"Could You Try Being a Little Nicer?"

When speaking to groups of people I always like to boldly ask the questions, "Do you want to be more spiritual? Do you want to feel the presence of Spirit moving in your life?" While they ponder what they've just heard, I then request that they take a deep breath and to let it out slowly. As they do, I quickly ask them this: "Could you try being a little nicer?" I have to admit I love the look on some of their faces when they hear the question. From where I am standing, it is as if they never expected that the very idea of being nice and being spiritual would actually go hand in hand.

"Could you actually try being what it is you say you represent," I ask? That question gets some laughs from some, and from others I can see the discomfort as the words begin to register in their minds. I do not ask them this to purposely make them angry or resentful, but simply ask it as a way for them to think about what it is they are sending out as consciousness and energy.

As I am asking the groups these questions, I am also at that very moment asking the same of myself: Where is it that I have been short with someone, was I rude, feeling fearful, and may have come across aloof? People are always asking me if I try to apply what I speak about to my own life? That always makes me laugh. I think to myself, "If you only knew."

I am always the first to beat myself up for supposedly not honoring the very things I say I represent. It is most often the forgiveness and tolerance of self that is far harder than the forgiveness and tolerance of others. The questions I pose in my presentations are a quick jolt, a reminder to wake up and take note of our inner and outer actions, our attitudes, and to check to see if our "I'm feeling attacked" mode may have kicked into overdrive.

As spiritual individuals, we are not always going to be in the flow of Spirit. We are not always going to have days where we are happy and chanting that life is oh so good. And that truly is okay. Truth is, there are good and not so good days. What we have to do is to allow ourselves room to feel and experience the day-to-day events we find ourselves in. Life is continually offering us new opportunities for growth and ways to seek and find our bliss. The question is: Are we doing all that we can to support this wonderful process?

I recently spoke at the Unlimited Horizons first annual "Metaphysical Festival" and the area's first "Spirit of Light Expo" here along the Emerald Coast. It was a great experience for me to see all these like-minded-people gathering to show their interest and support as "seekers of truth" and "finders of inner peace." It was good to see the faces of people I had not seen in quite some time and to reconnect and share with one another our experiences and lessons. As I walked around these events, I was amazed at the beauty of all the individuals in attendance. We are uniquely different and yet similar, each being spiritually connected while following that inner rhythm of our own different drum.

As I spoke before the groups, I was moved by just how wonderful my life's spiritual quest has been. It has not been an easy road to travel, but it has been a journey I can reflect on and see how much I have gained from those infamous good times and the not so good. I realize that I have to keep following that inner voice that nudges me to keep moving forward, the voice that when I'm feeling I can't go on, reassures me I can make it. I hear the call to rise and go forth, the call to serve, the call to love. I am reminded to be just a little bit nicer to everyone who stands before me, even when it feels there is not a drop of niceness in me left to give, to smile when someone is frowning, to reach out and hold someone when they are hurting.

It is what we refer to as "The Call of Spirit." It is a call to be who we say we are, the call to represent the very Presence who has created us. It is a call to let the light within shine in the darkest hour so that others who have been blinded might see. There is a prayer from A Course In Miracles that I have always loved, it reads:

I am here only to be truly helpful.

I am here to represent him who sent me.

I do not have to worry about what to say or do,
Because he who sent me will direct me.

I am content to be wherever he wishes,
Knowing he goes there with me.

I will be healed as I let him teach me to heal.

Those few words speak volumes. I love that prayer and I think of those powerful words quite frequently. I find great peace and comfort when I recite it to myself and I encourage you to save this prayer and speak its healing words for yourself.

Until next month. Be just a little bit nicer, be good to others, be good to yourself, and keep spreading "The Light."