Friday story

EMBRACING YOUR ABUNDANCE: What's in the Realm of YOUR
Reality?, by Paula Langguth Ryan

A group of friends and I have adopted a saying which we use
when we encounter someone who appears bent on wreaking havoc or
spreading negativity. We say "they're not in the realm
of our reality," meaning, we're not going to focus any
attention on them. Instead, we're going to stay focused
on what it is we desire.

While I was reading Christian Healing by Charles Fillmore,
the phrase "as you give so shall you receive" popped out
at me. Many people interpret this to mean "when you give,
you get back." I want to offer you a different
interpretation.

As you give - the WAY in which you give, the ATTITUDE with
which you give, the SPIRIT in which your gift is wrapped -
is how you will receive. If you give grudgingly, you're
going to receive grudgingly. If you give with fear, you're
going to receive with fear. If you give and resent the
gift, you'll resent it when others give to you.

True giving creates a sense of gratitude, of being grateful.
Being grateful is defined as being warmly or deeply
appreciative of a kindness or benefit received. When we
receive something, and find ourselves thinking or saying
things like "I'm really grateful for what they said, or
for them taking the time to do what they did, BUT, I wish
X Y or Z, then we're not being truly grateful. Instead,
we're simply acknowledging the gift we were given. And
whenever we're not truly being grateful, then we're not
actually receiving the gift.

This reminds me of the old story of two people who are shown
a room full of manure. One person sees a pile of poop that
they need to do something with, a problem that needs to be
fixed, something that needs to be "dealt with." This person
begins to shovel the manure with resignation. Meanwhile,
the second person looks at the room full of manure and sees
a mysterious opportunity, a hidden possibility. This person
begins to shove with great glee, exclaiming, "there must be
a pony in here somewhere!"

Where is your focus when you're given something that doesn't
meet your expectations? Do you focus on the problem or on |
the opportunity? What "reality" do you see?

In my mind, the biggest challenge we have in the world today
is not this politician or that politician, it's not this
ideology or that ideology. It's not this threat to our
families or that threat to the environment and so on.

The biggest challenge we have in the world today comes from
our mistaken use of two simple words:

BE REALISTIC

That phrase is used, quite often, to justify our focus on
the PROBLEM, right? BE REALISTIC – you can't accomplish this
thing you desire without having more resources first. You
can't create something out of nothing. You don't have
ENOUGH! Really? BE REALISTIC. You can't feed thousands of
people with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish!
OH, REALLY?

BE REALISTIC – you can't expect people to be healed just
because you believe they'll be healed. People don't just
"rise up and be healed" just because you believe it can
happen. OH, REALLY?

BE REALISTIC – you can't just taken an action you're
guided to take when you're stressed about a money situation,
like paying your taxes, and expect that you can go off
fishing and all your taxes will get paid out of the blue –
you know the tax money isn't going to be found inside the
mouth of some grouper you catch, after all. Oh, really?

I remember a wise man once said, "These things, and even
greater things than this, shall you do.

When people tell you to be realistic and then put a limit
on the truth of your being, when they limit what you can
be, do or have, say to them, "I AM being realistic – and
this limited reality you're talking about is NOT MY
REALITY. In fact, that limitation you're talking about,
that problem you are seeing, it's NOT IN THE REALM OF MY
REALITY.

Think about what you're saying when you say this. A realm
is a royal domain. A realm is a kingdom. The realm of your
reality is that kingdom of God that is within you, where
you are focusing your attention.

In my realm of reality, where I abide with Divine Mind,
there is no lack or limitation. There is no failure. There
is no disappointment, there is no ego. In my realm of
reality, in that place within me that is in alignment with
Source, there is only love, joy, fulfillment and endless
opportunity.

When you are face to face with a choice of some other
reality that is less than that, claim the truth that the
kingdom of God is within you. Embrace that truth and deny
the appearance of anything that can be separate from that
kingdom. Embrace the truth that nothing exists outside that
kingdom. Embrace the truth of your oneness with God.

God is omnipresence, which means, literally and figuratively,
that any "problem", anything that is limited, is absolutely
and permanently NOT IN THE REALM OF YOUR REALITY.

You can say this with absolute conviction - THAT IS NOT IN
THE REALM OF MY REALITY – knowing that as you do so you are
embracing the mysterious opportunity to be guided and to
take action on that which is yours to take action on. You
are fully embracing the concept that the kingdom of God is
within you. And so it is!