Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew sang, “We’re on a mission…All the way to heaven”. This phrase captures the spirit of the principle, Order, in Life in 4-Part Harmony. Heaven is synonymous with Harmony, the place where you feel in your rhythm and flow, the place where you feel you have all that you need and everything fits together quite well. Order focuses us on executing our various missions so that we reach Harmony and live our lives with a sense of fulfillment. In Order, we’re detectives and specialists plotting, planning, and implementing the steps of our mission. We are here to manifest our purpose, bring our Truth into the world. Order helps us clarify our vision and make a clear roadmap. When we reach a bump in the road, we plan a strategy for moving over, under, around or even through it. Yes, sometimes the best way out is through. Order creates a sense of movement and intention. Here are 3 inspirations, motivations, and quotations to help you Order your steps over, under, and through the woods to accomplish your missions and live a PurposeFull Life.
Many of us have made statements that began “next week” or “next year” or “tomorrow, I’m going to ____________”. We have a goal that we want to accomplish but we put it off until tomorrow or next week. Our reasons for doing so can be fear or lack of resources or uncertainty or any number of challenges. So we hesitate. We say, tomorrow, I’ll have to courage to move forward. Somehow we convince ourselves that waiting will make the difference in our ability. Our hesitation is instructive. It’s reminding us that there’s something that needs our attention so that we can move forward. What if, we simply took a moment and realized that now is always the time to move toward our best self, to accomplish the goals that fulfill our purpose? What if, in this moment we decided on a small step that we could take toward our goal? Realize that the journey toward the goal is equally as important as the goal. Along the way, as we get things in Order, we will meet wonderful people, we will learn more about the beauty within ourselves, and we will develop new skills. Simply, TAKE THE FIRST STEP.
"Be like water, flow over under and around those big rocks commonly referred to as challenges."
~ Dr. Sandra Lewis ~
As a clinical psychologist, I studied cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). As an academic, I understand it’s value but I was drawn to it because of my mother. She was known to quote from Proverbs in the Bible, “As a man thinks, so is he”. So, I had an early introduction to the thought-behavior connection. CBT is now considered one of the best approaches to successfully treating depression and anxiety. But it’s also offers very practical strategies like, problem-solving and stress management techniques that we can use everyday. One of my favorites is cognitive restructuring. That’s a fancy way of saying change your mind or as I like to say, change your story. When we meet a challenge, we often see it as a hindrance, something that stops us. However, we can choose to see it as an opportunity to solve a problem. Here’s a chance to grow our skills and Order up what we need in the moment. When you meet an obstacle, assess the terrain and DECIDE WHICH PATH YOU WILL TAKE.
Physicists and spiritualists agree that everything is really energy. In our science classes, we learned that the smallest particle of solid matter is an atom but if we go deeper, what we have is pure energy that has the capacity to take any form. Scientific experiments have demonstrated that anything observed is changed. It’s quite magical when you think about how we are always interacting with what’s around us and that we affect it as much as we are affected. One of the major Universal laws or principles is that form follows thought. This is Universal Order. Shakti Gawain explores this principle in her book Creative Visualization. Your intentions have power. Once you think it, it's real. My Taoist teacher says that what's happening on an invisible level is infinitely more powerful than what you can see. FOCUS ON YOUR HEART'S DESIRES & KNOW THEY ARE YOUR REALITY.
© Sandra Y. Lewis