Addiction, Depression and Suicide

Since Robin Williams’ death, we have been bombarded wall to wall with the pros and cons of addiction/depression/suicide.

Let me tell you about a guy I knew. I knew him and his problems, so this is first-hand information. His drinking was kept in check when his mother was alive. Even after he married, she kept him, and his father, on a short leash. After she died, he had no rudder to guide his life and alcohol took over. He went into rehab several times, but it was never very long before he was at it again. He died after drinking a quart of vodka a day for 5 days. Was that a version of suicide? Was that a subconscious decision to commit suicide? Maybe it was conscious. We’ll never know.

If you think an addicts suicide is an easy way out, a cowardly act, you apparently do not understand the addictive personality. I hope you never do understand it, because that would mean you, yourself, are an addict.

Was that person depressed? You cannot just stop depression. I have experienced depression, but it was fleeting, scary and to this day I don’t understand the “why” of it. I am able to understand others who are depressed and just can’t “shake it.” These people are not necessarily addicts. I know people struggling with depression right now who are not addicts.

I have an addictive personality. For 50 years I was addicted to nicotine. In addition to smoking it was an addiction to time, place, and situation. I became addicted at age 13. Most kids my age at that time didn’t smoke so I thought I was really cool. Tough. It was a ruse so my classmates wouldn’t know how shy and unsophisticated I was; what low self esteem I had. When I was 63 the addiction damned near killed me.

I thank God every day that my last resort attempt to quit worked. Acupuncture. Every year, on the anniversary of my first appointment with the acupuncturist, I send him an email thanking him for however many years it has been that I’ve been clean. This year, around Thanksgiving, I will send him an email acknowledging 15 years of freedom from the addiction. Freedom? Not exactly. Even though I have no desire to smoke, I know that my addictive personality lurks. I traded in smoking for a healthier lifestyle including exercising, walking and bike riding. So far so good.

So the next time you hear someone has committed suicide, whether or not they were addicted or depressed, please do not judge. Send them, and those they leave behind, love instead.

I Believe…

…in reincarnation, and that in the Reincarnation Department, in the realm of Spirit, there is a Review Board

…we all “sign a Contract” with God, before we reincarnate

It’s OK if you don’t agree, but stay with me as I explore my belief in reincarnation, the Review Board, and the Contract.

This is what I believe…

Before we return to Earth to experience another lifetime, we go before the Review Board with our “life’s plan” in hand. We have to convince the Board that, based on our past lives, this proposed plan will provide all or some of the balance our soul needs for advancement. In some of our past lives we were the criminal and in others we were the victim. We have been saints and sinners (I don’t believe in sin, but it’s a word in common usage today). Before we can return to the Father with no further need to experience the Earth plane, we must have balance. In the Alice A. Bailey material (I don’t remember which book), at the instant all souls were created, God ordered that we go, experience ALL things, and return to Me.

Part of our plan consists of agreements with those with whom we will be closely connected…parents, siblings, spouse(s), children. If approved, the energies are set into motion to help facilitate our plan. Now, this does not mean that once we are on the Earth plane everything will go according to plan. Free Will. Remember that? Or for whatever reason, someone else’s plan is not working out and they decide to call it a lifetime and return to Spirit before the end of their Contract, leaving us to find an alternate.

When it comes to spouses and children, I believe that once two souls have kept their promise to give life to however many souls who become their children, their job is done. If, along the way, they find they love each other…that’s a bonus. If not, then there is no penalty for ending that agreement.

This contract has an end point. When we reach that point is when we experience death of the body. However, and I use my mother as an example of this, apparently we can negotiate an extension. My mother passed at age 98 and before that day, she had at least three opportunities to pass. I like to say I would love to have been there when she negotiated a Contract Extension with God.

Do we orchestrate how we will pass at the end of our Contract? I don’t know. I like to think that is one last surprise God has for us. If you think about how many times Life has surprised you, then, why not at its end. And, even then, I believe how a life ends is still part of the plan for balance.

