With my friend Freddie, and yes, the rainbows really are that vibrant!

There are two kinds of being productive and only one of them is truly valuable. When we’re being loving, compassionate, kind, generous, open, receptive, patient and willing then we’re being truly productive. A lot of times the ego will talk us out of being TRULY productive in order to check things off on a list.

When I first started meditating and praying, I remember how hard it was to take time for my spiritual practice. I would sit and try to get still and then immediately think of a million things that I could be doing or should be doing that seemed more productive. Suddenly anything was more important than being still.

I learned to ride it out and be disciplined and I’m so glad I did. It wasn’t easy, but I did it. I realized that there will never be an end to the list of chores and tasks. That’s life. The moment of our healing is always at hand. Getting chores and tasks done is important, but it’s not as valuable as the healing in spiritual practice.

One thing I’m aware of is that every day brings many challenges. Challenges happen all day long. When I’m anchored in Love the challenges aren’t a big deal. Even really challenging challenges don’t take me down when I’m seated in Love. That’s what spiritual sovereignty is.

Living here in Hawaii, I go to the beach often. I love to watch the surfers and boogie boarders, and I’ve recently begun to play around with boogie boarding myself. The waves are different all the time. Some days the surf is really high and the waves are dramatic. Some days the sea is more calm. The skilled surfers learn to ride the wave and enjoy the immensity of the energy. Inexperienced surfers wipe out quickly. The waves can be so intimidating. Let’s be honest, they’re dangerous. People drown. Just like in life. Learning to ride the wave is worth the effort.

Our spiritual practice gives us the strength to ride the waves without wiping out. Every day in life, at work and at home, in family, in relationships, there are setbacks, seeming obstacles, and upsets. Every day. Through our spiritual practice we release the old patterns of feeling unworthy, afraid, angry and hurt. Then we have more strength and inner fortitude to be patient, kind, generous, thoughtful, compassionate, forgiving and willing,. Through our ability to be loving, kind, patient, generous, compassionate, forgiving and willing, we can take the momentary setbacks and challenges as more opportunities to engage in our spiritual practice. Everything works together for our good.

I learned to be grateful for the challenges because they gave me the opportunity to build the muscle of my loving heart. Without the challenges we don’t grow. This is why A Course in Miracles tells us again and again that everything is gently planned for our good. Everything. Gratitude helps us find the Grace in every moment.

When the cravings come, as they might do, then we can build the spiritual muscle of our loving heart – prayer and self-compassion will carry us through. We get to practice putting ourselves first and breaking the pattern rather than strengthening it.

I’m absolutely LOVING your insights, breakthroughs and prayer requests in our facebook group. People are having a variety of experiences. Whatever your experience is, each one’s sharing is meaningful and helpful to others. It’s a loving and compassionate space for all of us. The posting has been SO beautiful and very HELPFUL!

It’s not that everything is easy or should be easy when we’re releasing the habits and patterns of self-sabotage. The challenges give us the opportunity to Partner UP! Our spiritual journey is one of remembering that we’re not alone, even when we think we’re completely alone and on our own, we never are. There is an invisible field of dynamic Love and actual beings who are always with us to assist us. Our Higher Holy Spirit Self is always there, call it your Guardian Angel, call it the Mighty I AM, call it whatever you like, but call it.

I like to say: I AM more than this! I AM that I AM and the I AM is the only intelligence operating in my life, my world, my body and the body of my affairs. I AM knows the way to higher ground and I AM willing to go there now! Everything is working for me! All is well!

Each challenge I encounter with willingness increases my experience of Grace and Love. There have been times when it was so tempting to give up, to collapse, and I did. Many times I felt I just couldn’t do it, but my giving up was only temporary. I’ve learned not to give up anymore, but to give OVER, give UP to the Higher Holy Spirit Self.

This is what REAL productivity is. It cannot be measured the same way that having a clean house, and all the laundry done and answering all the emails can be measured, but I can FEEL it and that feeling is a million times more valuable than the feeling of checking off the ego’s list. The feeling of being TRULY productive is healing and nourishing and it builds momentum.

Momentum is one of the main benefits we’re going for in this 40 days of rebooting in our Pray & Clear. We’re building momentum in our inner discipline to be Self-Loving and to keep going and enjoy the many, many benefits. If you fall down, get up with Love and compassion, be grateful for everything you learned in the fall. Momentum makes it SO much easier to face the myriad of daily challenges and seeming obstacles that are actually there to strengthen us and help us to release the old ways of managing and coping.

Spiritual practice SAVES time that would otherwise be spent in suffering.
Invest in spiritual practice rather than in suffering.

If you’re challenged to abstain from certain foods and beverages, if you feel bothered by it, frustrated or upset by the thought of doing without, or even if you feel the cravings are too intense, consider this:

Nothing tastes as good as Joy feels!

On the detox side of life: if you’re following along in the book Clean by Alejandro Junger – click here to see at amazon.com. Then you’re getting ready or may have started the elimination phase, that I’ve been suggesting you consider. One thing that Junger suggests is to eat a clove of raw garlic every day. He suggests slicing it and putting it between apple slices. Here’s what I do. I have it with a meal. You can even have it with a smoothie cut it into pill sized chunks that you can easily swallow with a smoothie or with food that you’ve already well chewed. You won’t taste much, and it’s about as easy as swallowing an aspirin. It works for me!

VEGGIE SMOOTHIE! Try a simple soup blended for your dinner! Get creative. I love to take some vegetables, you can use water, vegetable stock or chicken stock – your choice, some greens, garlic, onion, some carrots and cook it all al dente. Add some cilantro, pink salt, pepper, basil – the things you really enjoy, and then put the whole thing in the blender and blend it smooth then enjoy! Having a blended dinner is easy on your digestive system and that give your body more energy to focus on the detox. Make it a light meal at night, and remember to give your body 12 hours to rest between dinner and breakfast.

If you’re finding what I’m sharing to be helpful won’t you please share at facebook and twitter to let others know? Thank you!

AVAILABLE NOW: Prayer is the most powerful technology I know. My Prayer Power class has just started. Download week 1 & 2 right now! 4 weeks to step into your power and transform your life! You’ll be so glad you did!