As I was setting up my dad’s new 55″ Polaroid HDTV, which was a major upgrade from his 32″ analog Sylvania TV I thought about how sometimes we must make upgrades along our spiritual journey so as to have a clearer picture of who we are and what we are doing and why we are doing it. As I was setting up the TV I was a bit upset because I was following the directions in the manual and things weren’t working so I finally called Comcast and the gentleman from Comcast walked me through the process and now we have a clear high definition picture and my dad is happy that he can watch his shows on his new TV. The spiritual lesson here is to know that you may not have all the answers but knowing where to seek the answers is important.
As we upgrade we become to have clarity of purpose. Once we are clear on our purpose we are able to take action and enhance our vision and share this vision with the world. Just like the picture on the HDTV gives us a clearer vision of what we are watching so does making an upgrade in your spiritual practices. Think of things you want to upgrade in your personal and professional life and what action to take to bring more clarity of your vision and purpose to life. The HDTV is not the reason for the joy the process and knowledge that you can make a change is what brings you joy. In the awakening process we can watch transformations occur in our own life and in the lives of those around us. Watching my dad listen and take direction from me as we set up the TV and realizing that my getting frustrated did not serve me or him was a major step in getting clarity on the role I play in my dad’s life as he is 80 years old and first starting to let go of his desire to be right all the time. Through just a simple upgrade of a TV he saw a lesson in spirituality as he took action instead if saying what he would say in the past eventually or someday. One of the biggest issues my dad has is procrastination. By recognizing this I have found that one of my purposes while on this earth is to make sure he is taking action to move forward and upgrade his life. Watching my dad come alive because he is willing to make changes and take action has shown me how important it is to make spiritualistic upgrades.
The summer breeze blows as I sit in quiet meditation and reflection about where I was at the beginning of 2015 and where I am at now. As I sit and reflect I also set intentions to take action on projects that I have put on the back burner and realize that the summer is a great time to take action and move further along my spiritual path and to evolve more by making the mind body soul connection. As the summer approaches ask yourself what can I do to get more in touch with my inner divinity, what can I do to be of service and value to others, and how can I enhance my personal and professional life. This summer could be a wake up call to get on a path to wellness as you have found out what it is that has been holding you back. When we sit in reflection and enjoy the summer breeze we realize that many times the answer is blowing in the wind.
When we step out in nature and truly free our mind of negative thoughts we will find that the answers we seek are blowing in the wind. It is when we are open to receive that we can move forward in the quest to create a oneness consciousness. I have found that many times by simply stopping and looking at the ripples in the water of the canal by my home I receive messages from The Ascended Masters, GOD, and The Angels. One of my Angels is my mother, Judith Miller, who was called home to GOD on July 5, 2012. When I take my nature walks I can feel her presence and times and I hear hear voice through the wind telling me to continue to do what I am doing to help people with cancer and to act upon my ideas and just see what happens. This divine message sent through my mom has propelled me to do more and to detach from the outcome and be grateful for any amount of money that I raise to help create a world with less cancer and more birthdays. I have realized that by coming alive and listening to the summer breeze that there are messages coming to me all the time and it is not mine to question but to simply take action and move forward as divinely guided by GOD.
Through my spiritual awakening I have come to adopt some new F words into my way of doing things so that I can move forward and become an action taker. One of those F word is forgiveness. I have found by simply detaching from what happened and forgiving those who may have hurt you and forgiving them is a very freeing experience and it unlocks those emotional blockages that may have been holding me back. In forgiving you remove things that may have stopped you from moving forward. In forgiving others you also want to forgive yourself while also seeking forgiveness. It is when we forgive and are forgiven that we can rise above all the challenges that have been put before us. The hardest thing we will ever have to do if we are to be truly spiritually enlightened is to forgive and seek forgiveness.
Many times in our life we must seek forgiveness for we didn’t know what we were doing and we didn’t look beyond the act to understand the consequences. As we evolve in our spirituality we must remember that we are not perfect and that no one else is perfect and mistakes will be made, people will do things that hurt us, but we must remember we are not forsaken we are redeemed and GOD knows our name. If you believe you have been wronged take a moment to forgive if you feel you may have wronged someone seek forgiveness. Sometimes simply writing a letter of forgiveness and sealing it in an envelope can be very liberating. In many cases writing a letter seeking forgiveness can be liberating. Be prepared when you forgive or seek forgiveness for your life to change because when you ask for forgiveness the other people must take a look at the role they played in everything and sometimes they are not ready to be accountable. Many times we get caught up in the blame game and this hinders our ability to grow spiritually so stop blaming others and look at the role you played and move on by using a new F Word, forgiveness.
