Sexuality, Spirituality and Self-esteem...

Sexuality, Spirituality and Self-esteem…

Have you reconciled your sexuality and spirituality and brought them together? They are intertwined. God created you and your sexuality, just the way you are. (You don’t need to change!) Your sexuality is all part of your God given personality and each person is different. Sexuality, Spirituality and Self-esteem are connected and blended together to create the entire person. Neither are separated from the other. Notice, I did not say ‘balanced’, I said blended together… balance is equal parts… blended is integration in a unique way… its different for each person!

When our sexuality and spirituality are reconciled and blended together, we can have peace with ourselves, which is an ideal quality of good healthy self-esteem. When we can embrace our sexuality as an intrinsic part of our personality, an element of our self that makes us special and unique, see it as a God given gift and embrace it that way… then our self-esteem improves. We gain peace; an expanded perspective of our identity; and an improved relationship with ourselves and with God. We become connected with our whole being and our sexuality falls naturally into place, safely and sweetly into God’s embrace.

by: Anne Higbee-Owens

Blessed are the Flexible...

Blessed are the flexible.... For they never get bent out of shape.

The definition of flexible is that something is capable of being bent, usually without breaking; easily bent like a flexible ruler; or something that is prone to modification or adaptation; adaptable like a flexible schedule; or a person that is willing or disposed to yield and is pliable like a flexible personality. 

A Flexible Personality - Is a person that has a variety and range of different, yet appropriate behavioral responses in situations that they face. Flexibility is a personality trait that demonstrates the extent to which a person can cope with changes in circumstances and think about problems and tasks in novel, creative ways. Some examples are:  He/She demonstrates a flexible personality because she handles her problems with grace and dignity.  He/She has shown remarkable grace during this crisis. The quality or state of being considerate or thoughtful, showing grace and mercy. Grace is the unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification, which is the ultimate demonstration of flexibility:  God’s grace to us all. 

We call can choose our responses to any situation in life. We all can take “Response-ability” for ourselves and our actions when we are in situations that are new, frightening, or even angering.  Flexibility is the quality or state of being considerate, thoughtful and occasionally giving way, using restraint or yielding to another. Taking and using “response-ability” is thinking through a situation, seeing the end result before reacting to a problem. It is the ability to respond appropriately under stress, coping with changes and circumstances. We can all choose to respond to any situation with a flexible, adaptable, creative attitude. Bend a little bit, get out of the way, let go and let God take control. 

I am generally a happier person for my Flex-ability.

I don’t get bent out of shape because I choose my responses to life.  I

 choose to remain positive, flexible and

I let God be in control.

Typical Teenage Behavior?!?!!?

My friend was telling me that she was missing much of her silverware. She was down to four forks, seven knives, six spoons, etc. She suspected it was up in her son’s bedrooms so she asked her sons to pay for replacements. Since her pattern had been discontinued, it was going to cost $360 to regain an 8-piece place setting. She explained to her sons that since there were four people in the family the cost would be split four ways, at $90 each. Surprisingly she had two more forks, and a few more spoons appear. The boys had cleaned their rooms and brought down all the silverware lost in their bedrooms; asking now if the $90 price tag would be reduced…
Another girlfriend was listening to this story and said, “Oh, that’s just typical ‘Teenage’ behavior!”

My friends response was, “Well that may be so, but I am not raising them to be ‘Teenagers’, I am raising them to be ’Men’!”

Are we raising our teenagers to be “Teenagers” or are we raising them to be “Men and Women”?!?!?
Maybe the bigger question is….

Are we raising ourselves to be “Teenagers”, or are we raising ourselves to be mature growing Men and Women in Christ?

In The Present Moment

God exists in the present moment. The present moment is the only place where eternity meets linear time. Here God resides, bridging the gap between the imagination and reality. The past is only memories in your mind. The future is nowhere but in your thoughts. When I am dwelling on the past – I am wallowing in guilt, shame and low self-esteem and I am usually disappointed in myself. When I am obsessing about the future – I am afraid, dwelling in my fear and negative imagination. Here we can choose either love or fear. In this moment, greatest gift God has given us is the ability to change our mind. I choose love not fear.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.”

1 John 4:18

When I am anxious it is because I am living in the future.

When I am depressed it is because I am living in the past.

~Author Unknown

Creative Change

If we want to be more creative, we must draw closer to God. We are destined to express divine creativity. Prayer plus positive thinking leads to creative change. First be willing to accept God's spirit, influence and power in your life. It is God's spirit that can provide for you the strength and courage to change. Second, a positive mental attitude gives God an open door to begin working changes in your life.

Divine creativity, like all of God's characteristics, grows in proportion to our "connectedness" to Him. If we want to be more creative, we must draw closer to God. Acknowledgment that you have a relationship with God needs to be continuously nurtured. It is the willingness to let go of your sense of over-responsibility for your day to day life and let God have creative influence over all of your problems.

