Last Post

I will no longer be posting on this blog.

I now write at: the spartan penguin

Thanks for all your support.

Time to let go and let God

This week started with me feeling unwell. I ended up having to take a couple of days off work. I felt down, and miserable. There’s so much going on right now, I think my body was telling me it had had enough.

The time at home allowed me to reflect on what was going on – what was happening in my life – and where I was going.

And I realised – that whilst I was putting in the work and doing the next right thing – I was also heavily attached to the outcomes, and despite knowing the pitfalls, had expectations. I was becoming my own worst enemy – I was becoming a slave to me – it was me, and my desires and expectations, that were crushing me, stressing me, and wearing me out.

The answer – let go, and let God.

I heard a chap say something really interesting the other night – he was talking about the things we should do on a daily basis to stay mentally, physically, and spiritually well. He said that if you’re not practising these things so well at the moment (this is the point at which I filled in the blank and said (to myself) then focus, practice, do, worry about, beat yourself up etc.) then relax, take some time for yourself, let go and trust God – the exact opposite of what I had thought. And of course he was right.

Life is as simple or as complex as we make it – sometimes we need to hear very simple messages.

Faith, hope, charity.

Clean house, trust God, help others.

That was the message I heard – and so I let go – and the world suddenly got brighter.

If you enjoyed reading this then you might also like my new blog www.thespartanpenguin.com – please drop by and have look, tell me what you think, and subscribe if you like what you find – or even if you don’t!

Can faith be lost?

I wrote last week about the changes that may be coming up for me this year and about how dealing with what was coming was all a matter of doing the right thing – putting in a bit of action – and faith.

That faith has already been tested. This week it became apparent that one of the key pieces of the jigsaw puzzle, that is this year for me, was not going to fall into place. So what to do?

Key for me was acceptance – especially acceptance of things over which I have no control. I’ll admit, I was disappointed, but that quickly went once I’d found acceptance. I then remembered some advice my mum had given me many years ago about one door shutting and another one opening. This was quickly followed by a (chance) conversation with someone I hadn’t seen in ages – which literally opened up another possibility for me. I have hope again.

This got me thinking about faith – did I lose it for a short time? The answer is ‘no’ – we all have faith, all the time – whether we are aware of it or not. Faith that when we go to sleep at night we’ll wake up the next day, that the sun will rise. Whilst I may have been disappointed this week my faith in everything turning out just fine was still there.

It also helped me to remember that whilst I may have a goal – the Universe actually listens to the feelings associated with that goal i.e. freedom, peace, joy etc. And that whilst I may have an idea about what needs to happen in order to get there – I think that sometimes the Universe simply says to us “have you ever thought of going this way”?

If you enjoyed reading this then you might also like my new blog www.thespartanpenguin.com – please drop by and have look, tell me what you think, and subscribe if you like what you find – or even if you don’t!

A true test of Faith

This year is looking like it’s going to be one of profound change.

I have been looking for this change for the past 18 months or so – patiently waiting, enjoying the moment, doing the next right thing – but with an eye on change.

Events over Christmas have served as a catalyst – and guess what – it would seem that change is finally on the horizon.

The thing is this though – the change that seems to be coming is NOT how I imagined it to be – it is, but it isn’t. When we plan/dream/hope we do so in two ways – one is in relation to feelings and emotions and states of being e.g. I want to feel free, happy, peaceful, alive – the other is in relation to the physical/material possessions – people, places and things – that we think we’ll need to achieve those states of beings.

The Universe listens to the first – it responds to our desires to feel free, or alive, or happy – it then conspires to bring about the physical and material world that will best help us achieve that – and (shock horror) that world isn’t always as we’d imagined.

This is what’s happening with me right now – it’s exciting – and terrifying (similar emotions really). For what I believe is coming this year – the change – a whole sequence of events (I think) need to happen – will they? Are they the only way that the change can occur? I don’t know – and that’s where faith comes in – faith in the Universe – faith that whatever happens it will be the right thing – faith that nothing happens in God’s world by mistake.

As Robert Smith from the band ‘The Cure’ once sang “There’s nothing left but faith, nothing left but faith”.

If you enjoyed reading this then you might also like my new blog www.thespartanpenguin.com – please drop by and have look, tell me what you think, and subscribe if you like what you find – or even if you don’t!

A new beginning

I’m very excited because yesterday I launched my brand new blog ‘the spartan penguin’.

 

 

 

 

 

The blog is focussed on how to live a simple spiritual life – and mixes the spiritual with the practical.

It’s the result of a desire to reach more people and is built on a wordpress.org platform – which is much more flexible – and which will allow me to write and promote e-books etc.

Please take a look and tell me what you think. If you like what you find then please subscribe – via RSS or email. I’ve also set up a new Twitter account which can be found here.

Whilst this does mark a new beginning for me I intend continuing with ‘supernalsteve’s blog’. Posting on this account is likely to move to a post a week – the focus here will be more personal, in terms of thoughts and feelings – with ‘the spartan penguin’ focussing on the practical. No doubt there will be cross-over at some point.

I would like to thank all of you who have travelled with me on this journey so far – and look forward to continuing that journey with you here and at ‘the spartan penguin’.

Are you listening?

Do you ever feel lost? Are you searching for answers but don’t think anyone is listening?

As human beings we ask a lot of questions – from what’s my purpose and why am I here? – to what should I do about my debt, or how should I approach that interview?

Questions, questions, questions.

Sometimes we ask these questions and think that no-one is listening. We might pray or meditate on them – knowing that the answer lies inside – but feeling as if we’re just shouting into space – that no-one is there.

The truth is, when we feel like that, the question “is anybody listening” is the wrong question. The question  should be “am I listening” – for the answer.

The Universe sees and hears everything – she always listens and hears our thoughts, prayers, questions. She also always provides the answers to those questions – if we listen.

Today I was on my way to work – thinking about how I should approach the day – feeling alone in the solitude of the morning and wondering if my prayers were being heard. As I walked around a corner close to where I live there was a car parked – from a driving school – a driving school called KISS – and emblazoned on the side were the words ‘Keep it Simple’ – nuff said really!

The Universe talks to us all the time – through people, films, books etc etc etc. Sometimes she is subtle – gently reaching our sub-conscious. Other times she’s about as subtle as a brick and hits us with an answer so obvious that we can hardly miss it. The answers are always there – always being provided – the key is our openness to them. So ask yourself this question today “am I listening”?

How to find peace – through money

I keep a coin on my desk. It’s not a very big coin, and it’s not particularly shiny. It’s not even legal tender in the country in which I live.

That coin helps me find peace in the stress and madness that can fill my work day.

How?

Four simple words.

In God We Trust.

Yes – I keep an old Quarter on my desk – and I keep it there for one simple reason – to remind me.

Remind me of what?

To remind me – when all around me appears to be madness – when I think it’s all too much and I can’t carry on – to have trust and faith in a power greater than myself, in the Universe – to know that I am being looked after and that everything always turns out for the best – it may not appear so at the time (according to my perception), but it always does.

Those four little words – on that small little coin – help to remind me, and bring me peace.

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