Another F Word that I have come to incorporate into my daily life while on my spiritual journey is flexibility. Over the last week my plans have been changed on several occasions. Like today I received a call from my doctor’s office to reschedule my appointment. In the past I would have been angry and looked at this rescheduling as an inconvenience but today I took it as a sign that GOD had better plans for me. I then went to do my laundry and when I finished went to Starbucks and there was no place to sit so I walked across to Walgreens and had my blood pressure checked. I then went back to Starbucks and there was a place to sit and plug in my lap top. I have come to understand that when you over plan you are bound to have what can be perceived as disappointment or you can be flexible and allow things to unfold as GOD had intended all along. The willingness to change plans and be flexible shows great personal, professional, and spiritual growth. Look at how you react to change and remember to adopt another F WORD, Flexibility.
Today (5/24/2015) The plan was to go to Sawgrass Mills and use my Books-A-Million Gift Card however when I arrived the parking was a challenge and the valet was all backed up so after circling the lot about 4 times I decided I would go to Panera Bread and use my gift card for Books-A-Million on line. As I was eating my lunch and redeeming my gift card I heard a lady speaking about finance so I introduced myself and gave her my business card and invited her to be a guest on my TV Show, The Anything Bucket, which airs on www.wrpbitv.com on Tuesday at 6:30 PM EDT. As I finished up the conversation with her I realized that in being an action taker you must let things unfold. In allowing everything to happen as GOD has planned you will find that you are happier, more peaceful, more prosperous, and joyful. I could have gotten mad about not finding a parking spot and been upset or I could have accepted it and realized that GOD had something better in mind for me for the rest of the afternoon. I chose to take a deep breath and go to Panera Bread and as a result I found myself in a better state of mind. In realizing that there will be pain but in the end it will lead to joy. In applying the serenity prayer and realizing that there are things that I can change and that which I can not I have learned to let things unfold and realize that everything usually works out for the best.
The serenity prayer has become one of my guiding tools to help me continue on my path of spiritual awakening allowing me to answer my calling and let things unfold. I have come to learn that I can change the way I react to things. I used to get upset and angry and now I just look for divine guidance to lead me in the proper direction so that everything unfolds as GOD has planned. In coming alive and creating a oneness consciousness I have been able to achieve more peace, joy, love, and prosperity in my life. There are days that I simply choose not to interact as much with people or venture outside my condo like I did on Friday (5/22/2015) and Saturday (5/23/2015). In taking these days to focus on me and to get centered and grounded I am able to reinforce how important it is to let things unfold. In taking those two days to stay at home I was able to work on making the mind, body, soul connection and to connect with source and seek the divine guidance needed to move further along on my spiritual journey. In taking some personal time and detaching from the world for a while I was able to come alive thus allowing me to be of more service and value to others. It sitting in quiet reflection and meditating I was able to receive the answers I was seeking and thus move forward in a positive direction of my dreams. In allowing things to unfold you will find yourself having some excellent experiences. By detaching from expectations and understanding that every plan can be adjusted and many ties turns out to be better that what your original plan was.
How many times have we said along our spiritual path oh I will do that tomorrow and then realizing that there is no time like the present and that time is ticking away. Many times we wish we could turn back time, however it is when we come to understand that we can not go backwards we can only move forward that we awaken more and more to our spirituality. In becoming awake we can take the measures necessary to take action and not wait another minute.
As I stated we may wish to turn back time but what is done is done so me must move forward by seeking forgiveness and forgiving ourselves. It is in the process of reflection that we can move along our spiritual path and leave our past behind us while living in the present and making a bright future. As we gleam from the past we will find shining moments taht we can draw from that will energize us and propel us to find peace, love, joy, and prosperity.
Each year I watch March Madness and on the final night when they play One Shining Moment I am reminded that all the credit goes to the person who is in the arena. It is when we take action and step into the arena detaching from the outcome that we grow personally, professionally, and spiritually. Through this growth we become better and thus we make the world around us better. There will be bumps and bruises along the way but it is how we face these obstacles that determine how high we will soar when we allow GOD to place us in the arena.
When we awaken to the fact that we are divine children of GOD and begin to take action to show love and compassion to others we begin to change the world. In adopting an anthem of I will change myself and a result will change the world you will begin to see many positive changes in the world. In July of 2002 I left on a trip to be a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in The Philippines and my goal was to empower and inspire the people I came in contact with and each day I would remind myself that today is the day the lord hath made be glad and rejoice in it. In adopting this as a mantra I was able to help many people and as a result I was also helped as this experience furthered my path to develop spiritually. I left to return back to The United States in February of 2003 and I realized that I had changed as I learned about gratitude, peace, joy, prosperity, and forgiveness. I learned that if you take action and you are open to changing your self and you get real with yourself and do the work to become more and more awake you can change the world. We all have the ability to make a change.