This is just one of my beliefs. Others are there is no such thing as sin, God is loving...not vengeful, heaven and hell are right here on earth, there is life after death, God will not allow humanity to destroy itself or the earth.

Perhaps I will expand on some of those beliefs another time.

Books Worth Reading

You may already be familiar with these three books. If you are, then you know what I mean. If you aren’t, then you might consider reading them.

A good friend loaned the first two to me. I’m so glad she did.

Wishes Fulfilled, Mastering the Art of Manifesting by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer. Dr. Dyer explains in very simple terms how to get what it is you want. He draws on the teachings of St. Germain and the “I AM” Discourses. I have been a student of the original “I AM” Discourses for many years, and I felt that Dr. Dyer’s book brought the concepts of the original discourses up to date for a modern audience. Everything in the book is what I have been explaining to people for some time. Perhaps if my friends read it from Dr. Dyer they will find it more believable. The key: envision (visualize) what it is you want, just the way you want it, already accomplished. Hold that vision regardless of what current conditions are. Hold that vision. It will be yours. When you say “I am” be very careful what you say after that, because if you say it often enough “you will be” for better or for worse.

Dying to be Me, my journey from cancer to near death to true healing by Anita Moorjani. Dr. Dyer wrote extensively about Anita Moorjani and her book in his book Wishes Fulfilled. Moorjani gives us a very clear picture of what “the other side” is like. Her journey is so incredible and heartwarming. Of interest, is her realizing why she had cancer in the first place.

I highly recommend the two books above. Read Dr. Dyer first then Anita Moorjani.

The third book was a Christmas gift. I read it in one sitting…it was that good. I can’t believe I had never heard of the author before, but you can be sure I will be getting more of his books.

have a little faith by Mitch Albom. What do you do when your Rabbi asks you “Will you do my eulogy?” That question took the author on an eight-year journey he never expected and two profound friendships for which he will always be grateful. If you get this book, make sure you have a full box of tissues at your elbow…especially as you get toward the end.

One Nation Under God

Someone recently said (to me) that whenever they heard "one nation under God" it made them angry. This person went on to explain (with great conviction) that the U.S. is many nations under many Gods. They also made a case for atheists who believe in no God.

I had to think about this before responding.

This country is truly made up of peoples from many nations. However, the United States of America is just that...50 united states comprising one nation. The fact that this nation of ours is a melting pot of nationalities makes the U.S. unique. We are ONE NATION.

These many peoples, for the most part, worship many gods.

These 'many' gods are not separate gods, but the same ONE God referred to by different names. There is only ONE GOD, prayed to under different names.

One nation of many peoples, under one God referred to by several names.

“One nation, under God, indivisible...”. The nation cannot be divided, but it seems God has been divided several times. That does not change the fact that it is still ONE GOD.

As for the atheists, I pray for them to one day find a version of the one God that they can believe in.

Healing Your Finances

This theme has been coming up a lot lately. First it has been friends who are struggling and lately, businesses. Now it’s the entire government! I offer a solution, although I’m sure there are others out there.

First

Bless your income. No matter what form your income takes, be it electronic, check, cash, credit card slip. As you assemble the bank deposit say: I am grateful that these people had more than enough money to pay me for … (whatever it is you do). Write “Thank You” on each check.

Second

Bless your bills. Do I hear wild, hysterical laughter out there? No. No kidding. Bless your bills. Say the electric bill has just come in. You open it up and instead of that sinking feeling because the amount is way more than you expected, say this: I bless this bill because if I didn’t have it that would mean I wouldn’t have…..(name everything that you need electricity for). Thank you, God, for electricity.

Now do this for every bill or expense as it occurs.

Third

With each bill you pay, say: I give thanks to the Abundance of the Universe that I have more than enough money to pay this bill. Don’t worry if that is not what the numbers show. It won’t be long before it will be true.

