By Rev. Marla Sanderson
Did you ever notice how negative emotions can carry you down a road you don’t really want to travel? Did you ever get carried away with so much anger or jealousy that you did something stupid? Or, maybe you know someone…
How about hurt or sadness or loneliness? That’s no picnic either, and it’s no fun getting caught up in other unpleasant emotions that sometimes pop up.
For the sake of discussion, let’s divide negative fear-based reactions into three categories—Security, Sensation, and Power.
We react with fear when we sense our security threatened. To ease it we may resort to food, drugs, alcohol, or sex (sensation), or to trying to control everything to keep from feeling bad (Power).
Dealing with fear is a full time job.
Love is easier.
And it’s natural. Love is our natural state. Before life on earth started teaching us about demands and expectations, we were happy little balls of love.
Think about it:We’ve been sold a bill of goods about happiness. You’re supposed to be loved by everyone, respected by everyone, appreciated by everyone, and you should feel bad if people don’t like you—even if you don’t like them!
You have to be right all the time. You must be successful (but not too successful)—rich (but not too rich)—smart (but not too smart). You must dress right, eat right, think right, act right, drive the right car, live in the right neighborhood, see the right movies, and work in the right job to feel OK about yourself.
The reality is that even if you get all this, it can’t provide any amount of lasting happiness. When you need anything from the outside world to feel good about yourself, you set yourself up for disappointment—over and over.
It’s a lot of work to live up to the expectations of others—or trying to get them to live up to yours. Love is easier. Returning to the Love state is the only thing that will make you happy, and to do that you have to see through all the lies.
LOVE is an emotional state of feeling good—feeling OK about your world; and even more, feeling OK about yourself no matter what’s happening. Your self-esteem—your “OK-ness”—comes from you, and nobody and nothing can give it to you. Nobody can take it away either, unless you give that person the power by believing the lies.
The truth is, you are always OK no matter what.
No matter what you do, no matter what you say, no matter how many times you make a fool of yourself in public, no matter how many times you succeed or fail. You are OK no matter what anyone has told you and no matter what your past looks like. Whether you’re rich or poor, alone or with someone.
Get it. You’re just a traveler on the roadway of life. All the rest is just scenery.
Rev. Marla Sanderson has been a student of spiritual practice for more than 35 years. She began as Assistant Director of The Next Step, a psychic and spiritual community in a New Mexico ghost town. She’s been a workshop leader, teacher, practitioner, and minister of Living Love, and the Science of Mind. She recently founded the New Thought Global Network, a virtual “church” that offers inspiration anytime, from anywhere. The site showcases many powerful Science of Mind and New Thought speakers and writers, and intends to expand these teachings to the world. Check it out at www.newthoughtglobal.org.
