense of the word ‘harmony’. All other examples were related to music or art.

Sad but true, ‘harmony’ – a harmonious mental state of being - isn’t discussed very much in our society, even though it is identical to ‘happiness’, which all mankind strive for. In my years of metaphysical studies, I was taught that ‘Harmony is the principle underlying all life’.

Think about this statement. ‘Harmony is the principle underlying all life’.

The Universe is always working perfectly and harmoniously. The planets are moving flawlessly, the plant life grows and flourishes without our help, babies are born every second, animals thrive without our interference and life in general keeps flowing per the great plan of Universal Consciousness. When left alone and undisturbed, life lives and progresses picture-perfectly.

Harmonious thoughts include ease, calm, comfort, in sync with nature, in tune with love, pleasant visions, inspiration, relaxed, and a healthy outlook in life to name a few. Harmony does not allow any disturbance whatsoever. It is ‘internal calm’, a genuine knowing that all is good, that we are indestructible beings of light, and that we are in charge of our lives. We can make it happen, together, in unison, as one body of good intention – Happy Thanksgiving!  

Yet here we are in these unusual and uncertain times with the Holidays in sight.
To me it seems like we should skip this year and try again in 2021. Aren’t we anxious and stressed enough by all that has been going on? Will many of the people still suffer and die of Covid-19, which has reached an unspeakable peak at over 120,000 cases per day? The answer is, yes!

Will the festivities this year fall short of family gatherings? How will we make the best of a dire situation? Do I really feel like entertaining a couple of friends or eat alone with my husband, who loves Thanksgiving dinner at his family?

Times have changed and we must do what is best for our fellow humans.

The spirit of Thanksgiving has long been a sharing of abundance. Being celebrated here in the US on the 4th Thursday in November, it symbolizes a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest.

Historically, this Holiday is rooted in English traditions, dating back to the Protestant reformation. We, in the United States, trace this tradition back to 1621, when a celebration in present-day Massachusetts was staged due to the especially bountiful harvest season that year. Pilgrims from England which had settled in the region carried on the tradition they were accustomed to. Not until the late 1660’s was this Holiday a regular annual event.

In recent times, we have extended this celebration to give thanks not only to the bountiful food we are blessed with, but we are also thankful for all the goodness we receive daily, and we are grateful for our good health, for warm friendships and love. This year, even though with all the changes and limitations, we must be grateful and give thanks. I would say even more so. We must stop worrying and look at what’s really necessary, we must evaluate what is of value. Despite of what we see, we must keep the faith and know that everything will be alright!
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I am eternally grateful that I am healthy, with a few minor tweaks, and that my family and friends have also been blessed with carrying on comfortably. I know that Good always wins over evil, sometimes not as quickly as I would like it. But in the end, we will be back at the table and enjoy each other’s company. God bless! 

​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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