Of course common sense has to be used, too. Don’t go off on a wild spending spree. The Universe will not support that.

When I started using this method of healing finances, I did not change my lifestyle nor did my income change, and within three months I had extra money in my checking account for the first time in months.

A word about my lifestyle at the time…I was supporting four kids with a part time job and welfare. Ah! The good old days! (wink)

I wish you good luck with healing your finances (if that is what you need). And, by all means pass it on to any one you know who needs to do the same.

When the Student is Ready

Back in the early 1980s I started reading Ye Are Gods by Annalee Skarin. Try as I might, I could not get past two pages and I'd fall asleep. And, couldn't remember a word I had read. Back on the shelf it went.

Three years later I picked it up again and devoured it. I couldn't put it down.

What was the difference?

In the intervening three years, I had gained that much more spiritual knowledge/insight that I was now able to absorb maybe 50% of what was being offered. Wrapping my mind around the thought that I was God was a giant step…a process that continues to this day.

Forward to present time...2013.

I have had the three book series, Conversations With God, since they were published starting in 1996. Somewhere along the line I acquire a second set (which I ultimately gave away). Here it is, 2013, and I'm just now finishing Book 1.

Seventeen years later and I'm getting the same message! I AM GOD! Now, before you think I'm crazy or on an ego trip, let me assure you...YOU ARE GOD, too.

Souls were created by God as pieces if Itself (I will use 'It' because God has no gender, since God is All).  Ok, so these Souls, pieces of God, were instructed to Go. Experience all things and return to Me. This is the only way God can know Itself, know Who It Truly Is. As we experience and discover Who We Truly Are, so does God, because we are It!

Think of any one cell of your body. That cell is all of you as well as being part of you. Therefore consider yourself as a cell of the body of God. That makes You part of God as well as God Itself.

In reading Conversations, I find so many of my own thoughts and conclusions being confirmed. Such as there is no such thing as sin. I have not consciously believed in sin for a long time, and, I think that as a kid I subconsciously didn't believe in it. I have embraced the concept that there is NO right or wrong...only consequences. YES!

I could go on and on but the book has already been written.  

If you are a ready student, I encourage you to share the joy. God is my kind of Guy/Gal...serious, funny, non-judgmental, and sometimes down right irreverent.  If you haven't read Conversations With God yet, I hope you will...when you're ready.

Peace on Earth

Christmas carols and cards often have the words: Peace on Earth to men of good will. We also see this version: Peace on Earth and good will to men.

The second version makes more sense to me. Why wish Peace on men of good will when they are obviously doing just fine as it is. The assumption is, if you are of good will you must be Peaceful. Not necessarily so, but let’s assume that the majority are.

I’d rather wish Peace on Earth to those who are exhibiting bad will. These guys need it more don’t you think? I would rather heap Peace on the people who are killing their own countrymen and women and children. Heap Peace on the people who are fighting with their neighbors over national borders. Heap Peace on the people who are killing innocent children in schools, ambushing firefighters and police, blowing up public buildings, fighting unending wars. These are the people who need Peace wished upon them.

Let’s do it right now! Close your eyes and think of as many as you can who need to have Peace heaped upon them. All you have to do is open your local newspaper and read about all the negative stuff that’s going on and you have enough examples to keep you busy for a good chunk of time.

Once you have these individuals and groups in your mind’s eye, Bless them. Just say a little prayer asking that they stop whatever they are doing that goes against the highest good. If you are one to visualize people and situations in White Light, go ahead. That’s even more powerful. Throw a blanket of Pink Light (Divine Love) over the Middle East or your neighbor’s house. Maybe your own house. Wherever Peace is needed!

In Matthew 18:20 Jesus said, “Wherever two or more gather in my name…,” and that is true. The best part is you don’t need to know that you have been gathered! You might think you are on your own, but there may be people in your neighborhood, town or state who are concentrating on the same thing…it constitutes a gathering. Just think of all the good you can do!