Spiritual Awakening: Change The World- Stories of Serendipity!!!
I had the opportunity to meet Serena Dyer through a friend, Wendi Klein Blum while wendi was taping her TV Show The Wendi B Show at WRPBiTV. As I spoke to Serena I invited to be on my radio show, Get Motivated with Jonathan JDOGG Lederman, which used to air on BLOG TALK RADIO. Serena was one of my final guests and I was very honored to have her on my show. A few weeks later I asked her for a few books to use for my Relay For Life and she sent me copies. About a month ago I was at The American Cancer Society Office dropping off donations that I collected and a woman was walking out of the office and I introduced myself and we got to talking and I did a quick cold reading and she told me I was spot on. I walked with her to my car and gave her a copy of Serena’s Book. The woman said thank you and gave me a big hug saying I had just changed her life. In taking a moment to be compassionate and caring we can change the world simply by going person to person and shining our light giving our light and love. we have a opportunity to do small things with great love and by doing so we change the world.
In 1993 Ace Of Base released this song, I saw the sign, at tat time I didn’t realize just how prophetic this song would be in my spiritual awakening. Today ( 5/15/15) when I woke up the song popped into my head and I took it as a sign to write about seeing the signs that are being put right in front of us. I started to reflect on how many signs I had missed as I was not aware and awake and then I reflected on the benefit of now being aware and awake and in tune with signs that all around me. As I have become more and more aware and awake I have been able to take action on these signs and follow my divine inner guidance system that I call GOD’S Purpose System (G.P.S.) when I use this GPS I tend to find anthems like my GOD is Greater. I have come to adopt a mantra of if GOD brought you to it God will bring you through it as a result of seeing the signs and then getting in alignment with GOD’S Message and then allowing things to unfold as he has planned. I have learned that one can plan out their work and work their plan but if it is not in accordance with GOD’s plan for you no matter how hard you may try it will not come to fruition. Sometimes the signs appear and we are unaware or not in the oneness consciousness mindset that we miss the signs at first. Then the ascended masters work with GOD and send us the sign again like a catcher giving a pitcher the signs a second time. Once we see the signs we should not shake them off but rather act upon the signs and allow the process to take place and see where our actions guided by GOD takes us.
All around us are signs to help us mover further along our spiritual path. Sometimes these signs clog up our mind that we must sit back take a deep breath and ask GOD, our angels, and the ascended masters, for the meaning. If we seek we will find the answer. There are many resources that GOD has put around us in the form of signs to help us create a oneness consciousness so that we can create a world that is filled with caring and compassion. Each day there will be signs for us to follow just like getting directions for a trip so we can arrive at our destination safely and continue to move forward and evolve on our spiritual journey we need to be in tune with our GPS. If our GPS is off we may get lost along the way but once we fix it and make adjustments to The GPS we get back on track and are able to grow personally, professionally, and spiritually. It is when we see certain signs and we find their meaning that we are able to stay on our spiritual path and thus be of service and value to others.
During the spiritual awakening process sometimes it is necessary to get another perspective or see things from a different vantage point. Think about what it would be like to look at things from above and how differently things would look when you were above them as opposed to below them. I remember a trip to The Empire State Building and how fearful I was of the height and how I was making every excuse not to get on the elevator to the observation tower when a friend said Jonathan take a deep breath hold my hand and we will go up, up, and away together. I got on that elevator with my eyes closed and as we ascended to the observation deck I began to open my eyes and I saw New York City from a totally different perspective and I realized then that when you look at the world with your eyes wide open that you gain a new appreciation for what you see and even overcome some fears. By being willing to go up, up, ad away with my friend I was able to apply the experience at The Empire State Building to my personal and professional life and when I found myself fearful I would simply say time to go up, up, and away. In using that as a mantra and an anthem I have been able to conquer several fears and thus face everything and rise instead of forgetting everything and running. Each time I listen to The 5th Dimension Song Up, Up, and Away my mood becomes more pleasant and joyful and I think what would it be like to get in the Hot Air Balloon and just see the beauty of nature and life from the vantage point of that balloon. The closest I have come to this has been on airplanes and flying has always been a bit difficult for me as I don’t like to give up control. In learning how to let things go and giving up control I have been able to see things from a different perspective. I recall my plane flight from San Francisco to Manila for my work as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in The Philippines and arriving for a stop over in Tokyo as we approached Toyko’s Airport for landing I looked out the window and I saw some of the sacred temples and thought wow how great this is to be able to see these great historical structures and draw the positive energy from them. I didn’t venture outside the Tokyo Airport however as we were transferring planes I did stop at the gift shop and took in as much as I could to soak in the positive energy. I made it to the gate to board the plane for the final leg of the trip and all the while I get thinking how great this is that I get to go up, up, and away. As we made the final approach into Manila I looked out the window and I saw McDonald’s and thought well at least if I don’t enjoy the Filipino food I will have McDonald’s. We landed and quickly met our Filipino counterparts and claimed our luggage and made our way to where we would stay for orientation. That night I made my way to one of the large hotels in Manila and I took the elevator to the top floor where the pool deck was and I looked out onto Manila and realized just how lucky I was to have the opportunity to be a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer. Over the next 6 months I would put fear and doubt aside and do things that I never thought possible like hiking 10 km up a mountain to the botanical gardens. Talk about going up, up, and away. When I arrived at the top there was a sari-sari store. I quickly said Gusto Ko Nong Tubig ( I would like water) I bought 4 bottles and walked around the gardens listening to the birds, watching the monkeys, and just admiring the beauty of where I was and taking in the moment. Ne of the workers asked you walk up the mountain? I said yes. he said okay me take you down in Jeepney when you ready. I did take the jeepney down the mountain and thanked him for the ride. As I walked back into town I realized that sometimes it is when we go up, up, and away that we have our greatest awakenings. While I sat on the bench under a tree with flowers blooming around me and birds flying freely I realized that it is not about the materialistic that matters but the spiritualistic.
