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Articles from Gina Lake | Selfgrowth.com
- Who Needs to Manifest Something? - by Submitted on Nov 16, 2010 from Gina LakeWhen we are identified with the ego, we feel lacking, life feels lacking, and others feel lacking. The state of ego-identification is a state of never having enough, of discontentment, judgment, fear, doubt, and other negative emotions. When we are identified with the ego, the world revolves ...
Views: 1012(1 vote) - Navigating Changes and Challenges - by Submitted on Jul 21, 2010 from Gina LakeChange feels like tossing a coin up in the air—you don't know which way it will land, good or bad for the ego? The ego is deeply concerned it will turn out badly. The ego considers the worst case scenarios and fears the worst. It attaches a story to what's going on: "My life is going downhill." ...
Views: 2778(1 vote) - Happiness Is Being in the Present Moment - by Submitted on Jul 14, 2010 from Gina LakeLove naturally flows out of the present moment, which is the only moment that exists. The present moment is what is real. When we bring a memory from the past, a fantasy of the future, a fear, a judgment, or any other self-centered thought into the present moment, those thoughts draw us out of ...
Views: 3555(6 votes) - Little Things Matter - by Submitted on Jun 17, 2010 from Gina LakeSome things matter too much to the ego, and this is a source of unhappiness, things like performing perfectly, looking a certain way, having certain things, and so on. The flip side of this is that many of the little things that actually turn out to matter, especially to true happiness, are ...
Views: 2098(2 votes) - Loosening the Grip of Desire - by Submitted on Jun 15, 2010 from Gina LakeNearly everyone is in the grip of at least one desire, sometimes many. Desire is a natural part of the human condition. It comes from a sense of lack that is created by the ego, the false self. It comes from the belief that we need something outside of ourselves to be happy, which is the lie ...
Views: 1926(1 vote) - How to Create Stress (and How Not To) - by Submitted on Jun 08, 2010 from Gina Lake• Think about all the things you have to do. Do this as you are going about your day. Go over your to-do list mentally many times a day, especially in the midst of doing something. Then talk about how much you have to do and how busy you are with everyone. • Keep checking the time, and think ...
Views: 2105(2 votes) - Love Is a Way of Being - by Submitted on Jun 05, 2010 from Gina LakeLove isn't something that someone causes us to feel, but a state of being that we experience whenever we are fully present in the moment to whatever or whomever is showing up. Love is our natural state, and we experience our natural state whenever the chattering mind is quiet or simply ignored. ...
Views: 1524(10 votes) - There Is Always Something To Love - by Submitted on Dec 04, 2010 from Gina LakeThe alternative to rejecting something about the way things are, which is what the ego does, is finding something to love about it. There is always something to love in every moment. Can you find a sensation, something of beauty, or a sound that is loveable? Is peace here, even just a sliver? Is ...
Views: 970(1 vote) - All You Have Is Now - by Submitted on Dec 04, 2010 from Gina LakeThe Now is the only reality. It’s all that really exists. The past is a memory, the future is a fantasy, and memories and fantasies are just ideas, and quite inaccurate ones at that. Thoughts arise in the Now, but they are only a small part of it. However, because we are programmed to pay ...
Views: 1086 - Happiness Is Here Right Now - by Submitted on Dec 04, 2010 from Gina LakeMany people would define a successful life as a happy one, so we go about trying to be happy in many ways. Some people try to attain happiness through accomplishments and material things, while others use spiritual means. The problem is that happiness isn’t something to attain or achieve, but ...
Views: 1075 - Living Without Mirrors - by Submitted on Dec 04, 2010 from Gina LakeHow we look is so important in this culture. How we look becomes how we see ourselves. The image in the mirror seems like who we are. We carry that image around with us inside our heads, and when we think of me, we think of that image. We have many self-images, and our inner image of what we ...
Views: 1155 - Wanting To Know The Future - by Submitted on Dec 04, 2010 from Gina LakeOne of the ego’s strongest desires is to know the future. It wants to know the future very badly, so badly that it often resorts to making it up, if not in a full-blown fantasy, at least in thoughts and beliefs about the future that constantly change. Sometimes such fantasies are negative and ...
Views: 930 - Love Is Gentle - by Submitted on Dec 04, 2010 from Gina LakeI was listening to a song the other day, and some of the words were "Love is gentle, and love is kind." The truth of that really touched me. We think of love as being a feeling—an emotion—but true love is more of a doing. Love touches, love gives, love is gentle, and it is kind. That's how we ...
Views: 991 - Listening as a Spiritual Practice -by Gina Lake - by Submitted on Dec 04, 2010 from Gina LakeMeditation is the most common spiritual practice used to still the mind. In meditation, you give your full attention to something, such as the breath or a mantra. A kind of meditation also takes place when you give yourself fully to any activity, such as hiking, running, making music, or ...
Views: 1834 - Why We Suffer -by Gina Lake - by Submitted on Dec 04, 2010 from Gina LakeThe egoic mind is the cause of suffering. Nothing more. Suffering only happens in response to a thought. We suffer because we think something about what is happening, what happened, or what might happen. We create a story about what is, what was, or what will be; then we suffer over it. We ...
Views: 1163 - Noticing Happiness - by Submitted on Dec 04, 2010 from Gina LakeIf you notice, you will see that happiness is already here. Still, no matter how good life may be, the ego says no to it: “It would be better if….” “I will be happy when….” As long as we don’t follow those thoughts, we will be happy. But usually we give our attention to the ego’s rejection of ...
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