During the month of August we’ll be focusing on Wayne Dyer’s book, “Happiness is the Way” and this week’s message is “Respond with Ability”. Our society has been going through upsets of many kinds in the last few months, no doubt about it. What we focus on increases so how about focusing on something we want versus what we don’t want?
Most of us want happiness and yet many are unhappy due to the changes of circumstances currently being experienced. Dyer says, “To me, the word responsibility means responding with ability. It doesn’t mean responding with disability, otherwise the word would be respondisability. No, it is responsibility. I have the ability to respond. I can respond with ability. It means taking responsibility for everything that goes on in your life.”
Dyer says think about an orange. When you squeeze an orange you get orange juice of course. It doesn’t matter who is doing the squeezing or what apparatus is used, orange juice will come out every time.
The same is true when a person is being squeezed from outside pressures. If there is anger, hatred or stress within, that’s what will come out. It isn’t because who is doing the squeezing, or when or how, it’s because that’s what’s inside a person.
If you don’t have it inside you, it will never come out no matter what outside circumstances are applying pressure. Carlos Castaneda said: “The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same.”
The truth of the matter is that we are all formed out of love. When we stop judging ourselves and others as anything less than a loving being no matter what the outside pressures are, we will respond with love. 1 Corinthians Ch. 13 tells us: “Love is long-suffering and kind; love does not envy; love does not make a vain display of itself, and does not boast. Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
Say with me: “I choose to respond to life’s challenges with responsibility. I clear my thoughts and feels of negativity and seek to experience happiness as the love that I am comes pouring out.”
— Rev. Gay Beauregard, Alpine Church of Spiritual Living