As I sat in reflection yesterday (5/10/2015) I received a message that I found to be very poignant. It was Take The Blinders Off. As I thought about this I began to think how many people are walking through life unaware of how great they are or how they can make a difference in the lives of others and as a result change their life. In the spiritual awakening process it is imperative to take time and see what is around you and what is beyond you as the universe is filled with infinite possibilities. When we take our blinders off and we begin to see that their are solutions to every issue and that those solutions lie with in us our world and the world around us improves. I am often amazed how many people seem to walking around in a daze or oblivious to the opportunities that are being presented to them. In being awake and aware we become in tune to our inner divinity and thus can start to take the blinders off and solve the challenges we are facing understanding that we are all interconnected and have the ability to take the blinders off.
When we take the blinders off and start to open our eyes we are able to take action and unlock a world of possibilities that we may not have realized existed before our spiritual awakening. It is when we detach from what others think or see in us and focus on what we see in us tat we grow in mind, body, and spirit. In looking in the mirror and seeing the great person you are you begin to take the blinders off and thus are able to continue on your spiritual path to develop a oneness consciousness. In identifying our blind spots we are able to take the blinders off and address these issues. In my case my blind spot was anger. Once I took the blinders off and realized that being angry was not serving me well and that getting angry was creating a personal and spiritual imbalance in my life I was able to work on alternative methods of dealing with issues that once aggravated me. I still get upset at times but instead of getting mad and feeling hopeless I now sit in meditation and breathe seeking positive ways to solve the challenges that may be presenting themselves in my life. The first step to taking the blinders off is to realize there is an issue and to deal with it because not dealing with it only creates blockages that inhibit your spiritual and personal growth. In opening your eyes and getting real with yourself you will see dramatic changes in your life as you begin to understand that when we take the blinders off we grow and enhance our spiritual life.
As I was emceeing The Florida Initiative For Suicide Prevention 5k Hugs For Hope event today (5/9/2015) I saw a shirt worn by one of the teams that read Spread The Sunshine. This became the theme as I announced the runners finishing, which then turned into doing shout outs as people would tell me the runner’s name and I would build them up and encourage them. I then had the opportunity to deliver a message of HOPE before giving out the medals. After handing out the medals and waiting for my payment many people came up to me and complimented me on how great my message was. One woman told me that my comment about the two things that matter in life are if you lived your life with joy and if your life brought joy to others moved her to tears. As I arrived at Starbucks I put out my Oracle Cards to see if it would stimulate conversation and help to make connections thus creating a positive shift and encouraging people to spread the sunshine.
Inside all of us is a divine energy that allows us to spread our inner sunshine and thus we can light up the world and make an effective change. As I emceed the event today I challenged the crowd to meet someone they didn’t already know. I then went to Starbucks and put this into practice and I met a record producer and we had a great conversation and he told me to give him a call. When you reach out and spread your sunshine you put out an energy that radiates to others to let them spread their sunshine. In making the mantra I will spread my sunshine into a daily anthem you will begin to see opportunities present themselves that will allow you to grow personally and professionally. It is when we use the lessons of the ascended masters to awaken spiritually that we are able to tap into our inner divine sunshine and answer our calling by taking action to be of service and value to others. In committing to spread the sunshine you put yourself in a position to come alive and help the community. In helping the community you begin to help yourself.
Spiritual Awakening: Tools To Help You Spread The Sunshine!!!
Quotes and bible verses are excellent tools to help in spreading the sunshine.
