Dispelling the "Should Sharks"

After yesterday’s warning about the dangers of swimming in Should Shark infested waters, learning how to clear the waters and avoid the danger is important. First, we need to confront the Should Shark by asking a simple question: “Is it true?”

For example, the thought assails you, “This shouldn’t be happening to me!” And you ask, “Is that true?” No. The truth, the verity, of the situation is that it is happening. That is what is. That is the truth. Thinking it shouldn’t happen will not change anything. All Should Sharks do is inflict pain—unnecessary pain.

Once you accept the fact that what happened happened the Should Shark vanishes, and you are free to then ask, “So how do I deal with what is happening in a healthy way?”

Once the Should Shark is gone, the unnecessary pain leaves, the unproductive negative mental chatter stops, and you are able to access and respond to the Spirit that directs and helps you navigate a happy life.

Questioning the truth of a Should Shark is like using a harpoon on a real shark. It saves us from a lot of pain.

Watch Out For "Should Sharks"

Yes, watch out for the "Should Sharks"!

One of the adversaries greatest tricks that pushes us into the Pit of Illusion is to send "shoulds" to prey upon us like circling sharks whenever we experience adversity.  These "Should Sharks" don't bite physically, instead they stab the idea into your head that, “This shouldn’t be happening to you. You keep the commandments and are doing everything you should be doing. You shouldn’t be experiencing this!” This thought is often followed by a thought about the guy down the street who shouldn't be so blessed because he water skis on Sundays and doesn’t pay tithing so he can afford a boat.

But I’ve searched the scriptures, and no place can I find anything that promises that if you keep the commandments you will have no problems--no trials, no adversity. Instead I found a wonderful parable of a man who built his house without a solid foundation and when the flood came the house was washed away. Jesus compared this compared this to a man who built his house upon a solid foundation of rock and when theflood came his house stood firm.(see Luke 6:48-49.)

Notice that the devastating flood deluges both homes, but the home built upon a solid foundation of obedience and gospel principles withstands the storm while the home on the sandy foundation of pride and selfishness crumbles when the waters roar by.

Life with all its ups and downs happens. After all, ups and downs are what mortal life is all about. Gospel living isn’t a preventative measure that keeps life from happening; gospel living is insurance that we will endure despite the floods and down times.

Give Goodness

It’s a proven fact that when we make other people happy, we make ourselves happier.

When we hear that statement the tempter usually counters with thoughts of having to take a lot of time to do kind deeds or wrap up and give presents or write letters or notes or other "burdensome" things. (Burdensome is the way the tempter presents it!)

But you don’t need to go out of your way or do special things to make other people happy. There are many ways in normal every day interaction that we can spread goodness.

One thing we can do is to concentrate on how we react to the people we encounter every day and then make sure we share happiness and cheer. Do we smile at people? Do we share encouraging news and keep the bad to ourselves? Do we compliment people we are talking to? Are we sincerely interested in our associates and their families? Do we really listen to them? Do we respond to what they say in ways that indicated we really are interested?

Sharing goodness and happiness doesn’t have to be a burdensome, time consuming task. We can share goodness any time we want and in many different ways..

Happy Times!

Enough about negative emotions! Today I want to look at positive emotions. Too often we don’t stop to analyze positive emotions. We feel good. We feel happy. So that’s all that matters. We are content. But when we are feeling positive emotion, we have a wonderful opportunity to learn more about positive feelings if we just take the time to notice a few things.

For example, next time you are feeling really good about something stop and ask yourself why. Solidify in your mind exactly what it was that made you feel good. The something doesn’t need to be big. Sometimes our happiest moments are caused by little things such as watching one of our children lovingly help a sibling. Take note of the fact that the happiness occurred because you were satisfied with what happened. Satisfaction is key to all happiness and so learning to be satisfied will bring more happiness.

Also notice that your thoughts were so occupied by what occurred that you totally pushed aside any bad thoughts such as worry about bills or stress over a task that needed to be done. In other words, part of the happiness was caused not just because of the good thing that happened but because you didn’t think about other things in that moment—you focused on the good. That is an important discovery because too often we think happiness is something that occasionally falls upon us without realizing that we have a big part to play in making it happen and making it last.

By stopping to analyze what is happening when we feel happy we solidify and deepen the feelings and it helps us look for and enjoy more of these kind of happy moments. Thus being aware of what we are doing and thinking in happy times increases our chances of having more of those good times!

Truth Tools To The Rescue

Thanks to all of you who gave me movie suggestions! (See yesterday's post!) I appreciate it, and welcome more ideas. I'd like to make a long list so if you haven't given me your input, do! Once the list becomes more complete I'll share it with all of you.

The Good News! today is that negative emotions don't have to destroy our happiness.

As we've talked about before, the descent into the Pit of Illusion happens when negative emotions assail us and we give in to them. Once in a while these negative emotions serve to warn us that we should do something constructive to correct a problem, but for the most part negative emotions are destructive and not constructive.

When we are feeling sad it is usually because of a loss, but as the emotion begins to overwhelm us, the loss always seems much bigger than it really is. When we feel anger it is usually because we think someone has tresspassed against us, and when we feel fear, it is usually because we feel we are in physical or emotional danger. Again when first feeling these negative emotions the tresspass and/or danger seem greater than they really are.

That's why the Truth Tools are so valuable; they stop us from falling into the Pit and give us time to recognize that we are exaggerating the problem. When we Live in Truth we see things more clearly.

So at the first sign of a negative emotion, instead of dwelling on the feeling, pull outyour Truth Tool Box and put the Tools to work. Stay in the realm of peace and joy!

Help Me Find Positive Movies

I need your help!

I am compiling a list of movies that portray the principles of Living in Truth. What I'm looking for are movies that exemplify people Living in Truth, people recognizing and changing so that they Live in Truth, people living life in the present, or people demonstrating positive attitudes that make them happy despite their situations or their environment.

A few of the movies that have started my list are:

What About Bob?

Groundhog Day

The Devil Wears Prada

Field of Dreams

Chariots of Fire

Life is Beautiful

It's A Wonderful Life

The Karate Kid

The Pursuit of Happyness

The Sound of Music

The Big Year

Now, it's your turn. Tell me what movies you've seen that portray any of the principles of Living in Truth.

Sabbath Scripture --Seeking Good

Let no man seek his own,

but every man another's good.

(JST 1 Corinthians 10:24)