Shoulds

I was talking with a friend yesterday and asked "What would you like to read about in my Friday Message?" She said "Why do I continue to do what I shouldn't, and why don't I do what I should?"

Yipes! I was hoping for something easy!! Let me say right off that I don't like the "should" word, yet oh my - how I relate!! So let's look at these two questions:

1. "Why do I continue to do what I shouldn't?" ... I'd like to be flippant and say "Because we can" ... However, that doesn't really answer the question. There is a group of us who are working our way through the "Women, Food and God" book. It has opened my eyes to a few things. I love tortilla chips ... and I swear the shopping cart has a mind of it's own when it passes that aisle. I know I shouldn't buy them because I will eat them when I'm not physically hungry - and not just a handful either! I've observed an argument going on in my head as I move past that aisle - "Oh, you could get a small bag." "There are no small bags." "You don't have to eat them all in one sitting." "I don't want to even tempt myself." "A few chips won't hurt you." "No, I don't want to be tempted." "Who made the rule that you can't have chips?" "Well...I did... so maybe I could just eat a few at a time..."

Most of the time, I end the argument by forcing the cart past the aisle, even though the chips call to me all through the rest of my shopping experience.
But when I don't avoid the aisle, why do I continue to do what I shouldn't?
As I've learned in the Women, Food and God book, there's something else going on - something deeper. I realized I have to stop and sit with the situation. What am I really hungry for? What does my Spirit want in this situation?

2. "Why don't I do what I should?"
Many people I know are self-employed, and find themselves playing on the computer, reading novels, doing house or yard work or laundry, instead of working. Maybe it's phone calls that need to made, bookkeeping that needs to be done, or going out to contact clients. We find all sorts of ways to avoid what we think we should be doing. This answer is simple -- we're afraid to put ourselves out there -- afraid of rejection or doing it wrong, and we're avoiding feeling that fear.

Again we have to stop and sit with the situation. What does our Spirit want in this situation? Then feel the fear, and do it anyway!

One thing I know for sure -- if we have a clear Vision of what we want - whether it be a healthy, trim body, or a successful business -- and we are committed to that Vision -- the tyranny of the shoulds is not so frequent. So perhaps the real questions is: What does Spirit want to do through me? By the way, the word "commit" comes from the Old Latin and means to "join together." You are not in your Vision alone! God and you are doing it together!!


SPIRITUAL MIND TREATMENT

We live in an infinite field of creative potentiality. Using the Divine Aspects of Love and Law, we can be anything we want to be, and do anything we want to do. All this is possible because this Field is Divine Energy and this is what we're made of.

I now declare I am finished with the tyranny of the shoulds. I pay attention to the Divine Vision that wants to express as me. I allow myself to get enthused with it, creating in me a willingness to do what it necessary for the fulfillment of this Vision.

I remember I am not alone. There is That Within Me that is serving me well, and has only the highest good for all concerned in Mind. I trust this Presence, knowing that it is infinitely intelligent, and that all the answers are within me.

I step up to my Vision, I re-commit myself to it, and I move forward gratefully, acknowledging my Source. I breathe deeply and say YES!

I release these words into the Law of Mind knowing they are done, and so it is.