I find myself avoiding non-creative people to prevent them from killing my ideas and vision. One often becomes what they believe themselves to be. I associate myself more regularly with people whom I believe to have a positive attitude and those who are spirituality minded. For example, if I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do something, I may really becoming incapable of doing it. The negative thought impedes my creativity and ability to take action. On the contrary, if I have the belief and imagination that I can do something, I will develop the capacity to do it even if I don’t have all the skills in the beginning. Positive thinking opens channels for creativity.


Everyone has a divine longing to carry out our creative aspirations and reach new heights of accomplishment. Prayer plus positive thinking can lead to creative change. When your creativity calls, go with it. It is God speaking. Listen to God’s creative conscience working in you. It is the voice of God’s divine inspiration guiding you today. Follow your spiritual path to higher creativity and your own creative change.

God's Infinite Power

It seems to me that the biggest crisis that faces me is a crisis of faith. I forget that the God who paint the sunset in the sky and keeps the sun in place and turns the embryo into a baby is active in my life as well. It is because of my own mental fatigue and the failure of my own imagination, that I fail to see the connection between the problems in my life and God’s infinite power to solve them.

- Marianne Williamson

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track. Don't assume that you know it all.  -  Proverbs 3:5-6 (The Message)

Every challenge is an opportunity for a miracle. I need to remember, “Don’t stop before the miracle happens.”

Acknowledge Just How Valuable You Truly Are.

Why haven't I given myself credit for the qualities that I possess? Have I been afraid of being arrogant? Of seeming to think myself as superior to others? Have I been trying to be humble and modest, while all the time sabotaging my potential because I wouldn't admit just how truly valuable I am as a human being?

If so, what a tragedy that is! Not just for me, but for the people in my life who might have benefited greatly if I was striving for my full potential. There are many people who might have been more encouraged, more confident in themselves and in me, more relaxed and at ease because I was choosing to reaching my potential rather than struggling to try to escape from all the problems that were keeping me down. It is better to look for the things in life that allow me to reach my potential and tap into the wonderful qualities that I possess so that I may help others.

Strive to reach your potential,
not just for yourself, but for the others
who will be positively affected
by your actions when
you've acknowledged just how valuable you truly are.

Our next secret weapon...

Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A beauty bomb. And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one.

It would explode high in the air - explode softly - and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air. Floating down to earth - boxes of Crayolas. And we wouldn't go cheap, either - not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest. And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with imagination.
~Robert Fulghum

Imagination run wild in your life...

Imagination is the minds eye ability to view the world differently every day. It is the ability to unleash the power of the mind to flow toward limitless discovery. Imagination strengthens your creative abilities, and is a great tool for restructuring your life and solving problems.

Imagination is a great power and a gift that can change your whole perspective of life. Imagination can be the essence of change in oneself because it is the power to see beyond creative visualization, positive thinking and affirmations. Recognize the importance of the power of the imagination and let it run wild in your life so that your life may be as happy and successful as you want it to be.

Perhaps imagination is only intelligence having fun.

~George Scialabba

Mindfullness...

Mindfulness is about being fully awake in out lives.

It is about perceiving the exquisite vividness of each moment.

We feel more alive and we also gain immediate access

to our own powerful inner resources

for coping effectively with stress.

– Author Unknown

When I am mindful of being in the present moment my stress level goes down. What I am talking about is learning to live in the present moment, in the now. When I am not distracted by my own negative thinking or when I don't allow myself to get lost in moments that are gone or yet to come, I am left with this moment.

This moment-- now--truly is the only moment I have. It is beautiful and special. Life is simply a series of such moments to be experienced one right after another. If I attend to the moment I am in and stay connected to my soul, I remain happy, and will find that my heart is filled with positive feelings. I am fully awake to appreciate all around me and I gain the inner strength to cope with stress.

A Lesson Learned in the Game of Life…

This past week somethings happened to me where I felt very self conscious, embarrassed and uncomfortable. I felt pain and fear and I wanted to hide. The lesson I learned and put into action is regardless of how I feel, I won’t respond to my fears because - I have control over myself in this situation… (I can make a choice.)

What I mean is I can make some huge ‘thing’ out of the past few days events in my head - or I can learn that I am vulnerable, have feelings and I am subject to weaknesses. I think that is all part of the human condition and I am glad that I am sober today and at least playing my part in the game of life. I would much rather be in the game today, making my fair share of mistakes… than the alternative of sitting on my couch, alone with my head in a bottle of vodka drinking myself to death.

Batter up! By the way… Friday is my birthday and on June 17th I will be sober one year!
Yeah Team!

Whatever our protestations, are not most of us concerned with ourselves,

our resentments, or our self-pity?

Selfishness-self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles.

Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion,

self-seeking, and self-pity...

So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making.

They arise out of ourselves,

and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot,

though he usually doesn't think so...

Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness.

We must, or it kills us! God makes that possible.

 

AA Big Book - Pg 63