Being the Light

I feel SO good today!  You know why?  I am SO grateful for the greatest gift in the world…feeling perfect peace and love.  I feel like I have new eyes, new ears, and a new mind (although I know that I have just uncovered what was there already, but was hidden behind my clouded perspective).  It has been almost 6 months since I started this incredible journey to “living in the light” (in late January when I went on the personal retreat that restored my soul).  Today I am feeling especially different – like a completely new woman.  I couldn’t explain why this morning, but it’s starting to come together as the day goes on and I’m certain it will keep revealing itself to me as time goes on.  It started with a deep meditation this morning in which I felt perfect stillness in my mind, body, and spirit.  While I have been meditating daily, there was something much deeper about today’s experience.  I really felt my union with God and like I am an individualized expression of this almighty Source of power.  It’s one thing to read about oneness and non-duality and “get it” on an intellectual level and something entirely different to feel it.  It wasn’t just a feeling of my personal inner peace, but it was a feeling of connection to the inner peace in everyone.  Pure bliss.  After meditation, I read my lesson in A Course in Miracles which stated:

Give thanks for mercy and the Love of God. Rejoice in the power of forgiveness  to heal your sight completely. Be confident that on this day there is a new  beginning. Without the darkness of the past upon your eyes, you cannot fail to  see today. And what you see will be so welcome that you will gladly extend today  forever.
Say, then: “The light has come. I have forgiven the  world.” ~A Course in Miracles

Every day when I read my lesson, I feel like it’s exactly what I needed to read right at that moment – clearly today was no exception.  The lesson went on to say that today is a day to celebrate – I am doing just that!  I cannot wait to see what is in store for me as I continue to allow the perfect peace and love of God to flow through me seamlessly.  I know the things I will do and be from this state are well beyond what I can even imagine in this moment.  I won’t spend too much time thinking about it or planning what the next move should be because as I have taken my hands off the drivers seat, the places I have seen and the things I have been introduced to are already well beyond my wildest dreams.

One change I have noticed recently is a deep desire to send love to those that are being humiliated in the news for something they did (I talked about this a little bit here).  A local politician stepped down from his position last week due to a poor decision he made 6 years ago with his finances.  The public responded with such negativity and hate.  So much so that he decided it was best for him to step down so that the city could get back to the business at hand.  In the past, I would have joined right in the debate about why what he did was so terrible…I might have even written him a letter about his misuse of public office. When I first heard this story last week, my immediate and natural response was “I should write him a forgiveness letter and send him a copy of A Course in Miracles or another book that helped me when I was feeling bad about a terrible mistake I made 6 years ago”.  WOW!  I even had to step back and do a double-take at myself, like “did you really just think that?”.  It’s no coincidence that I was feeling the same way I am sure he is feeling now when I also made a really bad choice 6 years ago.  I can really relate to what he is feeling and can share what helped me get out of that place of guilt and shame.  I haven’t written the letter yet, but I am going to.  EVERYONE deserves another chance.  It will be a tough road ahead for him to rebuild his career and the public’s trust, but I know he has the same “light” in him that we all do and it would be a shame for it to be dimmed and unused due to this incident.

Earlier today, I was reading reviews of a book I was considering purchasing and one of the reviewers shared this story which is so fitting for today:

A minister took a twenty dollar bill out of his pocket and asked if anyone wanted the twenty. A few people raised their hands and the minister approached a man in that group, crumbled up the twenty and asked the man if he still wanted the twenty. The man said yes.  The minister then threw the twenty on the floor, ground it up with his shoe, picked up the now dirty twenty and asked the man if he still wanted it. The man said yes.  The minister then tore the twenty in half and asked the man if he still wanted it. The man said yes. The minister then addressed the congregation telling them that this is how we must view those who are also twisted, dirty and torn. We must see the value in them. ~Anonymous

I love that story!  It’s such a great example.  I know if we found a crumpled and torn up twenty dollar bill on the ground, we would all pick it up and tape it back together so that it was able to be used again.  Why don’t we do that with each other?  We waste so much time arguing about why we’re right and the other person’s wrong, gossiping, complaining about people who are clearly in a tough place.

On Sunday, my minister said “I choose not to waste any of my precious minutes on anything other than perfect love and peace”.  She also shared the idea that we start each day with a certain number of energy credits, you either maintain them with perfect peace and love or you deplete them with thoughts and acts of revenge, attack, limitation, separation, gossip, etc.  I choose peace and love.  I choose to live in the light!  I know that every day can feel just as joyful as today does as long as I’m keeping that commitment.  When I don’t feel it, I will remember to check where I’m focusing my precious time and energy.  Where are you focusing your time and energy?

We dedicate this day to the serenity in which God would have you be. Keep it in  your awareness of yourself and see it everywhere today, as we celebrate the  beginning of your vision and the sight of the real world, which has come to  replace the unforgiven world you thought was real. ~A Course in Miracles

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” ~1 Corinthians 2:9

Keep shining!

~Kandace

P.S.  Click here for my celebration song for today!  “Happy Feelings” by Maze ft. Frankie Beverly :-).  See below for some of the lyrics…LOVE this song!

“I got myself to remind me of love

My mind and my heart I believe in above

These happy feelin’s I’ll spread them all over the world

From deep in my soul I wish you

HAPPY FEELINGS!…

I’ve seen the light

watched it shine down on me

I’m gonna spread my wings

I’m gonna tell all I see

These happy feelin’s

I’ll spread them all over the world

From deep in my soul”

About the Author: Kandace Jones

I used to live life shackled by fear, doubt, and worry. I put on a happy face while navigating my day-to-day duties, but I was emotionally drained, stressed, and unhappy. When I hit rock bottom, and was diagnosed with depression and anxiety, I was determined to live life differently. I knew there had to be another way. Out of that determination, and guidance from Spirit, the "Living in the Light" blog was born. It documents my spiritual journey out of the darkness and into the Light. After nine months of publicly sharing my journey, and consciously releasing my attachment to the ego, I experienced a powerful spiritual awakening. I went from living in fear, doubt, worry, and stress to complete inner peace. My greatest passion has become assisting others on their own journey to inner peace. My spiritual memoir, From Stress to Peace: An Intimate Journal on the Journey from Living in Darkness to Living in the Light, is available now on Amazon and BN.com. Click the tabs at the top of the page to learn more about the From Stress to Peace 21-Day Challenge, Living in the Light Retreats, 1:1 sessions, and the Living in the Light Community - all of which are designed to support your journey to inner peace. I appreciate you taking the time to visit the blog and look forward to supporting you in any way I can!